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Fly Fishing With Robert Jarvis
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Queensland Trout Copyright © 2002
Robert Jarvis
When you purchase your first fly fishing outfit all you want to do is get some runs on the board. The problem is that most new fly fishers do not have an experienced fly fishing friend to show them the ropes (or should that be fly line?). Some new fly fishos may target Flathead which entails blind flogging the sand flats for hours with a Clouser. Now on a scale of 1 to 10, (1 being the easiest and 10 being the hardest to cast), a Clouser Deep Minnow must be about a 7 and probably not the best fly to learn how to cast with. A bread fly on the other hand is a 1. It is so weightless, it is the same as just casting the line. When I purchased my first fly fishing outfit after reading books and watching videos on Trout fishing, I came to the conclusion that fly fishing on the whole was based on sight fishing. This means seeing your fish, casting an appropriate fly to a position in the water so the fish can see your fly (very important), manoeuvring your fly in such a way that you give it some life and as the fish eats your fly - set the hook. With this in mind I headed for a local water way where I had seen Snub Nose Gar poaching bread scraps from ducks fed by visitors. Armed with a loaf of stale bread and 2 floating size 6 bread flies, I landed 5 Gar in about an hour, after work. I learnt so much from that experience. 1 You need a good pair of Polarised sunglasses to help see the fish take the fly, 2 Do not set the hook by striking with the rod but with your stripping hand and 3 You do not have to be able to cast 20 metres to catch fish on fly. Now Gar fight pretty well for their size - they jump out of the water and tail walk but have no real bulk to make the fight interesting. They are a good learning fish just the same and while you are berleying for Gar, what I call “Queensland Trout “might turn up (Fresh or Salt water Mullet). Mullet grow quite large, pull on a 9 foot fly rod really well and the best thing about them is that few people target them. Those that do always seem to put them back so there is always a school of them to try for. Fly Rod The rod most suited for Mullet would be a 4wt which is the rod weight commonly used for Trout on small streams. I use a Strudwick DBT 6wt fly rod because some times a large fish of a different species will get in on the act. Fly Reel A fly reel best suited for Mullet would be the same used for Trout - no drag, just a ratchet and little or no backing. Fly Line A floating weight forward fly line in a weight matched to your rod is all that is required. There is no need to pay big money on a fly line for Mullet as your cast will be only about 10 metres maximum and they do not fight like Papuan Black Bass. The Leader The leader is made up of 2 sections the first being the butt section of 20 pound mono of about 1 metre long and the second section the class tippet of 4 pound Fluorocarbon also about 1 metre long. I join the butt section to the fly line and the class tippet to the butt section with a perfection loop. Mullet Flies If you tie your own flies (I find it incredibly satisfying when I catch a fish on one of my own developed flies) the biggest problem is finding the right hook for the pattern. Queensland Trout sip in the fly and reject it so fast you really have to pay attention. The hook set is extremely quick and in doing this I found I was dropping fish due to the hook straightening minutely. After a lot of trial and error trying to tie the perfect bread fly pattern for Queensland Trout, this is what I have come up with. I purchased 5 different hook patterns until I found the best for the job - in this case Gamakatsu L10-3H in size 10. I have landed 40 Mullet in 4 hours of fishing with out dropping a fish due to hook failure. The bread fly I tie for mullet uses white Egg Yarn dubbed to the shank of the hook, one of the easiest flies you will every tie and probably the one to give you the most fun. Berley I do not use any secret formula - just bread that has gone hard or off, be it slices of bread or bread rolls. The key is to break up a slice of bread and toss it out on to the water then rig your fly rod. This gives the fish a chance to find the bread and get on to the chop. With berley a little often is a good rule. When the Mullet are chopping the bread on the surface, cast your bread fly into the middle of the turbulent water and try to keep in contact with your fly. This simply means keep your fly line straight from fly to rod tip. When you feel a bite or see the take, set the hook . When hooked, Mullet take off, diving deep. The smaller fish can be played off the rod but the bigger fish pushing a kilogram give more enjoyment played off the reel. This then gives you more experience in getting the fish back on the reel which is a skill used when fighting Mack Tuna or any other fish that will take out your backing. There is another benefit when fly fishing for Mullet that I have found and this is the by-catch. While fishing for Mullet I have landed Tilapia to 1 kg, Spangled Perch and 3 other species. It is a real lucky dip in Queensland water ways. Copyright © 2002
Robert Jarvis |
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