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Marrakai
.416 member


Reged: 09/01/03
Posts: 3591
Loc: Darwin, Top End of Australia
More Flyrod Fun
      #267774 - 11/07/15 06:49 PM

Had a successful trip over to the eastern side of the Top End a couple of weeks back, bagged a few buffs and scrub bulls for the chiller but it was the fishing that was a stand-out.

All land-based, fishing from a rocky outcrop up a big estuarine river as the fish arrived with the tide. There weren't many barra taken, probably because the monster queenfish ate them all!

We had several sessions on the "skinnies" over 4 days with somewhere between 35 and 50 fish caught each time, apologies for losing count! The fish repeatedly attacked the fly like a pack of ravenous wolves and were immediately airborne on hook-up! Spectacular stuff!


Average size queenies around 80cm were in plague proportions.

When an 'average' 80 to 90cm fish was hooked, there were always a few leviathans in attendance down deep but very difficult to get a fly down to them without hooking a lesser fish. Busted the 40lb co-polymer tippet twice by strip-striking the big-uns as they took off. Eventually upgraded to a level leader of 60lb Jinkai-Plus and finally stayed attached! A tough fight, 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!



--------------------
Marrakai
When the bull drops, the bullshit stops!
--------------------------------
www.marrakai-adventure.com.au

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gwh
.333 member


Reged: 28/01/08
Posts: 277
Loc: Cairns Australia
Re: More Flyrod Fun [Re: Marrakai]
      #267777 - 11/07/15 08:55 PM

Awesome Tony, Great fish!

--------------------
Hunt hard, shoot straight

"I speak of Africa and golden joys; the joy of wandering through lonely lands; the joy of hunting the mighty and terrible lords of the wilderness, the cunning, the wary and the grim"

Theodore Roosevelt, Khartoum, 1910

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Iowa_303s
.400 member


Reged: 22/03/13
Posts: 1016
Loc: Iowa, USA
Re: More Flyrod Fun [Re: gwh]
      #267784 - 11/07/15 11:35 PM

Very nice!

--------------------
Matt

formerly known as Iowa_303

"Once your reputation is ruined you can live your life quite freely."

"Enkelkinder über alles"

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DarylS
.700 member


Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26994
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: More Flyrod Fun [Re: Iowa_303s]
      #267788 - 12/07/15 01:24 AM

60lb tippets? Incredible - thought most fly lines were only 30 pound themselves, but they do have a lot of stretch.
Yeah - those are incredible.

104cm is 40.82" according to my calculator.

What weight flyrods? I suspect 10? A good 9 would work.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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93x64mm
.416 member


Reged: 07/12/11
Posts: 4199
Loc: Nth QLD Australia
Re: More Flyrod Fun [Re: DarylS]
      #267810 - 12/07/15 08:30 AM

Marrakai, would have given the rod & the arms a serious workout!
Not sure if that sized Queenie be any good, Mother-in law fish I suppose!
Nothing like those numbers in NQ, awesome trip!
Keep up the good work mate!
Cheers
93x64mm

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Bidgee
.375 member


Reged: 08/04/15
Posts: 711
Loc: Northern Rivers, NSW
Re: More Flyrod Fun [Re: 93x64mm]
      #267835 - 12/07/15 11:43 AM

Lost count!!, what a problem!

Top stuff, Cheers.

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Mike_Bailey
.400 member


Reged: 26/02/07
Posts: 2289
Loc: GB
Re: More Flyrod Fun [Re: Bidgee]
      #267859 - 12/07/15 05:54 PM

Man, that's fishing !! best

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Marrakai
.416 member


Reged: 09/01/03
Posts: 3591
Loc: Darwin, Top End of Australia
Re: More Flyrod Fun [Re: Mike_Bailey]
      #267862 - 12/07/15 07:49 PM

Thanks for your kind comments gentlemen.

Daryl:
The flyline is a clear-intermediate tarpon taper with braided core, and I have never broken one on a fish however an old one popped some years ago when I lost patience trying to free it from a deep snag. My friends continually warn me about the lack of a sacrificial weak link in my leader, but so far so good! The rod is a 9-weight BTW, and the line is a 10.

9.3x64mm:
You would only give those fish to the mother-in-law if her recipe for nummas was better than yours!

Most of those fish were released but a good number went to our hosts who seem to prefer them over barra.

Also managed another couple of 'milestones' with the long wand on that weekend:
a PB Long Tom at around 1.2 metres....



...and my first ever Queensland Groper on fly. Luckily only a juvenile, as those things grow to 1.8 metres! As it was, he went under a rock for a while and I had to wait for him to swim back out!

Aren't they gorgeous?!



