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Flies catch more fly-fishers than fish To the uninitiated getting started with flies can be a real hit and miss exercise. I know that when I started purchasing flies, well before I tied flies, I purchased many flies that I never caught a fish on. Some of those flies were flies that others said I…

Bass Zero bag limit for bass and estuary perch starts 1 May and ends 31 August. Catch and release is allowed. The zero bag limit does not apply to fish in stocked freshwater impoundments, including Glenbawn Dam and Glennies Creek Dam in the Hunter Valley, Brogo Dam near Bega and Clarrie Hall and…

One of the things I still enjoy about fly fishing is tying a fly and then catching a fish on that fly … it's a fantastic sense of achievement. Unfortunately fly fishing options around where I live in Central Queensland are limited by strong prevailing winds and strong tidal flows so more often…

Coming to grips with the effect of moon phases was a pretty daunting consideration when I first started fishing for Barra in Central Queensland but over time I have built a reasonable understanding of moon phases and the influence of each moon phase on the feeding antics of Barra. I have set out my…

On 29th September I was fortunate to be invited by Scott McAuley, who I have fished with socially on quite a few occasions, to partner up with him to fish the 2020 Venom – Lake Awoonga Open. The competition was made up of three sessions, one on each of Tues 29th Sep, day two on 30th September and…

Just behind poor fishing technique and inept netting technique the most prolific reason for fish being lost is a problem with a knot. There are more knots than you can poke a stick at that can be used in fly fishing and over time you will settle on a few that you tie well and have confidence in….

Just behind poor fishing technique and inept netting technique the most prolific reason for fish being lost is a problem with a knot. There are more knots than you can poke a stick at that can be used in fly fishing and over time you will settle on a few that you tie well and have confidence in….

There is nothing new about the snell knot itself but what you will find here is a unique way to tie it. I currently use this process of adding a stinger hook to the front of larger flies, soft plastics or even Mustard Fasthatch clips when I am fishing in low light or dirty water conditions. The…

I use this method of tying an FG knot when setting up rigs for big fish using outfits that typically have 30lb Suffix 832 braid that I connect to quite hard Suffix F100 fluorocarbon. Since I perfected this tie of the FG knot I have not suffered a failure of the knot and it has accounted for heaps…

There is no doubt about it … lures catch more fishos than fish. If you walk into any fishing shop these days you can expect to find a wall or walls of all sorts of lures … wow, where to start. I have mates that have boxes and boxes of lures and it's common to see them sorting through those…

One of my favourite past times is dusk and night fishing for big barramundi in Lake Awoonga. To be successful in the dark it's important to have the right gear at hand and knowing where each item is. My Lake Barra check list helps in that regard … there is a place for everything and everything is…

  The reason for this post is twofold. First to give me a permanent record of how all the wiring works on my Polycraft and secondly I hope this post and the wiring diagrams included may be of benefit to anyone setting up a series of complex 12V or 24V electrical systems on their boat.  …

Leaders My #10 weight leader set up is very simple and consists of 3 meters of 30lb Maxima Ultra Green. I do fish leader/tippet combination both heavier and lighter than this but, within reason, my advise is to stick with leader/tippet combination that is as thick as you can get away with on the…

This is how I add weight to weedless / worm hooks. I generally do 4 at a time as set out below. Process A Tie the thread in just behind the bottom of the vertical post on the hook shank and wind the thread about a third of the way back along the hook shank with tight touching turns.   B Tie in…

This is a set up I use when I am fishing big paddle tail soft plastics in the dark or in discolored water. By big soft plastics I am talking about baits like my 20cm swimbaits or 18cm Castaic Jerky J Swimmers.   In the dark or in discolored water, I prefer to fish my big soft on a single hook…

As the name implies this leader set up has a Mustard size 4 Fastach clip at the business end and a #4/0 Gamakatsu or Mustard live bait stinger after that. It is my goto leader for night time fishing of big soft plastics and PTE lures that have either only one hook or have a a couple of trebles but…

