Getting into Fly Fishing
Fly fishing is gaining in popularity, and many
anglers are looking to try their hand at feather
flicking. Fly fishing clubs like the Sydney Fly
Rodders Club go along way to helping you get into
fly fishing, they can point you in the right direction
in order for you to get your long wand act together.
Fifteen years ago, for the average man of my
age (now looking at his early 40's) to be confronted
by the computer age was to face certain illiteracy.
There were manuals, written in many cases in poorly
interpreted English, but they were filled with
a mind numbering jargon, and may as well have
been in Braille.
A certain application is required to come to terms
with computer driven technology, be it a complex auto
focus SLR camera, a powerful depth sounder, or a humble
word processor. Doing it from a manual is tough going
if the manual is filled with phrases and words you don’t
understand. Better to spend a few hours with someone
who can read and interpret the language. Once you can
just one of these contraptions the rest becomes easier.
Fly fishing is similar. Reading "How to"
manuals for those who are not familiar with the language
is a very difficult and frustrating learning method.
Learning to fly fish 15 years ago was a matter of tracking
down someone through a tackle shop or fishing club who
was a fly fisherman, and even then the critical analysis
of casting was not really available.
Perhaps the greatest advancement in the learning process
of casting was the release of Lefty Kreh’s video.
Suddenly instructors had the words to explain the actions
and the means to show in slow motion what you should
be doing. Learning how to cast from this video by yourself
was possible, but not totally practical. It takes a
trained eye standing at a distance to really read the
faults in the cast.
The huge growth of fly fishing is due in no doubt to
the shortening of the learning process. Tyros can be
very quickly catching fish after just a few hours of
instruction. The mystique that for so many years kept
fly fishing on an elusive and elitist pedestal has been
undone in the advent of competent instructors, guides
and fly fishing destinations.
There are five distinct fly fishing factions in Australia.
The first is the dyed in the seal fur trout fisherman
who lives mostly in the southern states and chases trout
because that is the most available fly rod species living
there. Some believe that trout are the only true fly
rod, or even sport, fish.
Next is the east coaster who fishers mostly freshwater,
Bass are the dominant target species, while trout, goodoo,
yellow-belly and southern Saratoga are bit players.
His fishing also spills over to saltwater estuaries
and inshore species.
The third group is the fanatical saltwater swoffer.
These guys are usually unfamiliar with anything under
nine weights and flies the size of big trout streamer
are about the smallest they use. To them accuracy means
hitting the water, and delicacy is a plate full of steaming
chilli mud crab.
The fourth group are the tropical swoffers. They are
as spoiled in their fishing waters as Tasmanians. The
diversity of species and the quantity of fish available
makes life pretty easy and the rest of us jealous.
The fifth group are the all rounders. They are as familiar
with a size 20 midge on a four weight cast into a spring
creek with knotted currents and shy browns as they are
with a big Dahlberg on a nine weight in a northern billabong
with its hard mouthed Saratoga and sulking barra. Or
on the pitching deck of a game boat in the open ocean
with a 15 weight rod and a fly made from the feathers
of six chooks and two 7/0 hooks.
The evolution of modern fly fishing has meant that
gradually the more adventurous gravitate towards becoming
an all rounder. Blokes from Melbourne start experimenting
with Gippsland bass, bream and perch. On a family holiday
to the tropics they take a fly rod, and before you know
it they’re reading up on bonefish and barra. Then
they’ve bought Lefty’s book and are totally
absorbed in the chapter about Doc Web Robinson. They
do a trip to New Guinea, then on to Christmas Island.
Before you know it they're divorced and their eyes get
a far away look that says they've seen things you couldn't
imagine, vast flats teeming with huge bonefish, trout
that pulled out a whole fly line and bass that ate people.
They've become a fly fishing bum.
In Cairns or Darwin a thoughtful fly fisherman begins
to look at the origins of that sport, and his eyes begin
to wander over maps of the Snowy Mountains or Tassie.
He gets brochures on London Lakes (central Tasmanian,
destination). Becoming an all round competent fly fisherman
is probably just about the most interesting way you
can spend your life.
Where to begin
There are three basic approaches a beginner or
struggler can adopt. The first is to join a fly
fishing club like the Sydney Fly Rodders’
Club the second
 is to enrol in a fly fishing school,
and the third is to hire a guide and spend a week
fishing with him. I recommend you do the first,
the second and then the third. Learn the fundamentals
of fly fishing first, Sydney Fly Rodders’
Club conduct on a regular basis, fly casting clinics
and fly tying nights.The club also runs an annual
live-in weekend workshop were you cover everything
from the basic understanding of the tackle, fly
casting techniques, fly tying, stream craft, right
through to presentation.
