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 booby

A great fly for barra and mangrove jack ... put a good cast into the target area and to allow the fly to settle for a few seconds before doing tiny twitches of the rod tip to cause some rings on the surface suggesting it's a natural struggling and then if that doesn't induce a strike to commence either a slow roly poly retrieve, or a series of stop start strips, back to the boat or bank. Whatever the retrieve the occasional pause followed by some twitches of the rod tip area good idea.

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Gusto – sunburst variant

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 plenty of currents around the fly that really get the marabou moving.

The overall length of the finished fly is around 10cm long.

sunburst-p
Hook Eyes Thread Tail Tail Flash Body Front hackle
Tiemco 34007 stainless in size #3/0 Spirit River 'real eyes' 7/32" My preference is white cotton Yellow marabou blood plume Sure Strike violet krystal flash - 6 strands FNF jelly chenille in Picricish colour One red saddle hackle and one grizzly hackle died deep red

Process

A
  1. Starting at a point a little back from the eye of the hook wrap the thread in tight touching turns down the front 1/5 of the hook shank.
sunburst-a

B
  1. Tie in your bead chain, dumb bell or real eyes on top of the hook shank half way along the thread base using figure 8 wraps. To tighten the connection wrap the thread around the base of the eyes on top of the hook shank. My preference is Spirit River 'real eyes' 7/32" with double pupils of black inside red.
  2. Continue winding the thread to directly above the point of the hook.
sunburst-b

C

    Making the tail is a 3 step process

  1. Select two matching blood plume marabou hackles and tie the first one in on top of the hook shank. Make sure that the marabou is tied in horizontal not vertical.
sunburst-c

D
  1. Select a couple of long strands of krystal flash and tie two along the front side with equal amounts projecting behind and in front of the fly.
sunburst-d

E
  1. Take the strands projecting in front of the fly over the shank of the fly and face then back down behind the fly and lock them in that position with a couple firm wraps of thread
sunburst-e

F
  1. Select the second blood plume marabou hackle and tie it in on top of the first blood plume marabou hack and the krystal flash.
sunburst-f

G
  1. Trim off an excess hackle butt and lock the tail made up of the first blood plume hackles, the krystal flash and the second blood plume hackle in place along the top of the hook shank to a position directly above the point of the hook.
sunburst-g

H
  1. Tie a length of FNF jelly chenille in on top of the hook shank directly above the point of the hook
  2. Take the thread forward half way between above the point of the hook and the back of the dumbbell eyes.
sunburst-h

I
  1. Wind the jelly chenille forward in tight touching turns to the thread./li>
  2. Tie the jelly chenille off at that position and trim away the excess.
sunburst-i

J

    This fly need a dense array of hackles that fill the remain free space on the hook shank so select hackles that have some fluffy barbules and a majority of hackle barbules that are about 1.5 times the gape of the hook. For this fly I have selected a red saddle hackle and a grizzly hackle that has been died red. Depending on the length of your hackles you may need up to 4 hackles.

  1. Tie the red saddle hackle in directly in front of the jelly chenille body.
sunburst-j

K
  1. Tie the grizzly hackle in directly in front of the first hackle.
sunburst-k

L
  1. Pull the grizzly hackle aside and wind the saddle hackle forward in uniformly spaced turns in the space between where it is tied in and just behind the dumbbell eyes.
  2. Lock the saddle hackle in behind the dumbbell eyes with a couple of firm wraps of thread.
sunburst-l

M
  1. Trim away the excess tip of the saddle hackle with a sharp blade.
sunburst-m

N
  1. Take up the second hackle and wind that forward through the saddle hackle in uniformly spaced turns.
  2. Lock the grizzly hackle in place between the saddle hackle and the dumbbell eyes with a couple of firm wraps of thread.
sunburst-n

O
  1. Trim away the excess tip of the grizzly hackle with a sharp blade.
  2. Build up a neat cone shaped beak in front of the dumbbell eyes.
  3. Trim away any excess thread.
sunburst-o

P
  1. Varnish the beak and the tie in of the dumbbell eyes with a couple of coats of red nail polish.
sunburst-p

Chatto’s blue water minnow

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.

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Articulated swimmer – “brown bomber” with optional rattle

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.

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Articulated swimmer – mega – orange & yellow with rattle

This mega sized version of that original fly is my go to fly when I know I am targeting particularly big barra. It's tied on a size #3/0 Mustard 34007 hook and at 15cm long it's an uncomfortable fly to cast properly for long durations but I am happy to tie it on to target a specific fish or to fish that short period of the ebb tide when I am targeting big barra known to haunt bridge pylons and mid river structures that are only accessible for the short period of the ebb tide.

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Mud prawn – large 9cm or 10cm long

This is the biggest version of my Mud Prawn Fly and the one that I use when chasing barramundi in relatively clear salt water around structure such as drowned timber. It's a very durable fly that swims hook point up so that it's fairly snag resistant. It is designed not only to provide a representation of a prawn that is readily taken by barra of all sizes but it can be crept slowly over logs and other structure giving the maximum time for fish to respond, can be fished like a soft plastic or can be fished as a faster moving fleeing prawn.

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Articulated slow roller

Tied in either Qantas or brown bomber colours this 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.

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Chatto’s marabou bugger

My first fish on fly fell to the magic of a Woolly Bugger and many have gone the same way since then. Tied predominately as a prospecting fly for barra in Awoonga this fly also gets a swim in estuary and coastal waters when I am looking for grunter and fingermark.

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Thing – pink

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 range of tropical species.

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Crease minnow

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 water column using a fast stripping action or roly poly retrieve.

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