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.

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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Wiggle minnow

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 version of this very adaptable fly and I would encourage you to individualize the fly to your own requirements.

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Clouser minnow

The Clouser in my view is the quintessential salt water fly. It can be tied in sizes to suit Bream or Billfish and with the correct dressing and size is equally at home in saltwater, trout and bass fisheries.

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Popper – poly head

If I could only carry one surface fly when fishing for Bass, Yellow belly and other native species my black Poll-Head-Popper would be it. They a definite "boof"as the fly lands and that is often enough to induce a strike.

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Deceiver

In terms of popularity with salt water fly fisher folk it probably runs second only to the Clouser Minnow. The Deceiver was designed to be easily tied in a range of sizes and in a range of colors and consequently it has applications across a range of fisheries. The only change I have made to the recipe is to include a foundation of buck tail under the tail hackles and reduce the tail hackles from 6-8 to 2-4.

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