North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Hi All,
Well it's official. I'm now completely bonkers. Not content to sit back and be quietly obsessed by catching Billies the normal way which is hard enough at times I now feel the need to try for one on fly. I'm thinking 10 weight for the fish in this area would maybe suffice and was planning to switch them using soft heads with tuna belly flaps sewn in. I already have normal bait and switch sorted out resonably well so is it a matter of just teasing the fish more before making the switch? Also, which fly patterns work best? I was thinking a flashy profile tube fly so I can run a double hook rig would probably work ok. Any advice?
Cheers,
John.

Your not bonkers mate, when you dream of skipping mtrys for marlin then you can pull up a chair beside me. I wanted to have a crack last yr but you need a deckie thats commited. So on saying that we might have to plan a trip or 3. O and only 6 to 8 weeks to go till it starts again.

ROFL,
Brett, You're on. I read a post where you mentioned the same affliction. I also know you have problems getting deckies the same as me so I was actually thinking that you might be keen to team up for some therapy. The biggest problem I have is every deckie I take out is a virgin so I can't reasonably expect to target them on fly... PM Sent... I spoke to a mate of mine lately about hooking a 1400lb fish this season on the reef so I can understand your pain.
Cheers,
John.

P.S. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one counting down...

Definitely not bonkers!!!

We had heaps of fun with billies on fly last year.. On our first try at billies on fly our boat managed to score 1 black, 6 sails and dozens of good hookups. The other boat managed to lose their cherry on sails on fly as well.

Definitely getting a crew that is committed to just fly fishing is the biggest hurdle. It is easy to just swap over to dark side fishing or go on a tangent and start chasing after the schooling tuna.

Myself and a few others are organising a "Fly Only" billfish outing during the peak season. We will be running workshops on fly tackle and techniques prior to the outing.

Give us a PM if you are interested in tagging along to the workshops or the outing...

Regards

Warren

db forgot to mention theres a 12 wt sitting here ready to go, so if ya want to borrow it no worries. Shes rigged n ready, 100lb stright to the fly. Its just like fishing with a handlline.

its not so much the strugle of getting deckies its more keeping them soba enough not to fall out of the boat or into the boat with your head jammed up against the cast deck

Yep flashy profile tube flies (FPF) are the go. Although you could get away with a large single hook on the smaller fish.

The Cam Sigler popper head flies are popular with some anglers...I know they work out there as I gave some to the guys mentioned above and that's what they got them on.

10wt will be fine unless you tease up a marlin. Don't take the motor out of gear until you are ready to cast and remember to cast 'over and behind' to the left side of the fish. The fly should hit the water as close to when the teaser comes out as possible (timing, not location).

The idea is that it thinks it has killed the teaser...and the fish should turn away looking for its feed and see your FPF drifting through the water and hit it going away from you, giving you a better chance of setting the hook. The flash of the FPF imitates the scales falling off a smashed fish.

I've used 80lbs from flyline to fly.

Good luck.

Hi All,
Just got back from Bathurst Island, the seas over there are rough at the moment it was blowing 45knts onshore this morning.

Double Haul, my 10wt is turning up next week but the 12wt sounds good too. Dunno about the 100lb but I was talking to a bloke today that was of the opinion that fishing line class tippet is a pain in the a@# because the short length of tippet situated between the butt and bite leader will tend to act like a "hinge"
I ended up getting a 10wt because I can use it on Tuna, Barra ect. as well.

Swoffa, I will take you up on the offer of both the workshops and trips. PM sent.

Jungle, the killing the teaser timing makes perfect sense thanks for the tip.

Cheers,
John.

No worries John,

A couple of good resources are Billy Pates 'flyfishing for billfis" DVD and Jack Samson's "Billfish on a fly" book.

Dean Butler has some great articles around as well.

I found that when fishing IGFA (10kg line class) due to the regulations regarding the length of shock tippert, it puts the fish's course bill directly in contact with the weakest part of the leader (the 10kg section). I've watched them just go whack, whack, whack on that thin piece every time they shake their heads and it just wore through.

Get a few under your belt before trying that stuff mate. Depending on work , I hope to be heading down to SWR to try for those small blacks up to 60kg on fly next month.

Good luck,

Matt