With a good forecast scheduled, and me being busier than the NFL Integrity Unit over the weekend, I deserved an offshore run yesterday. Old mate Darryl was thankfully available so the two of us met up and launched from Roseville ramp at 7.00AM - just like we’ve done one hundred times before. Checked out this distraction just east of the ramp, but unfortunately it wouldn’t fit my trailer:



Spring time is peak time for salmon around Sydney Heads. Busting to fly fish for them, even though I’m a lousy caster. But even if that wasn’t the problem it would still be difficult because with me waving the long wand around, no-one else could get a cast in. So I rigged up an eight foot casting rod with this set up:



1. 6 kilo colour-change braid main line;
2. Tiny swivel to 30cm 6-pound mono;
3. Sliding plastic bead;
4. Bubble float, which can be partially filled with water;
5. Small sliding ball sinker;
6. White fly with epoxy.

The idea of this arrangement is that you can cast the light fly long distances. In the rolling boil of a topwater feeding salmon school the float is unnoticed and the wave action makes the fly jiggle. You don’t retrieve, instead just wait for the hook up. This set up has been working great lately although yesterday the only pic I took was of a trevally who got mixed up in the salmon action:



Out to Browns and, just like the last three trips, the top of the Mountain was bare as a badgers’ backside:



All okay. We have learnt the hard way this season that you must fish the edges and pinnacles. Fish were forthcoming, but nothing big:





The northerly started to pick up so back in we went on a 270 degree bearing, hoping to run across the swells if it worsened – like it did last week. That brought us to the Peak where we jigged for thirty minutes. No kingfish seen. So it was up to Old Man’s Hat, where the salmon were still around:



After thirty minutes or so we headed back to the ramp, so as to be gone by peak hour. Good day on the water. Thanks to Darryl and looking forward to the next run already, Andrew