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We are very lucky in Central Queensland in that for most salt water locations there is a range of species you can target.

So what is the best fly rod and set up for our coastal and estuary fly fishing options.

On any given day fishing our local coastal and estuary waters you will have access to a wide range of species to target.

For me it’s mainly “scroungers” that I target. That includes species such as bream, flathead, whiting, mangrove jack, fingermark, barred and silver grunter, various members of the snapper family and of course a range of cod. There are also a few pelagic species that we encounter in these waters such as various trevally, queenfish, blue salmon and occasionally King salmon. Then of course there is always a possibility of a barramundi taking your relatively small scrounger or pelagic fly.

With such a wide range of possibilities in mind and so many varied choices of fly rods, reels etc even with my trout and grayling competitions fly-fishing experiences preparing for and fishing in the World, Commonwealth and Oceania Fly Fishing Championships it took some time to come up with just one gear and set up preference.

If your targeting Bream or Flathead on your #6 to #8 weight gear, don't assume that you wont get a Barra or a Jack, as I have been surprised by big fish taking flies just 50mm long. After many outings fly fishing around Central Queensland coastal and estuary waters I came up with the follow fly gear and set up that works for me.

Overall, I found that a #10 weight rod and a range of target-based leaders works best for me and at this stage I have caught in excess of 38 different Central Queensland species on fly using this set up.

I have settled on Redington Predator series #8 weight 8’3” in length fly rods as my rods of choice for Central Queensland fly-fishing. Whilst Redington is one of the Sage brands these rods are relatively inexpensive to buy. These fly rods have a powerful butt section and a tip that has enough give to load easily with a range of leaders. The reason for leaning toward a shorter rod is that firstly they are easier to handle in a boat and being short they make it easier to fish into structure such as overhanging trees and finally because it’s easier to keep your line below the wind with a short rod.

I like the flexibility of modular reels and a long time ago settled on the Hardy Ultralite 10,000DS modular reel with interchangeable modular spools as my salt water reel of choice. I have #10 weight intermediate, floating and fast sink lines loaded on interchangeable modular spools but more often than not, I only take the modular spool that is loaded with my intermediate line. That covers most coastal and estuary fly fishing requirements. Most fly lines have manufactured loops built in and as the loop at the business end of the fly line is critical to how I use these reels I replace any damaged loops with my own monofilament loops if the loops become damaged.

My leader set ups are much shorter than those I use when fishing for fresh water trout and grayling and my default leader is 30lb Maxima Ultra green monofilament that is connected to the fly line with a loop to loop connection and at the business end I have a size #3 Mustard Fastach clip to make fly changes quick and easy.

The rod, reel and leader described above covers most of my CQ fly fishing requirements but I do carry 3 spare target based leaders on a foam pad. They all have loop connections for easy interchangeable connection to the fly line.

• Spare 30lb Maxima Ultra green monofilament leader with size #3 Fastach clip at the business end.
• For bigger scroungers such as fingermark and grunter I carry a leader that has a 1 meter 30lb Maxima Ultra green monofilament butt section connected with a surgeons knot to a 2 meter tippet of 20lb fluorocarbon with a size #3 Mustard Fastach clip at the business end.
• For bream I carry a leader that has a 1 meter 20lb fluorocarbon butt section connected with a surgeons knot to a 2 meter tippet of 7lb fluorocarbon. I don't use fastach clips on this lighter leader and prefer to tie flies on with a Lefty's loop knot.

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