Please read this article in conjunction with the companion article: [member Link="p=6028" Title="Fly fishing tips"] At the 2012 World Fly Fishing Championships which I participated in as part of the Australian team leader lengths were limited to twice the length of the fly rod. Whilst at the…

I am lucky in that I often find myself having the opportunity of fishing my #8 weight fly outfits to either in east coat estuary waters or inland native species waters. Along the coast and in estuaries I target bream, flathead, whiting, tarpon and small pelagics on my #8 weight outfits. Inland I…

You will probably be aware that most fly lines now come with formed loops at the business end. Unfortunately those loop knots don't always last for the life of the fly line so with that in mind have developed this nail loop knot as a replacement. A Nail knot tool and prepared fly line. B Take…

Casting a fly rod: 6 essentials There must be a pause at the end of each stroke, which varies in duration with the amount of line beyond the rod tip. Slack line should be kept to an absolute minimum. The rod tip must travel in a straight line in order to form the most efficient, least air resistant…

Traditional – according to the oxford dictionary: “fishing e.g. for salmon or trout, using a rod and artificial flies as bait.” In contemporary Australia: That form of fishing, for any fish, using a rod and fly line to cast artificial “flies” or “lures” either as bait, attractors or antagonizes to…

Casting can make or break your fly fishing experience and once you have mastered the basics its surprising how easy it all becomes. The basic thing you have to remember is that your casting a fly line and the terminal tackle (your leader tippet and fly or flies) are along for the ride. Good fly…

I often get asked the question as to what gear a newcomer to the sport of fly fishing should buy. A lot has been written on what gear you should buy (most by people who are selling it) when you first start out but by the time you have sifted through the volumes you'll probably be as confused as I…

A long time ago I decided that #6 weight fly rods were the right weight of fly rod for still water fishing for trout. Since then i have used #6 weight fly rods in many trout fisheries overseas and in Australia and have never for a minute considered changing to a different rod class. Set out below…

Food source [months] Fly * Dark Side suggestions Bream [10] [10] [20] [30] [40] [50] [50] [40] [30] [20] [20] [10] FLY Mud prawn PET shell prawn Mutant clouser DARK SIDE Flathead [50] [40] [30] [20] [20] [20] [20] [20] [20] [30] [40] [50] Articulated swimmer Mutant clouser Mud prawn Pregnant prawn…

Process: In the example below I am making two 46g two layered soft plastics. So in this case that will take 92g of material. The bottom layer is deeper and will use about 60% of that and the top layer is only about 7mm thick so it will use only the remaining 40 % of material. For each colour I also…

When I am talking about big soft plastics I have in mind the soft plastics I carry when targeting species such as but not limited to: Barramundi (both freshwater & saltwater) Kingfish (Yellowtail and Cobia) Lutjanids (Mangrove Jack & Fingermark Javelin fish (Barred Grunter and Silver Grunter)…

I have owned a number of canoes and kayaks over the years and the Hobie Mirage Outback shown below is by far the best of that type of fishing platform I have experienced. They are light enough to be loaded onto and easily transported on the roof of the car, they're stable on the water, have plenty…

  Quicklinks   There are times when the right bait for barra is a hard bodied lure. Selecting the right style and swimming depth of hard bodied lure is definatley one of the keys to that process. You can do things with hard bodied lures that you can’t do with any of the soft plastics…

I keep my emergency kit in a small orange zip lock bag. It does have just enough first aid items to get by but most of the content are items you may need in an emergency. Quells, Mobic, Paracetamol 2 Pressure bandages Elastoplast Bentadine ointment $50 cash Toilet paper Cigarette lighter Scissors…

One of the most important things I learned in my competition fishing career was the importance of not forgetting to have items on hand that I needed in a competition session. An early memory I have was a bank session on Little Pine Lake in Tasmania where my beat was on the opposite side of the lake…

