Big fish flies – temperate & tropical destinations

We are lucky enough to be based in Gladstone Central Queensland which where the temperate waters of New South Wales and southern Queensland cross over with the tropical waters of the Capricorn Coast and other northern reaches of Australia.

Articulated bugger

It doesn't matter which of the larger CQ species your fishing for ... at 13cm long and with a great swimming action more often than not my articulated bugger in Qantas colours is my goto fly.

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Jig fly

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.

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Articulated baitfish – big fish fly version

This fly has been designed to have an obvious bait fish profile and is my 'goto' fly when targeting sighted big ambush predators or pelagics or when prospecting for the same predators around structure. This is a big fly with the #4/0 version being 11.5 cm long but because it's unweighted it's relatively easy to cast.

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Chatto’s jig fly – olive bait-fish

The set up of the jig hook and extension puts the tow point 15mm back along the fly so that a medium to fast strip will cause the fly to dart off in different directions much like wounded or fleeing fish. The 15mm of 8mm diameter closed cell foam tube above the hook eye give the fly neutral buoyancy so then when you pause the lure it basically suspends at or close to the level it was being retrieved giving predators time to attack.

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Christmas Island Special – mauve

This is the newest addition to my top six CXI special colours. It's a little more subtle than the electric camel but I think that adds to its appeal to bone fish.

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Candy – pelagic

Matching the hatch is the key to catching pelagics such as queenfish, tuna, Australian salmon and herring 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. In smaller sizes, particularly in pink, they are a handy fly for targeting flathead and bream in estuary waters.

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Pregnant prawn – size #2/0 9 cm long

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 flathead in estuary and harbour waters but it's not unusual to hook up on queenfish, travally or other fish that eat prawns.

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Articulated popper head

Poppers are a bit harder to cast than a normal fly because of the wind resistance but if you slow your cast down a little I'm sure you'll soon get the hang of it. Once you do you have another tool in your arsenal which is useful in three diverse situations:

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Articulated swimmer – big fish #4/0 version

My articulated swimmer is one of my most successful prospecting fly for Central Queensland. This #4/0 version has caught everything from barra to bream with plenty of other species in between.

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Articulated swimmer – sunburst with down bib

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.

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