fishauhj2

hi Farma: Have you considered a Switch rod? They make rods made to cast with either single hand or with two hands and they are not quite long as spey rods and tend to be about 10' in length, it may help to take burden off your right shoulder when cast with both hands. Ted

hi Matt: Make sure you get some casting lessons from a qualified person or instructor; it'll make your new flyrod go a long way and help you catch more fish! Enjoy, Ted

hi: I copied this from one of the articles: my comments are in (**) Casting Basics -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The fundamentals you need to know before you get started. Introduction | Aiming the Cast | Getting Started In spin casting the weight of the lure pulls the line off the reel. In fly casting the weight of the line carries the fly to the fish. In fly casting you must learn to use the rod to cast the weight of the fly line. You can do that quickly by following five basic principles of good fly casting: The line (and fly) goes in the direction you point the rod tip during the cast. (** if you don't let the line straighten out in the backcast, line as whole don't move much as a whole and you don't get distance because all motion is being devoted to straightening the line out during the initial forhand cast while the line keeps dropping. If line is not straight the tip can't move the line forward very far). Good fly casting is not strength-related; it is timing-related. Thus you must practice the timing of the cast to become a good caster. How much practice? At least 15 minutes a day to become a good caster in a month. Proper stroking and stopping of the rod are fundamental to good fly casting. The caster loads energy into the rod during the casting stroke. The rod releases the energy into the line in the cast. The caster loads a little energy (a short, low-energy stroke) into the top of the rod for short casts; he loads a lot of energy (a short, powerful stroke) into the middle and bottom of the rod for a long cast. (** actually the bend of rod don't hold much energy itself; try bending a fly rod with line and let it go and the line won't go too far. I.e. a fly rod can't cast line by itself.). Casting arcs (the arc the rod makes in the air during the cast) are small for short casts and large for long casts. (** try to keep the tip in a straight path much as possible because line goes where the rod tip goes in all cases). Stopping the rod after the casting stroke is critical to forming the casting loop, and it allows the rod to unload, thus casting the line. (** the key is to watch the tip if it drops too far you get a wide loop; but, sometimes you want a wide loop! Stop the tip quickly.). Fly fishers seldom need to cast more than 50 feet when fishing. Yet becoming proficient at long-distance casting can improve all your casting. You should learn to cast short (30 feet) first and then practice at greater and greater distances. ** for me I guess the key points are to watch the tip and try to take all the slack out of the line during the backand and forehand cast. Cheers, Ted

hi Farma: I just found out that there are great series articles and video clips about fly casting this month at: http://flyfisherman.com by left kreh and others which is definitely working taking a look. There is more technical information at: http://sexyloops.co.uk which can be little overwhelming sometimes but make the point to show there is no one way to cast. I would suggest starting with little short casts of just keeping the line in the air and try to make sure the back cast straightens out by looking back. One very basic exercise is have the line lay in front of you and do a backcast, stop and let the line straighten out and do a front stroke. Try to see what happens if you stop at 1, 2 and 3PM on the clock and how quickly you stop it; observe what type of loops you get. It's best to stay simple and try to feel the rod load and unload in almost effortless manner so you develop a sense of timing and feeling for the fly rod so to expend least amount of energy at the end. Stiffer tippy rods require shorter punch strokes and softer rods work best with longer strokes, etc. So it all depends. Have fun and good luck, I think fly casting is half the fun of fly fishing. Ted

Farma: Try to find what bugs/hatches are present in the water; look around, turn over rocks and use a sein net. You should get an idea what type of flies to use and lot of times simple impressionisitic flies work well if it is fished correctly. I've caught trout with #22 nymphs at dusk without enough light to tie on the fly; and I doubt exact or any imitation is going to fool them if it doesn't swim right during the day. At certain point the leader and the drift become more important. I would add to the tools list; a whip-finisher to tie off your flies and some lead wire to weigh nymph and streamers. Ted

hello: I've always wondered about the gold bomber and with your explanation the fly makes sense with its color and the rattler (which I didn't know about). I am reading a book on Clouser flies written by Bob Clouser himself and he talks about his rattle clouser. He states that rattle in a clouser catches more fish is in deep clear water and works best with short strips. It would be nice to try some flies with rattles at night! How do you fish the normal bait fish in a clear water. Some of the water I've seen near Brisbane were very clear and I could tell the fish could see me from a long distance (at least whiting) from their behavior. I imagine proper drift and line management must be important and is tricky (and also the line selection). For my trout fishing in small creeks the line management is fast becoming the most important parameter as the water level drops and they become very wary and I am being forced to make longer and longer casts in the brush. Fishing the shrimp imitation must be similar to fishing the nymph in fresh water because both of them cannot swim too well. I suspect the Whiting takes flies delicately but I am not sure about the Bream or other species when it comes to the shrimp. I will be curious to see how the flies look and how they are fished; there must be many ways to fish them because there doesn't seem to be limit to the ways a nymph can be fished. Ted

