A Huntin’,Shootin’,Fishin’
trip to the East Coast (of the Top End) a couple of weeks ago resulted in a
several land-based flyrodding sessions of some note.
Bagged a few buffs
and scrub bulls for the chiller but it was definitely the fishing that was a
stand-out.
The venue was a small
rocky headland protruding from the mangroves near the top of the tidal stretch
of one of the Gulf rivers.
As the tide rose,
schools of ravenous queenfish arrived and produced the kind of action one can
only dream about.
The fish repeatedly
attacked the fly like packs of ravenous wolves and as expected were immediately
airborne on hook-up. Spectacular stuff!
 |
| Average size queenies around 80cm were in plague proportions. |
Whenever an 'average' fish was
hooked, there were always a few leviathans in attendance down deep, however it
was very difficult to get a fly down to them without hooking a lesser fish.
Busted the Lefty’s Loop on the 40lb co-polymer tippet twice by strip-striking
the bigger ones as they took off. Their speed and power at hook-up rather
caught me by surprise! Eventually managed to stay attached to one for a
tough fight, well over 50m of backing out twice as he made big powerful
runs downstream, but stayed out of the rocks and mangroves thankfully. The end
result? A 'personal best' for the fly at 104cm fork-length.
Only 12cm
less than Starlo’s record fish, so pretty happy with that! |
| Best queenie on fly at 104cm. |
Also managed another
couple of 'milestones' with the long wand on that weekend:
a PB Long Tom at around 1.2 metres....
 |
| Big gulf-river Long-Tom shredded the fly but stayed attached. |
...and my first ever
Queensland Groper on fly, luckily only a juvenile. As it was, he went
under a rock for a while and I had to wait for him to swim back out!
 |
| Uncommon flyrod capture- juvenile Groper! Aren't they gorgeous?! |
Cheers
Tony & Rebecca
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