--------------------
Marrakai
When the bull drops, the bullshit stops!
--------------------------------
www.marrakai-adventure.com.au

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93x64mm
.416 member


Reged: 07/12/11
Posts: 4199
Loc: Nth QLD Australia
Re: More Flyrod Fun [Re: Marrakai]
      #267868 - 12/07/15 09:08 PM

Marrakai
That long Tom is a beast - watch out for the teeth they always seem to get you somehow!
A nice little grouper too, certainly did the right thing letting that one go!
Nothing wrong with a fresh smaller sized queenfish! I didn't know the real big ones were still OK, thought the risk of ciguatera was too great?
Not surprised your mates preferred the fresh queenies over the barra & to upset the applecart here amongst us Aussies I'm going to agree also!
The barra is a spectacular fighter & is the king in freshwater; but all of the big pelagics are dynamite when hooked - would be a day long remembered!
As far as tastes go, there's nothing wrong with barra what-so ever, they do however last better in the freezer than virtually most other fish which is why they're big favourites over here with our closed season in Queensland.
And if anyone asks what is my favourite fish...the humble whiting!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_whiting
cheers
93x64mm

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DarylS
.700 member


Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26994
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: More Flyrod Fun [Re: 93x64mm]
      #267886 - 13/07/15 02:50 AM

Thanks for the tackle rundown, Marrakai.

The braided cores should be stronger as-should any of the salt water (warm water) lines. They might be too stiff for our cooler climate when fishing our cooler rivers for salmon.

Next line-up when using weight forwards is normal, a good choice.

I'm really liking the Scientific Anglers "Relaceable Tip" lines, that come with floating, intermediate clear, type 3 and type 5 or 6 sinking tips - loop to loop connections are normal. I also make up my own tips to suit for dredging operations, and this is the system I use in my double handers as well.

Just picked up 3 new short rods to try out, 10' in 6 and 7 weights and a 9.5' in 6wgt. The 7 feels like an 8 - think they painted the wrong wgt. on it - no worries - have all the lines I need at this point. I'll try it on big river (Skeena/Bulkley Confluence) Sockeye salmon in August.

Well done!

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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Mike_Bailey
.400 member


Reged: 26/02/07
Posts: 2289
Loc: GB
Re: More Flyrod Fun [Re: DarylS]
      #267933 - 13/07/15 05:26 PM

Great stuff, I caught one of those alligator gars years ago in Cabo, it weighed about 12 lbs, a whopper. When in the NT also years ago we caught a lot of queenfish. Unfortunately I tried to tail one and those "finlets" near the tail are razor sharp. They cut straight through my palm and the guide then informed me they had a type of poison on them. They certainly hurt like hell and took weeks to heal. Won't make that mistake again !

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Marrakai
.416 member


Reged: 09/01/03
Posts: 3591
Loc: Darwin, Top End of Australia
Re: More Flyrod Fun [Re: Mike_Bailey]
      #267953 - 14/07/15 12:21 AM

Mike:
Queenfish are fairly benign to handle, having only a couple of stout anal spines to watch out for. You must have caught a few "GTs" though, they are the ones with razor-blade scutes on the tail-wrist. For our friends across the pond, GTs are Great Trevally, the name universally bastardized to Giant Trevally these days, and pretty-much the Pacific version of your Crevalle Jack. They pull like trains!

93x64mm:
We can do whiting too....







Ours are the Northern Whiting, and are flat out making 12-inches in length. I have really only just started targeting these fish in the Northern Territory for something different and most of the ones I have hooked so far were 8 to 10 inches. Always hoping for an elbow-slapper though!

--------------------
Marrakai
When the bull drops, the bullshit stops!
--------------------------------
www.marrakai-adventure.com.au

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DarylS
.700 member


Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26994
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: More Flyrod Fun [Re: Marrakai]
      #267956 - 14/07/15 01:56 AM

Make a nasty cut, Mike - the slime itself would hurt and likely infect.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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Mike_Bailey
.400 member


Reged: 26/02/07
Posts: 2289
Loc: GB
Re: More Flyrod Fun [Re: DarylS]
      #268003 - 14/07/15 06:15 PM

Marrakai, tell me about GT's !! Must be the toughest fish in the ocean pound for pound. In 1997 I was lucky enough to go to Midway island for 10 days. Caught a load of them, best was 80lbs. My mate was DETERMINED to catch one on the fly, as a birthday present a couple of months before I had bought him a 13wt Penn Int rod coupled with a similar reel. He went 37 for nought on one day !! They kept cutting him off on the reef. That was the first time I had ever picked up a flyrod. Jim, my mate, was into another GT so I picked up a little 8 wt to dabble over the side with a 2" white streamer on it. Rod suddenly hooped over, 50 mins later I had a 7 foot black tip at the side of the boat. Everyone thought that was hilarious, no one wanted to catch sharks but secretly I was quite proud, first ever fish on a fly !! Happy memories

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