Finally got out fishing with my fly rod whilst away on the Gold coast.
I met up with a guy i've spoken too on Sexyloops and the Australian Saltwater fly fishing forums.
The internet can be a wonderful place.
So Despite them having had 4 weeks of storms before we arrived, the weather decide to improve and we had the perfect opportunity to get out, on my Birthday of all days. Who belives in fate
So i turned up, eventually
at Scarborough harbour on the sunshine coast, north of Brisbane.
Voltzy was there waiting with his boat.
I put all the gear together to finally use it in anger.
We set off ,out into Moreton bay to look for longtails. We eventually found some birds doing what they do best, showing us where the fish were
. it was an amazing sight.
I've seen it in books and on the TV, but to see it for real was quite awesome. This was a huge shoal of Frigate Mackeral, which is one of the smaller tuna, but a tuna none the less despite its name
At times the shoal was over 100m in diameter feeding on Bay anchovies. However they were moving at about 25kph so you no sooner got within casting range, fired off about 3 casts if all went well
and then they had moved too far so you had to shift the boat.
Every 3rd or 4th time we hit the shoal i managed to hook up, it required that Tried and tested method the Rolypoly, Baz would be proud
But it was well worth it, the fish might have all been identical size about 3lbs.
But they fair put a bend in the 9wt rod, and stripped line off the reel.
I caught a few over the morning and got a few shots at some longtails (20-30lbers) that were feeding at the edge of the larger shoal.
They were impossible to photo and i didn't get a pull from them, but i did get a few flies into the right place, and with the speed these fish move, i was well chuffed i managed that
Here are a few more frig's
Later on we found another disturbed Bait ball and gave it a go. With my typical luck i caught a few Yakka's and some Tarpon about the same size
So i caught 3 new species for my day out, saw some awesome longtails, experienced bait balls being crashed, smelt the fish in the air. I had such a great time with great company, it was worth the wait. We also had some interesting fishing buddies sidle up to the boat for a nosey.
Didn't see any sharks, but given the predictions after the storms, we were lucky to find any fish at all, never mind get the chance to have a few good casts at some longies.
All in, a fantastic way to spend your birthday
Next flyfishing trip is likely to be be at Haddo, so i'll leave the 9wt at home
Sandy