Fly Fishing In Se Qld

[Gordie]

Thanks for the advice on making soft plastics folks, got some good advice from that web site.

Looking for some advice on fishing with a fly rod.

We were in NZ a couple of years ago and I purchased a fly rod. I didn't know what I was looking for and the bloke who sold it to me didn't know what a Bass was.
I came home with a Cortland Wilderness Plus 2.7 long and 6# which is a 6 weight I guess. (Never been christened)

I fish in Somerset water where we have Bass, Golden Perch, Togas and lately I have been savaged by large Mary River Cod. Most of this has been with shrimp on Baitcasters.

With the fly rod I have been told to forget the tippet and use a good leader and healthy Bass flys, floating and wet.

Are good Bass going to embarrass me on a 6 weight rod and do M R Cod go for flys.

One other thing the fly line, it was bought to suit the rod, it is a floating line and heaver at the last several metres and I can cast it fairly well so no problem there.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Regards Gordon

[tunaticer]

G'day Gordon,

Your rod will handle an average bass without any dramas, a large bass will gove it a good workout but it will still do the job.

The main problem with a #6 rod is it will not cast bulky flies well as they are more suited to #7 to #9wt rods and lines, however if you are casting flies up to about a 1/0 hook size and not too much bulk the #6 will do the job well enough.

You will need to get either a sinking fly line or a sink tip line to fish for bass effectively on fly unless you intend to fish for them at dawn on the surface. Bass hang deeper once the sun shines on the water.

Cod will and do readily take flies but your setup needs to be a #8wt minimum to effectively cast 4" to 6" flies for them.

The togas will suit your rod the best I think, but I would definitely be fishing with a tippet of about 8 to 10lb ahead of a leader of about 12lb to 16lb because they can be quite damaging to fly gear with their aerial headshaking etc.

I generally use from 2.4m to 3.5 of tapered leader/tippet/shock leader for most of my fly fishing. Do not be scared to fish with smallish nymphs designed for trout for most other fish too, they get consumed as well as anything else usually in both fresh and salt waters.

Garfish are also good fun on fly and are good training fodder in learning new topwater techniques. Most of our dams in SEQ are stocked with them and they are very easy to tempt.

Jack.

[Gordie]

Thanks Jack, some good information there. I will have a good try at this and there are obviously sections on this site where I can listen in to their discussion.

I have heard there is a store on the Sunshine Coast that can sell me gear also.

Thanks again.

Regards Gordon