Does it count?

[Little_Flatty]

This morning I popped down to the flats adjacent to Hunters Hill Wharf to do some more fly casting practice. I almost didn't go because it was quite windy at home, but when I got down to the water, it was perfect. Got wading and casting.

The other night I had tied up pink clouser to throw for flathead. I've only just started fly tying and it's addictive. I had a feeling that I haven't been getting my flies to the bottom, so this one I tied with heavier brass eyes to get it down. On a side note, I'm finding it hard to judge if my fly has reached the strike zone, as you don't get the same feedback from the line that you get when you're fishing with spin gear. It did occur to me that I could throw this thing on spin gear (and honestly this option was half on my mind when tying it!). But it's always good to try new things!

I cast and cast and cast. I actually got a few nice casts out, which was satisfying. It's quite challenging to throw a heavy fly. But no fish! I also hadn't seen many baitfish about, which is unusual for this expanse of flats. Maybe it just wasn't warm enough yet.

Get off the flats and onto the end of the wharf to have a cast, and also to dry out a little. Had a few attempted roll/poke casts to reach some area where I know there are fish, but impossible to overhead cast to, because of a power line. I did get the fly vaguely in the zone, but clearly I need more practice!

Soon it was time to go. But rather than wind my rig in, I drag the fly along the wharf as I walk in, letting it sink to the bottom every now and again. It was worth a try. Halfway along, my fly snags something and some line pulls off my reel. Oh, wait a second, that's a fish, and it feels like a flatty! Come to my senses and start playing the fish in. Get it to the top, and pole it up. Thank goodness I had an 8wt and a 20lb leader (more for ease of casting than actual fishing needs).

.

Goes to show, fish often want to hang close to structure. But I'm not yet a good enough fly caster to land my fly close to the wharf.

Released the fish and headed home.

My first ever flatty on fly! It's funny, I have no trouble whatsoever catching flatties on lures, but on fly, this catch has taken me more than a year! The challenge of fly fishing takes me back to when I first started lure fishing; a long period of fishlessness and wondering if these damn things even work! But invariably if you persist, you work it out, and eventually the results come along. It has also been a bucket list item to catch a fish on a fly I'd tied myself, so with this fish, I ticked off two bucket list items!

But does it count as my first fly-caught flatty? I'm not even sure I had any fly line out the rod tip!🤣 I was thinking maybe I'll call it my first 'Tenkara' catch (google Tenkara...I have recently acquired a Tenkara rod but that's a story/project for another day).

[noelm]

You caught it, then it counts……

[Isaac Ct]

Of course it counts, well done.

[Green Hornet]

Hell yeah it counts! Still using a fly and a self tied one at that, well done and congrats also on your first fly caught flatty.

Regarding whether the fly is on the bottom or not, try a short cast in some clear water where you can see the fly hit bottom to get a rough idea of the sink rate. It gives you a starting point and you can factor in extra time for things like current and crosswinds as you fish.

For the record, most of my fly caught flatties have come from water shallower than two metres, thus if you’re only half way down you’re still in the zone.

[mrsswordfisherman]

A big achievement to get that flatty on fly (quote swordie)

Good on you Mike 

[HOOLIGAN2]

100% it does well done 

[XD351]

Might be the first caught on a trolled fly 🤣🤣🤣 the rod doesn’t matter - it is just part of  the delivery system , the fly is what catches the fish.

congrats on the flattie ! Hopefully the first of many more and bigger flathead !

Have you tried the flats at Rodd point or Rose bay yet ? Don’t forget Narrabeen lagoon as well.

Edited September 20, 2023 by XD351

[Burger]

Of COURSE it counts!  Well done LF!

[Little_Flatty]

3 hours ago, noelm said:

You caught it, then it counts……

That settles it then 😎

3 hours ago, Isaac Ct said:

Of course it counts, well done.

Thanks Isaac!

2 hours ago, Green Hornet said:

Hell yeah it counts! Still using a fly and a self tied one at that, well done and congrats also on your first fly caught flatty.

