Guest contributor Rhett Thorne from Mad Keen Yak Angling tries his hand for Barra on the fly!
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A few flies and my Okuma Fly Box |
After watching Rob Paxevanos, presenter of Fishing Australia, fly fishing for species like trout in Tasmania, then flying for permit in the tropics, I knew at once that I had to try it out for myself. Gear is the first thing you need to think about which varies depending on what type of fishing you will be doing.
I bought the Okuma Airframe 7/9 weight reel and an Okuma Airframe 9ft rod to match with target species like queenfish, giant herring, barramundi, cod and milkfish in mind. After practicing my casts in the backyard I quickly became confident that this would become a very intriguing hobby.
On a Friday afternoon, after finishing school and playing squash with my mates, I bought a pack of flies from BCF and headed down to the local estuary system. Without having any tapered leader or tippets, I tied 8ft of 20lb fluro-carbon leader onto my floating fly line using a nail knot, then my chosen fly onto the leader with a small loop knot.
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The loop knot attaching my leader to the fly proved to be quite effective |
The sun was setting by the time I arrived at the narrow creek of the estuary. I began making casts over the sandy banks with a pink head white fly. I slowly twitched it in. The longer I stayed the harder it was to cast, becoming dark quite fast. I hadn’t planned to get there so late, as result didn’t bring a head torch.
By dark I couldn’t even see the fly line on the casts, instead listening to the line whistling through the air to predict my timing and distance.. I decided to cut my loss and have one last cast before for calling it a day. About half way along the bank the line stopped as if it hit a wall. Holding my breath, hoping it wasn’t just a rock, I gave it a slight tug then it took off. The line disappeared through my fingers and into the darkness. The biggest surprise is the 1:1 ratio of a fly reel which is quite different to my spin gear. Also having to palm the spool was the most important thing for me.
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This lovely barra fell for the little white and pink fly. |
In no time I was well into my backing, probably because I did not keep enough tension, while slipping over rocks, trying to lead the fish into the open sandy bank section. Finally I gained most of my line, by palming the reel while lifting the rod, then reeling in while lowering the rod. When the fish finally gave in I beached it onto the sand. To my surprise it was a barra, not a queenfish as I expected due to its sheer speed.
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My first fish on a fly 58cm Barra |
The barramundi, my first ever fish on a fly, measured 58cm in length. It really shows how persistence pays off, especially on that one last cast.
Words and Pics: Rhett Thorne - reproduced with permission. Read more from Rhett's at Mad Keen Yak Angling.