If you are not sure what flies to use one thing you could consider are those little jig heads for with plastic tails which are typically fished using spinning rigs; they are not difficult to cast with either float or without a float (indicator). They are easy to get and something you are famliar with already and later you can try different techniques. cheers, ted

My best capture in salt have been whiting from shore and either Travelly or Tailor hooked but lost at night I was beginning to figure them out but I ran out of time and flies. Most fun was night fly fishing and most challenging was fly fishing the heavy surf. The marlin must have been lot of fun on a fly rod. I looked up shrimp patterns with the rattler and checked some fly fishing catalogs and books as well and there are lot of shrimp patterns (and for different fish too) as you noted. For the rattler shrimp I imagine one has to move it quickly to give it some action to make it look alive and make it rattle at the right time. I just read an article written by Peter Haynes and what he says makes sense and his flies look simple but effective. I need to do a research on the various materials and saltwater flies look like lot of fun to tie. My nymph is very simple to tie and not much to look but it seems to work. I'll tie some saltwater flies and try to force feed them to catfish and bass in an urban lake. The big problem is the best area are in the middle and I need long casts to get to them but I am slowly lengthening my casts. Ted

hi: I am new to saltwater fly fishing as I mainly fly fish for trout but I would like to get into tying and fishing saltwater flies. I don't get to to ocean very much so I pretty much have to fish depending on circumstances from the shore but at least I am finding saltwater fly fishing has lot of similarities. If I find and tie patterns that could be useful for the fish I saw in Brisbane I'll post them. I am thinking of good shrimp patterns for fish like whiting and bream; sliders and poppers for night fishing, and floating flies to replicate the action of hardbody plugs. For trout fishing I mainly fish one nymph (different sizes) and concentrate on the presentation and detecting the take. I read books on fly fishing the salt shoreline and what I can gather is the fishing problems for trout fishing and saltwater fishing from shore is similar. I'll be curious to see what patterns people use on the board and how they are fished. Ted

hello: I had a chance to fish the inlet area at the maroochy river during my trip to Brisbane last year where it exits to the open ocean. My question is how does one fish area of deep channel of fast flowing water with a lure and or bait in general. I've seen fisherman with long poles waiting for the tailor run and I neglected to ask what technique they were using but I got a sense they were using bait. I saw flash of fish so I know they all couldn't be at the bottom of the channel which is very deep. Would it be tricky fishing with a lure and what type would you use. I tried fly fishing it with a 300 grain fast sinking line with quarter cast up fishing down and I could see the whole rig sinking down very deep but didn't have enough time to give it a good try. I also tried casting a large 2/0 deceiver at the end of an intermediate line quarter cast downstream, and the line eventually came back and the leader was all shredded up minus the fly (fluro carbon leader). I am trying to gain some insight how place like this is fished with other methods or with a fly as I may have change to fish the salt this year. If I had another crack at it I would try to dredge the bottom with the fast sinking line and try long lining downstream with the intermediate and hope for a strike at the end of the drift. I would appreciate any inputs how you would tackly this type of water from land. I could distinguish two areas: area of drop-off and the bottom. What type of fish would be found; GT, Bream, etc? thanks, Ted

pogo: My speyrod is an Scott Arc1196 a real soft rod I went to my local fly shop to try different fly lines and it seemed to work with a 7wt floater. One backcast and I could practically shoot the whole line. The owner told me with water loading I should get more distance and for overhead shooting he said I need to try different shooting heads. I am beginner in speyrods but the sense I get is there is some art in getting the rod rigged with the right line. A good source of info. is www.speypages.com. gongfisho: Fly fishing equipment is much cheaper and better than years ago and entry level equipment is fine and you can always get them used. It turns out the most expensive part is not the equipment but the flies over the long run! I bought few sample flies and I overheard Gavin telling customers he would be more than happy to sell them flies but if he ties them himself it would only cost $1 a piece. There are expensive but luckily saltwater flies are easier to tie. If I were to go back I would tie flies for different tide conditions when the tidal movements weren't strong those clousers I was using sank too fast and caused a hinge and was more difficult to feel a soft take. I would go for lighter flies and perhaps add a shot to the leader which is the way I nymph for trout which help to create a straight line. I heard at least for trout they hold it in their mouth little longer if it's softer. I would play around with shots as well. Another thing would have been to experiment with jig heads. Too bad I am so far away. I did notice the bait fish I saw were very small at some locations. I bet some of trout flies and san juan worms would have been great for whiting and bream but I could kick myself for not having taken a trout rig when I was there. I think the fun part of chucking flies is figuring out how. Have fun fishing it's fall here and it's getting colder and soon the trout will get lethargic. Ted

