When I first took up fly fishing in the early 1980s the main focus was trout, with good fishing on offer not that far from home in Canberra. As well as salmonids, natives like golden perch and silvers were found locally and would scoff mudeye flies in the right conditions. When fishing was slow the much maligned carp were ideal to practice sight fishing on at venues like Lake Burrinjuck where ol’ rubber lips cruised the surface and would eat small brown nymphs. Local rivers and streams where the noxious fish had taken hold were also fun to stalk, fly rod in hand. Along the NSW south coast, ocean rocks and estuary mouths were ideal for throwing flies for salmon, luderick, tailor, bonito, small kings, trevally, luderick, pike and more. Not much has changed since with fly fishing still producing endless opportunities to chase sportfish in both fresh and salt. So if you’re keen to know more, the following might kickstart your own fly fishing journey.
Why fly?
If you’ve tried fly fishing for trout but haven’t cast a fly in the salt you’re missing out. While any online search of “saltwater fly fishing” lights up with pics of GTs, bonefish, permit, tuna, tarpon, billfish etc. the average fly fisher mightn’t have the desire (or bank balance) to aim that high. Thankfully, many homegrown “bread & butter” species can provide as much challenge and reward to flyrodders as the glamour species. And if you like to regularly catch a feed, you’ll be happy to know that the right fly can produce fish as effectively as, or in some cases, better, than lures on bream, flathead and other estuary species. I say this from experience, having often also fished lures alongside gun fly fishers such as longtime mate, Dave Longin, who’s caught more fish on fly than most. For a taste of entry level saltwater fly fishing, most of Australia’s coastal estuary systems offer easy access and usually in summer, a good mix of sportfish to cast a fly at. They’re a great place to start and can be fished shore or boat based. All you need is a suitable outfit, a few flies and the desire to have a throw.
Casting couch
While casting a fly can be daunting for first-timers, presentations don’t have to be perfect, especially in saltwater where predatory fish tend to get excited by surface splashes. To get you started, online platforms like Youtube have loads of how-to fly casting videos that can set you on the right path; like anything, practice makes perfect but the main thing is to get a fly in the water (don’t worry about distance, it’ll come later).
Fly casting can be challenging for beginners in wind or confined spaces like small boats, or on shore surrounded by trees and bush. Don’t be put off. Even experienced fly fishers can struggle in wind and tight spots. That said, it pays to be vigilant when sharing a boat with a fly fisher as weighted flies dart back and forth, as I was reminded recently when whacked between the eyes by a low flying Clouser!
The next step after making a cast is using your non-casting hand to “strip” (pull in) the line to get the fly darting, pulsing, blooping; generally looking like food, e.g. a baitfish, cicada, etc. Like lure fishing, varying the speed and style of fly retrieve can affect results – knowing what works comes with time on the water.
While fly fishing can seem difficult at first, stick with it. When that first fish grabs your fly you’ll be glad you persisted. Be mindful though, it doesn’t take much success to become obsessed…
And if you’re a keen lure fisher with tons of gear the good news is you don’t have to sell it to take up fly fishing, or even fork out big bucks. There’s a misconception about fly fishing being expensive and elitist. While it can be both, the fly fishers I know mostly don’t use high end gear and enjoy it because it’s a very direct, challenging way to fish; if you’ve ever landed a fish on a handline you’ll understand the “direct” reference. If you’re a bit of an all-round fisho, fly fishing can be another addition to your repertoire, another technique to try when the usual ones aren’t working. Sometimes in heavily fished water it can be an advantage to fish something completely different, i.e. a fly.
Want flies with that?
Fly fishers tend to be a resourceful lot: tying flies, knotting tapered leaders, fashioning custom shooting heads, rolling custom rods. There are also fly fishers who’ve never fished at all before taking up the wand. In my experience, successful sport fishing careers tend to follow a natural progression starting with basic lessons learnt early on at the likes of jetties, bridges, river banks and beaches. So, if you’re already a keen angler, fly fishing will come to you more naturally.