From the year 2000 and up until we moved to Gladstone in Central most of my fishing was with fly. Since moving to CQ my fishing has been quite different and with "tongue in cheek" I have basically called it fishing on the dark side. As it has turned out I love it and have spent a lot of time…

For those many years that I lived in the Snowy Mountains region of NSW loch style fishing for trout was absolute favourite fishing preference. This is my check list of items I take on every trip when targeting trout on fly from boat.     GRAB BAG: as set out in this link.   ESKY: as…

When I am talking about big fish flies I have in mind the flies I carry when targeting species such as but not limited to: Barramundi (both freshwater & saltwater) Kingfish (Yellowtail and Cobia) Lutjanids (Mangrove Jack & Fingermark Javelin fish (Barred Grunter and Silver Grunter) Flathead (Dusky…

My first fish on fly fell to the magic of a Woolly Bugger and many have gone the same way since then. My understanding is that the Woolly Bugger has its origins in America where it appears to be tied, as a leach imitation. having said that there is also an English fly with bead chin eyes called a…

Most of what I have learnt has been accumulated by reading books and magazines, by talking to and watching others, by imitating some fly fishers whilst trying to avoid the antics and pitfalls of others and by carefully observing a range of fisheries I have been exposed to. If there is any new…

When I fish for native fish species such as bass, perch and saratoga and when I fish for salt water species I always use a loop to loop connection between my fly line and my leader. The loop to loop connection using the nail loop knot on the fly line and the 2 turn loop knot on my leader is very…

Just behind poor fishing technique and inept netting technique the most prolific reason for fish being lost is a problem with a knot. There are more knots than you can poke a stick at that can be used in fly fishing and over time you will settle on a few that you tie well and have confidence in….

Just behind poor fishing technique and inept netting technique the most prolific reason for fish being lost is a problem with a knot. There are more knots than you can poke a stick at that can be used in fly fishing and over time you will settle on a few that you tie well and have confidence in….

Just behind poor fishing technique and inept netting technique the most prolific reason for fish being lost is a problem with a knot. There are more knots than you can poke a stick at that can be used in fly fishing and over time you will settle on a few that you tie well and have confidence in….

Just behind poor fishing technique and inept netting technique the most prolific reason for fish being lost is a problem with a knot. There are more knots than you can poke a stick at that can be used in fly fishing and over time you will settle on a few that you tie well and have confidence in….

This knot is very simple to tie and because of its figure eight configuration is relatively strong. It also has the advantage over the other many other loop knots in that the two parts of line coming out of the actual knot are next to each other so the actual open part of the loop can be as narrow…

This is my approach to “Mal de mere”, “sea sickness”, “motion sickness” or whatever you want to call it. It is a terrible affliction and can spoil what may well have been a great fun day. The reason for sea sickness seems to be two fold. The first factor is that our balance centre, which is in the…

Whilst I don't do it so often these days there is a time in my fishing history when fishing off the rocks or "rock hopping" as we called it was my preferred form of fishing. Sure rock hopping has its inherent risk factors but with a little good management you can still undertake this form of…

See also: Getting started – dry trout flies Getting started – wet trout flies Getting started – bass and native fish flies Getting started – the gear Salt water flies are flies that have been designed specifically for use in salt water to catch fish that live full time or part of their life cycle…

I was recently at my home on the shores of Lake Jindabyne the wind was up and blowing from the north east at about 20 Km, it was cold and overcast and there were intermittent snow and sleet showers. All in all it was a miserable day and better suited to tying flies, reading or writing than actually…

These are the AFTMA fly line ratings for traditional single hand fly rods used for traditional techniques. Line Rating —- Line weight —- range for line rating 12 weight | 380 grains | 368 – 392 grains 11 weight | 330 grains | 318 – 342 grains 10 weight | 280 grains | 270 – 290 grains 9 weight |…