Regarding whether the fly is on the bottom or not, try a short cast in some clear water where you can see the fly hit bottom to get a rough idea of the sink rate. It gives you a starting point and you can factor in extra time for things like current and crosswinds as you fish.

For the record, most of my fly caught flatties have come from water shallower than two metres, thus if you’re only half way down you’re still in the zone.

Thanks Pete. I was hoping you'd pipe in on the depth front. As always, the answer is common sense, but common sense is often hard to put into practice! I guess I just need to become happy with counting, in lieu of seeing the line 'relax' or a hardbody bumping on the bottom.

2 hours ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

A big achievement to get that flatty on fly (quote swordie)

Good on you Mike 

Thanks Donna and Stewy!

1 hour ago, HOOLIGAN2 said:

100% it does well done 

Thanks

1 hour ago, XD351 said:

Might be the first caught on a trolled fly 🤣🤣🤣 the rod doesn’t matter - it is just part of  the delivery system , the fly is what catches the fish.

congrats on the flattie ! Hopefully the first of many more and bigger flathead !

Have you tried the flats at Rodd point or Rose bay yet ? Don’t forget Narrabeen lagoon as well.

Thanks Ian. I'm going to call it 'Foot trolling'. Just wait till I walk into a tackle store and ask for a 'Foot Trolling' outfit...might be a good April Fools joke 🤣

Have fished Rodd Pt, but not on fly and without much success (although I'll admit to not trying hard enough). I have never fished Rose Bay, but literally this morning I was pondering going there with a friend. Love Narrabeen, want to get there more over the summer.

31 minutes ago, Burger said:

Of COURSE it counts!  Well done LF!

Thanks Burger!

[noelm]

I like the bit where you said you got a couple of good casts, that was very satisfying! When you’re a novice, or just hopeless like me, when that miracle cast does happen, it is a very proud moment, maybe not the same as landing a trophy fish, but, strangely not far from it….My last fly outing, I caught absolutely nothing, but, one cast was a real ripper, I felt so proud!

[bessell1955]

Well that is a different angle, but it succeeded, so it counts.

[jenno64]

Great stuff

 

If I had the patience any fish on fly would count as a bonus!

[Little_Flatty]

19 minutes ago, noelm said:

I like the bit where you said you got a couple of good casts, that was very satisfying! When you’re a novice, or just hopeless like me, when that miracle cast does happen, it is a very proud moment, maybe not the same as landing a trophy fish, but, strangely not far from it….My last fly outing, I caught absolutely nothing, but, one cast was a real ripper, I felt so proud!

It certainly is satisfying Noel!

I think I fall in the hopeless category too, but I'm told with practice even the hopeless can become pretty good. The thing I love about it is that you can spend thousands buy better gear, but at the end of the day it's the practice that makes you a good caster. I think that's apparent in all kinds of fishing - you can get a stella and not be able to catch a yakka - but the skill difference between a beginner and expert is even more pronounced with fly fishing. Last year I had a lesson with a world renowned Australian legend, same rod, reel and line, but very different results in our respective hands. Only after four or so months of almost daily practice are his teachings starting to click.

1 hour ago, bessell1955 said:

Well that is a different angle, but it succeeded, so it counts.

Thanks Bessell, Certainly was!

1 hour ago, jenno64 said:

Great stuff

 

If I had the patience any fish on fly would count as a bonus!

Thanks Rob, Fly fishing has tested my patience for sure. I listened to a podcast recently that said that a majority of fly anglers are already very experienced anglers (in general) when they start fly fishing. So going back to square one is certainly very challenging, especially the bit where you know that there's fish around, but you can't catch them with your chosen technique! Thank goodness the casting is fun, otherwise I'd have packed it in...

[Yowie]

Yes Mike, it counts. Fly in the salt water, not in the bathtub or dunny  🤣, so good work. 👍

[campr]

Makes me think about getting the fly rods out and trying again.  I've caught a few fish on fly but am terrible at casting.  I know that feeling well where after many mediocre casts you get the timing right and the fly goes way further and you think what did I just do right?  Feels good but frustrating trying to do it again.  Ron 

[Green Hornet]

Hey @Little_Flatty, it dawned on me last night that both our first flatties on fly were caught in a similar fashion.

