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. Over twenty years ago, for the average man of my age 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 digital 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 videos & DVD's. 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 a eight or 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 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 40 years, and followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He has been writing for Australian magazines for 25 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 15 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.