So, what gear do you need? It depends on your budget, but as mentioned, you don’t need to spend big. Fly rods are available from entry-level models priced like similar quality spin rods, through to state of the art rods from big name brands, with eye-watering price tags to match. When starting out you can do worse than pick up a 6-7 weight rod around 9 feet long. Rod weight signifies the optimal line to load the rod efficiently for casting and delivering flies. A 6-7 weight for example makes for a versatile rod for estuaries, river mouths and even harbours for bream, flathead, tailor, salmon, trevally etc. and impoundment/river bass, EPs and lake trout. At the of risk upsetting tackle retailers and to save you money, I’d suggest firstly looking second hand as you’re likely to pick up a bargain. Some people spend big when taking up fly fishing, then find it’s not for them and their hardly used gear is soon up on eBay, Gumtree or facebook. Seeing ads for complete outfits with reel, lines, and flies is common. In comparison to high end spin or overhead reels, fly reels have basic drag systems and are usually direct drive. Most fish you’ll hook in estuaries, rivers and lakes can be landed “off the reel” meaning fly line is pulled in by hand to land fish, in combination with a loaded rod. Reels to suit a 6-7wt rod can be bought for reasonable cost, often with a spare spool or two. These reels are often made from lightweight composite materials to keep costs down. When it comes to targeting big powerful fish in saltwater, high end reels with extra strong large capacity spools and frames made of aircraft grade aluminium and heavy duty drags and precise tolerances are the norm. These reels can also cost a similar price to a quality overhead game reel.
Lines can be one of the most confusing aspects of fly fishing. When I took it up mostly only double taper, weight forward and sink tip lines were available. Today fly lines come in many types, colours, lengths, sink rates, temperature ranges, coatings etc. – enough choice to have any newbie reaching for the spin outfit. The main thing to consider is do you want the line to sink or float, or a combination of both, and where you want to fish? My advice would be to go for a weight forward floater. In general this is a versatile line suited to many situations, apart from fishing deep water which is a more specialised technique. With a floating line you can still use weighted flies to fish deeper, as well as surface and slow sinking flies. Using full sinking and intermediate (slow sinking) lines limits the potential for shallow water and surface presentations.
Fly line technology has come a long way with many well known manufacturers including Rio, Scientific Anglers, Cortland, AirFlo, producing lines for any fly fishing situation. My favourite at the moment for light estuary work is Airflo’s Forty Plus in Floating. This is a weight forward tapered line with a 35’ front section to aid distance, connected to a level running line. It’s a pleasure to use with different flies including popular weighted patterns like Clousers, commonly used for flathead. Quality fly lines aren’t cheap: most start at around $120 or more. The good thing is that most should last you at least a few seasons if looked after with regular cleaning and conditioning. I’m slack in this area but my lines still seem to last. It also depends on how often you fish as some lines wear out more quickly after hard use. A tip is to check bargain bins in tackle stores for fly lines as they often become updated or discontinued. Fly lines attach to the reel via backing to add capacity for landing fish that run a long way. In general, unless you plan on chasing bonefish or GTs, a reel capable of holding fly line and 200-300m of backing will be more than enough for most estuary and light coastal situations. Large arbor reel designs are common and easily hold such capacities. Braid lines they are often used for backing due to their thin diameter.
Fly lines generally come with a loop either end for easy loop to loop connection to backing and leaders. Failing that a nail knot will still do the job at the backing end.
Like the fly line, leaders are tapered to aid presentations. When fly fishing in the salt or chasing bass a tapered leader isn’t as vital as in trout fishing where a 15ft leader may be needed for finicky fish. As a rule of thumb a tapered leader the length of your rod covers most situations. You can buy knotless tapered leaders or tie your own using uni knots or similar and lines of tapering breaking strength from around 30lb line at the fly line end, down to 15lb, then a length of around 8/9lb and if required, a lighter tippet to the fly. In most light estuary fly fishing 6lb, preferably fluorocarbon, is about as light as you’d want to go for bream, EPs, trevally and the like for strength and stealth factor. While some fly fishers run heavier bite leaders for flathead I’ve seen enough lizards to 90cm brought in on 6lb tippets to take the risk of losing one. Providing the fly isn’t swallowed deep and the line is kept tight away from those file-like mouths you should land most.
Lastly, the subject of flies can make an article or three on its own, so to keep things simple I’d recommend sourcing flies from a reputable local fly tyer or fly fishing shop. These days it’s easy to buy selections of estuary, light saltwater, bass and other groupings of flies that include proven fish-catching patterns. No doubt, if you really get into it you’ll want to tie your own flies at some stage and there’s a lot of satisfaction to be had from catching fish on your own creations. As someone who ties pretty ugly flies that still catch fish there’s something to be said for using something no one else has! While this has been a basic overview, hopefully it inspires you to try fly fishing this summer.
Tight loops.
