Big fish flies - temperate & tropical destinations

== I have fished the Boyne pretty much through all seasons and understand why it is regarded as one of the iconic fishing locations for the Gladstone Region. It can produces Barramundi all year round even though the number caught is often low. Other target species include Mangrove Jack, Grunter,…

==Cania Dam has a reputation of being an all round fishing venue but in reality for me it is best suited to the warmer months when there is plenty of insect activity. Even then, for the best results, fish a morning session from at least half an hour before sun rise to when the dawn bite window…

== Mast head and other off shore reefs Rundle Island (top of Curtis Island) Facing island reefs including Perl Rocks and Sable Chief Jenny Lind and Seal rocks Channel markers Gear options: 1) General fishing: 15/50 with 30lb braid, 50 flouro and a #4 fastatch clip. This can fish for “big fish”…

From what I can gather the original Wiggle Minnow was conceived by Mark Felty of Felty’s flies in Sydney. By varying the materials used, the colours and size I have accounted for trout, bream, flathead, mangrove jack and even barramundi on wiggle minnows. The recipe I have set out below is just one…

A great fly to use when target fish are actively feeding on small fish such as sardines, whitebait and pilchards. You can either fish it on a floating line and strip it across the surface with dramatic effect or fish the fly on a sinking line, count the fly down and then retrieve it up through the…

The original thing was pink and white and was tied by Graham White of Darwin the early 80's. It got its name "pink thing" when one of his mates asked for "a lend of one of those pink things".  Whilst the "pink thing" was tied as a barra fly it has turned out to be a great dirty water fly for a…

This is a variation of my very successful articulated swimmer and is a great fly when targeting barra in Lake Awoonga and other barra impoundments on those quiet days when the barramundi are sulking and you need a fly that is going to be in their face for a relatively long time but still active. I…

The original version of this fly was tied on a size # 3/0 hook and the finished fly was 11cm and 12cm in length. This mega version is tied on a size #4/0 hook and the finished fly is a whopping 15cm to 16cm in length. Orange & yellow combinations are popular with lure fishers and those colours have…

This is one of just four colour combinations that I tie my articulated swimmer fly in. Hard bodied Brown bomber lures are very popular as a lures for targeting barra and jacks in Queensland waters and most lure fishers have at least on in the lure tray. Based on the colours of the 'brown bomber'…

This is the biggest version of my "mud prawn" fly and the one that I use when chasing barramundi, flathead, grunter and fingermark in Central Queensland. I tie samller versions on #2 and #1/0 hooks and this large version on size #2/0 and #3/0 hooks. All 3 sizes provide a representation of prawn…

This is my variant of Peter Morse' Gusto fly and is one of my go to flies when targeting barramundi in Lake Awonga. It's dressed on a #3/0 34007 stainless hook which is quite a heavy hook and that creates an effective "keel" effect. It has a long marabou tail and a dense hackle collar which creates…

This is a booby version of my very successful articulated swimmer fly. I have modified the articulated swimmer by replacing the dumbbell eyes with large booby eyes to ensure that the fly is marginally buoyant, and will sit in the surface and not on the surface but with the hook hanging down behind…

This fly is a down bib version of my 'articulated swimmer' range of flies and adopts the "sunburst colours" of a number of popular barramundi lures. Like those lures this fly comes into its own when fishing water that is tannin stained or carrying a lot of sediment. Building an articulated fly is…

This is a larger blue water version of my very successful 'Flats minnow". It's a very fishy looking fly and has a little blood spot that adds to the appearance of the fly being a wounded fish. It sinks quickly and because of the relatively heavy dumbbell eyes and the wing that is well above the…

I designed my original pregnant prawn in 2011. That fly is tied on a #2 hook and is a corker of a fly for targeting bream, whiting and flathead. This bigger pregnant prawn fly is one of my goto flies here in Central Queensland estuary waters. I often fish it when targeting barra, grunter, jacks and…

Matching the hatch is the key to catching pelagics such as Queenfish, Tuna and Australian salmon on fly. These unweighted flies are like candy to pelagic fish because they closely match the form and function of a lot of naturals they are targeting. I always tie the bottom 3/4 of the fly in white…

There are a lot of colour combinations of Christmas Island Special (CXI) flies that my mates and I have seen on our various trips to Christmas Island and Aitutaki. Some work sometimes and not others and some work more often than not. Below is my list of CXI flies that more often than not…

My articulated swimmer been one of my most successful prospecting flies for Central Queensland. It has caught more than its fair share of barramundi in both the Boyne River and Awoonga Dam and has caught other species including bream, flathead, grunter, fingermark, queenfish, trevally and mackerel…

This fly has a poddy mullet shape, casts well and as the name implies it has an action which is similar to both a jerk bait lure and suspending lure. The set up of the jig hook and extension puts the tow point 15mm back along the fly so that a medium to fast strips cause the fly to dart off in…

Whilst not designed to represent any particular bait fish I have designed this fly to have a shape, form and function similar to many of the little fish that predators hunt. In the #4/0 version this is a very effective "big fish fly" and is 12 cm long but because it's unweighted it's relatively…

This fly is designed as a bait to jig along the muddy and sandy bottom of local rivers and estuary bays when targeting fingermark, grunter and and flathead in particular. Presented to scrounging fish it can then be jigged along the bottom or close to the bottom suggesting it's a wounded bait fish….

It doesn't matter if your fishing saltwater or freshwater, targeting demersal or pelagic fish or that your target fish is feeding on mullet, garfish, herring, bony bream, hardyhead or some other baitfish … at 13cm long and with a great swimming action more often than not my articulated bugger in…

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…

To enjoy and be successful in the task of catching big fish on fly a good starting point is to have the right back up gear, fly fishing gear and tools on hand. So here is my "check list" of the items I think you need on hand when targeting big fish on fly.     GRAB BAG: as set out in this…

"If it ain't chartreuse it ain't no use." Well I don't subscribe to that but I do carry a couple of flies in chartreuse over white, shrimp or off white in my fly box. These flies are a great standby for when big queenfish, GT's and goldens, that are either hunting on sand flats or are attacking…

I designed my original pregnant prawn in 2011. That fly is tied on a #2 hook and is a corker of a fly for targeting bream, whiting and flathead. This is the biggest pregnant prawn fly that I tie and is one of my goto flies here in Central Queensland when targeting barramundi in estuary and harbor…

This is a variation of my very successful articulated swimmer and is a great fly when targeting barra in Lake Awoonga and other barra impoundments on those quiet days when the barramundi are sulking and you need a fly that is going to be in their face for a relatively long time but still active. I…

When tuna attack a bait ball they absolutely guts themselves and if captured it's not unusual for them to cough some of the fish they were feeding on. In this recent capture on the "dark side" one did just that revealing what they had been feeding on … in this case hardyhead.   Each year the…