hi all: I just came back from Brisbane and finally had chance to flyfish saltwater for the first time my prior experience was trout fishing I would like to share what I learned. I didn't catch much but I had opportunity to try many different techniques and different water conditions. Things were beginning to click and I had to leave! Overall I caught little whiting, hooked a taylor and and few others but here's a summary of I found out salt water fly fishing in Australia near Brisbane. It's a little long but perhaps someone may find some information useful. Coolangatta (cove and off rocks): --------------------------------------- This was my first place I salt water fly fished and my first difficulty was understanding the water and the tides and the fish. Lot of nice mates explained me how the tides moved and there was a beautiful mini cove and an inlet. I made some basic mistakes; first the fly was too large for the fish I could see (whiting) and for the flatties the fly wasn't hitting the bottom. I tried a big hole off the rocks I could see fish but they weren't interested. I even threw a class 6 sinking line to get down to them. One fisherman suggested I try a hard plastic with my 8wt and I found I could cast it and I had a bream come to the surface to take a look. He also gave me a small plastic jiggy. On hindsight I realized off the rocks I either have to either excite the fish at the top (a lot of work with a fly rod) or take it to the bottom using a floater with a lead shot on the leader with a downstream nymphing technique and give lot of jigging movement at the critical moment. For the cove I should have used a much smaller fly (#6) and a long leader, those fish I saw were spooky. Surfer's Paradise and fishing for flatties (off a boat) ----------------------------------------------------------- My boss and I hired a guide boat and fished area around surfers's paradise. My boss caught one flatty and for me it was zero. He was using a 9wt rod with 300grain fast sinking line and I was using an 8wt intermediate line. I asked the guide to fish and I couldn't see what I was doing wrong (I didn get some strikes but was difficult to feel with the intermediate line). I then asked the guide to fish with the spinning rod he had with soft plastic and he hooked into smal flatties. I dawned on me I wasn't hitting the bottom and only way I found I could was to add a split shot before I could see noticeable slow in the drift. The problem I was was controlling the drift of the line and something still wasn't right. I could be having either too much slack or could be lining the fish. Nugee Beach - flat silty channel inlet at Brisbane -------------------------------------------------------- I finally caught some fish, some small whiting using a #6 white and tan sparsely dressed clouser retrived at a slow pace off a floating line. I was told by many that they were hard to catch on a lure but they did take a fly! so I didn't get totally skunked. I tried nigth fishing once and I forgot to bright my head lamp and tying on a fly became a tricky operation. Again, unfortunately I didn't know quite what I was doing and if I were to go back I would stick on a large deceiver off a floater and search the water. Maroochidore Inlet area - Sunshine coast ------------------------------------------------ I spent most of my time fishing the inlet of the maroochidore river inlet. My biggest handicap was understanding the currents but gradually begin to construt a picture by asking a lot of people and I was lucky to find and visit a local fly shop and ask a lot of questions. The shop owner Capt. Gavin Platz http://www.tienfly.com was very helpful and also very funny as well (he told us to think like a "shrimp"). I didn't hear that but I was beginning to think like that already and was beginnint to question lot of things I was doing previously. Flatty Technique: ------------------- I had some time to discuss technique with someone who had experience with these fish he explained to me these fish are lazy and wait for the food to come to them and sense vibrations throught their belly. I began to see a problem with fishing these with a fly rod with a sinking line was lining those fish. He said he used a sinking tip and used the downstream nymphing technique so that the fish weren't lined. Alas, I didn't have a sink tip line and I wanted to try to catch a tailor if I could. I were to go back I would try a sink tip or a floater with a shot on the tippet (I did try it and got some striks but couldn't connect) and use the tidal currents and terrain more effectively. Night fishing and Tailor --------------------------- People told me they were catching some tailor but good ones were beyond the breakers so I figured I would try to catch them in the evening when the fish were supposed to be closed to the bank at a cove. I fly fished a cove with a deep hole close to the mouth of the river inlet in the evening to see if I can hook a monster. I saw mullets jumping and bait fish jumping out of water and occasionally a large splashes at the surface so I knew