I was fishing from my tinny in St Georges Basin and had set up to drift along a weed bed in roughly 4 metres of water. Like you I had no idea how long it would take my clouser to reach the bottom, so I stripped some line off through the rod tip and threw it over the side to count until it stopped sinking. I can’t remember how long it took, but when I picked up the rod and started retrieving the line, the tip buckled over and a decent size fish was bought to the net.

Did I claim it? Too bloody right I did!

[Little_Flatty]

17 hours ago, Yowie said:

Yes Mike, it counts. Fly in the salt water, not in the bathtub or dunny  🤣, so good work. 👍

Thanks Dave, That dunny comment takes me back to @Green Hornet’s story of his dunny bream.🤣

17 hours ago, campr said:

Makes me think about getting the fly rods out and trying again.  I've caught a few fish on fly but am terrible at casting.  I know that feeling well where after many mediocre casts you get the timing right and the fly goes way further and you think what did I just do right?  Feels good but frustrating trying to do it again.  Ron 

You should Ron! Maybe have a brush up with a mate or an instructor and you’ll be set 😎

1 minute ago, Green Hornet said:

Hey @Little_Flatty, it dawned on me last night that both our first flatties on fly were caught in a similar fashion.

I was fishing from my tinny in St Georges Basin and had set up to drift along a weed bed in roughly 4 metres of water. Like you I had no idea how long it would take my clouser to reach the bottom, so I stripped some line off through the rod tip and threw it over the side to count until it stopped sinking. I can’t remember how long it took, but when I picked up the rod and started retrieving the line, the tip buckled over and a decent size fish was bought to the net.

Did I claim it? Too bloody right I did!

Funny we started in a similar place🤣 Doubling down and tying more clousers for the next few sessions.

[XD351]

I tried once to fly fish once  - it wasn’t pretty 🤣🤣

I got a good laugh from the video below - until I remembered my attempt which made young josh look like a master caster🤣🤣🤣

 

[XD351]

To his credit he got it in the end !

[Basil D]

something i couldn't do as i dont have the patience , very nice and yeah it counts

[Larkin]

Haha Mike! I always do that too on the walk back in, albeit with a plastic. 

Nice catch mate! And on a self tied fly too. Good to see you started tying - it’s the part I think I’d really enjoy!

[Little_Flatty]

17 hours ago, XD351 said:

I tried once to fly fish once  - it wasn’t pretty 🤣🤣

I got a good laugh from the video below - until I remembered my attempt which made young josh look like a master caster🤣🤣🤣

 

That's a really nice outfit for a beginner! Yeah it's pretty similar to most peoples' experience, bit like how I'm going now. Good on him for showing what it's really like rather than picture perfect tight loops after heaps of practice. Haven't watched the whole thing, but hopefully he got some lessons with all the connections he should have.

12 hours ago, Basil D said:

something i couldn't do as i dont have the patience , very nice and yeah it counts

Thanks Basil, I only took it up with a vengeance after a sustained period of not turning a scale in the middle of winter. I still wanted to get out, just needed something interesting to do other than casting over fishless flats.

1 hour ago, Larkin said:

Haha Mike! I always do that too on the walk back in, albeit with a plastic. 

Nice catch mate! And on a self tied fly too. Good to see you started tying - it’s the part I think I’d really enjoy!

Cheers Chris, yes, that fly tying is awfully addictive. One of the things they don't tell you about fly tying is that you start to see everything as materials, from mops, to tinsel, to knitting yarn and even bungee cords taken apart! The fly I used has pearlescent tinsel that I bought in a huge roll from a discount shop, as used in the ribbing on this one I tied the other night:

I have even heard of people picking up roadkill off the side of the road 🤮. I'm not that obsessed yet!

[Green Hornet]

One of the things they don't tell you about fly tying is that you start to see everything as materials, from mops, to tinsel, to knitting yarn and even bungee cords taken apart!
 

Mike, you left out the dog, chooks and for us country folk, even road kill never gets overlooked 😁