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This is a fly which I developed progressively over the period from 2012 to 2015 to fill a gap in my arsenal of flies to target barramundi around Gladstone.

When I first came to Central Queensland I started out fishing for barra with pink things, clousers and deceivers that I had tied for barra fishing in the Northern Territory.

Unfortunately those flies just did not work for me in our local Central Queensland waters so I set about investigating what lures worked on barra and tying flies, that to the extent possible with a fly emulated lure colours, form and function ... not an easy job.

When I was first working out colours to tie flies in for barra in Central Queensland one of the dominant colour combinations suggested was Qantas colours of red head with white body and that is the first colour I tied this fly in and remains my favourite colour combination today. The other three colours I tie are orange and yellow which is popular barra lure colour combination, colours leaning toward the finish on the ever popular brown bomber lure and more recently chartreuse and white ... some local lure fishers insist "if it's not chartreuse it's no use".

Over the next three years I developed this fly ... tied on 3/0 or #4/0 Mustard 34007 stainless steel hooks the finished fly is 11cm or 12cm long. That is a big enough mouth full to be attractive to barra.

Articulated swimmer flies are amongst my favourite flies in the fresh water of Lake Awonga and the salt water mangrove lined backwaters of Gladstone Harbour, where the tidal runs keep the waters discoloured to varying degrees.

I suggest that you fish these flies on a #10 weight fly rod as they are big flies that are well suited to big fish both of which will overpower light fly rods.

I fish these flies on either an intermediate line or a fast sink #10 weight lines and a a rod length straight leader of 30lb Maxima Ultra Green. Jerky retrieves of different speeds punctuated by frequent pauses are my preferred retrieves.

As it turns out these flies are also great for other salt water species including mackerel, GT's, queenfish and golden trevally.

1	Articulated swimmer – Qantas colours In the #3/0 mega size this is one of my three main go to flies when I am chasing barra in both fresh and salt water Central Queensland environments. The 1/0 smallest size is great for fresh water tarpon and the middle #2/0 is a good general prospecting size. This fly included a glass rattle which I sometimes include in the fly just in case it helps.

2	Articulated swimmer - "brown bomber" 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' lure, particularly if I am targeting barra in fresh water dams like Awonga that are often a bit tannin stained, it's a fly I don't hesitate to tie on.

3	Articulated swimmer – orange & yellow 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 been adopted here to produce an 'in your face' fly for aggressive tropical species. It doesn't matter if you fishing the smaller versions of this fly or the 15cm mega version but I suggest that you fish these flies on a #10 weight fly rod as they are big flies that are well suited to big fish both of which will overpower light fly rods.

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