something was there. It was a lot of work casting a 8wt intermediate line with a #2 deceiver and I finally managed to connect with a fish and he was on the line for about 10 seconds before he came off. My night foray ended early with a thunder storm but it was neat getting a hookup at night. Next day I told Gavin what happened and he suggested I try a bigger fly for Tailor perhaps a #0/1 surf candy. Also, by now I realized it's important to cast efficently if my shoulder was to survive the casting ordeal of night fishing so I decided to take his offer of a casting lesson for $50AU; if my cast didn't increase by 20ft he said he would give my money back. At the end of the lesson I imanage to throw the whole line so I didn't get my money back. I found it was matter letting the fly rod to do the work and letting the butt section of my fast action fly rod to load properly. It was money very well spent because most of trout fishing involve casts less than 40ft. Armed wish the lesson and a bigger fly I headed back to the cove. I did get a strike where the fly was completel stopped in its tracks and I struck and I didn't get a hookup which completely baffled me. I missed a second softer strike and after that I looked at the fly closeup and I found that line had wrapped around the body due to a wind knot I couldn't see except at close inspection. If I had inspected the fly I may have had better chance. I told him what had happened and he told me it's important to check the fly often. One interesting trick I learned from Gavin was as Tailor heads up the mouth of the river they are sometimes hooked by spin fisherman and the Tailor vomits up its last meal with causes a "berley" trail and causes more Tailor to come up. He said he casts right into the mess and catches fish with a fly. I do have to admit that is clever but I did't see a single person catch a Tailor while I was on the beach. I was told that it was the end of Tailor season and Tailor fishing had been spotty. Fly fishing the surf --------------------- I tried fly fishing the surf using intermediate and sinking lines with a 8 and 10 weight rods. One thing I found was it isn't easy! First, the intermediate line was not quite dense enough and the 300grain class 6 was perhaps too heavy to get distance and to get adequate feel. I fished the gutters I saw but got no strikes and it probably didn't help that I didn't wake up early enough. However, I was satisfied because I wanted to try it to understand what the problems of fly fishing the surf were; it was simply matter of getting distance. Everyone I talked to who were fishing with long spinning rods said big fish were beyond the breakers and I didn't quite have the right rig to go beyond the them. I talked to Gavin about this problems and he said he uses shooting head with thin rio running lines and subsequently through email I found he uses 10' 6wt rod to cast beyond the breakers. The ironical part was I did have a 6wt spey rod but I didn't have the right line but I know what to do next time. I should have tried fishing the surf in the evening when the waves weren't high. Summary ----------- I found saltwater fly fishing is lot of fun (and work) but for the locals who understand the tides and the fish things would not have been as difficult. However, I realized proper technique is also very important and fundamentally the techniques are not different from fly fishing for trout; and most important of all one has to be able to cast the fly a long distance for hours without getting sore. If anyone fishes around the Moolooloobah and the sunshine coast I would heartily recommend that person to lookup capt. Gavin Platz I enjoyed talking to him because he is down to earth and he knows a lot about fly fishing (and fishing). I am back hunting for little trout in knee deep water it's a different game but the I'll try to put the long cast to use if I can.

beefman: I feel relieved I'll just try everything flats, beaches, days and nights I am bound to hook onto something. Thanks, Ted

I remember Ken saying he may be moving I guess that's fate. Now concerning those jelly fish is it advisable to wade in the 1. flats, 2. beaches with surf? If so what precautions should I take and what do beach goers do. Do you feel comfortable wading. I sure would hate my fishing to be terminated by some jellyfish if they around. Ted

Hi Ken: I just got back from a trip and am getting ready for my Australia trip; I will be leaving here next friday and will be staying first week at Brisbane for work and the second week is flexible for me. I am looking forward to seeing the ocean and catching some fish. Could you send me the contact information so I could contact you when I get there. We're having drought this year and the place I visited recently also had drought and it will be nice to see a lot of water for a change! Also, a friend overseas told me hearing report of some micro organisms in the waters off Australia including Brisbane and one should be careful go into the water (he is a biologist). Have you heard of any warnings like this? Thanks, Ted