Learn in a classroom and a paddock before you fork
out for a few days guided fishing.
When you have learned the basics, and if you are still
keen to accelerate your learning curve, it’s time
to hire a guide. There are really no down sides to hiring
a guide to take you fishing when you are unfamiliar
with an area or if you are a beginner. Spending time
with someone who you are paying so help you catch fish
is a great way to learn. Years ago I visited Tasmania
several times and put myself in the hands of the doyen
of Australian trout guides, Noel Jetson. I learned more
from him in a couple of days than I could have ever
hoped to learn by myself with weeks of trial and error.
I didn’t have weeks to spare in Tasmania. It meant
in the end that I could approach Tassie waters with
more confidence, and confidence is a huge slice of successful
fishing.
Hiring a guide has many benefits and
apart from the financial aspect, no down side. A good
guide will work very hard to get you onto fish, which
is the foundation of his reputation, and that is what
you are there for. In broad terms, a game boat skipper
and deckhands are guides. They are there to get you,
the client, onto fish. You would never see a skipper
or deckie on a Cairns game boat climb into the chair
to land a fish ahead of a client.
There may be exceptional circumstances,
such as when a client is seasick and a fish is hooked
up, but these situations are extreme cases. The same
rules apply to any other type of fishing guide. I have
had to demonstrate a particular cast or casting technique
from time to time, and other guides find themselves
in the same position.
I remember years ago fishing with Noel
Jetson on a Tasmanian lake, and the three of us being
unable to land a fish. We had to beg Noel to show us
how it was done, and he duly obliged. By his demonstration
we were then able to catch fish.
A guide should have more knowledge
and experience than the client for a given piece of
water, but not display that knowledge by catching fish
himself. If you do employ a guide who insists on fishing,
speak up. The industry does not need them.
The Big End Of The Fly Rod World
The title of this segment refers to tackle rather
than species or anglers. The size of the tackle
you use to catch fish on fly is generally determined
by the size of the fish you will be casting to
and the fly you will be presenting.
The perfect example of fly size determining your
choice of rod is Dahlberg Divers, and Saratoga.
Like trout, Saratoga are basically insect eaters,
surface feeders, but not for them a size 16 red
tag. These fish eat big tropical insects and frogs.
This photo shows Sydney Fly Rodders club member Terry
Worumus with a Saratoga caught in the fantastic waters
of Corroboree Billabong. Dahlbergs are the most productive
flies late in the afternoon and the early morning.
Although pound for pound Saratoga pull just a bit more
than the same size brown trout, light rods will not
cast big wind resistant flies, so you go up to about
an eight weight to comfortably throw these flies any
distance. Saratoga have exceptional eyesight and in
heavily fished water are very boat shy. Consequently
you need to be able to throw big flies a good 60 to
80 feet.
The "big end" also refers to distance casting.
Schools of breaking pelagics are only on the surface
for seconds. Speed and accuracy are vital ingredients
in the casting mix for these species.
In the far north, knowing how tides work and how to
fish snags, or how to locate areas offshore where pelagics
concentrate, is a skill that southern anglers do not
generally possess. There are quite a few guides throughout
the north but before you go, once again learn the basics
at home. On the water is no place to be learning how
to tie up a saltwater fly leader, or how to manage a
Dahlberg. Up there it’s fishing time. Practice
before you leave.
The key to exploiting maximum fishing time when you
spend money travelling is to make the most of opportunities
to learn close to home. Learn as much about casting,
flies, tackle, and leaders before you leave to maximise
fishing time when you get there.
About the Author
Peter Morse has
been a fly fisherman for almost 30 years, and followed
in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He has
been writing for Australian magazines for 15 years and
in that time has written for all of the leading magazines.
He has also written for several mainstream magazines
about fly fishing.
He is the presenter of the acclaimed "Wildfish"
series on SBS Television, Australia & The Lifestyle
Channel on Foxtel. He is also the author of the brilliantly
written book "Saltwater Fly Fishing Fundamentals"
a well illustrated, user friendly guide to saltwater
fly fishing . During the last 5 years Peter has actively
fished most of the leading fly fishing tournaments around
the country.
In amongst all of this Peter also managed to become
one of the founders of the Sydney Fly Rodders’
Club. These days he runs with Alan Philliskirk a specialised
fly fishing travel business that takes groups of fly
fisherman to great destinations and continues to write
for several leading fishing magazines. For more information
about Peters' Fly Fishing adventures, click on this
link for more details.
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