New Wand New adventures

Not too long ago I came into possession of my Winston BII MX. I must say everything was as I dreamed it would be. Together with an 8 and nine wt, I've been able to open up the possibilities of solely fishing on the fly.

The recent spate of me not posting was largely due to my time spent fine tuning and exploring the options that we modern fly fishers now have with the amount of gear readily available on the market.

From all forms of land based flay fishing to inshore boat work. methods have been refined and techniques honed.

I shall dispense with much of the talk and let the photos tell the stories. I've also developed some patterns and rigs to better suit my preferences for fishing the areas that I chose to concentrate on.

So enjoy! and do contact me if you want to join in the quest to fish the entire sydney on fly.

TARPON TIME

With the weekend approaching, the proposition of a tarpon on fly proved too tentalising to pass up and I was willing to be in the office at 3am to complete a task if I had to. But thank goodness that there was nothing in my mailbox at 4am - which meant that I wasn't needed at the office .

With a 45minute train ride ahead of me, I decided to swap the intermediate line over to a floating when I'm on it. Reached rendevous point at about 710am and was greeted by my mate and friends. It's just good fun getting to fish with other people...

A short cab ride saw us reach our destination without any dramas, followed by a 10 minute walk.

Upon reaching the river, it reminded me so much of a place in Singapore called Lorong Halus, where the first generation of fly fishermen there got into huge tarpons, herrings and barramundis...but sadly, that place was decimated by drift netting when I started to fly fish. Although this river suffered a similar fate, Tarpons were still around and that's enough for me.

We got to a section of the river where there was in inflatable weir and water was overflowing to the other side as the tide rose.... and Tarpons were rolling on the surface!! With no time to waste, the rod was rigged up and a Reuben Estuary Special found it's way to the tippet once more. There were fish rolling as close as 10-20ft in front that there was virtually no need to cast. After flicking the line out, I dragged the fly slowly through the water. It wasn't until the fly was almost out of the water that the fish decided to have a go at it, but failed to hookup. This happened a few times and I decided to use a jiggy retrieve and kept the fly near the surface.... it worked! A flash of silver in the water as a fish rolled for it and I set the hook without hesitation... it was on!! Though not very big, they still pulled reasonably well and lept out of the water like their larger American cousins. The next 30-45 minutes was just magic...there were no shortage of hits, just whether the hook found its mark or not. I landed about 7 or 8 and probably missed/dropped about 3 times as much.







And when the tide maxed out and started to recede, fun was over... we stuck around for another hour or so with no results and decided to move elsewhere.

FIRST WEEKEND BACK IN HONG KONG

Was pleasantly surprised that I did not have to be in the office over the weekend... which meant that I can go fishing! Awesome! Had initially texted a local friend that I knew in a HK fishing forum to see if he was free to take me Tarpon fishing. Unfortunately, he was only available the next week.

So a visit to Mr Red was in the cards. But as before, I wanted to check out the other parts of the surrounding region to uncover new fishing locations. The first location only produced a tiny (and I mean tiny... thumbsized) rock cod. And instead of taking the short-route to Mr Red's house, I decided to take the long way. For a person who's not into photography, some of the scenery I came across was just too beautiful. This location gave me the feeling that I was in the European countryside or something....



After about 20mins, I reached a bay that had pretty strong waves. And since I'm already there, might as well chuck a few plastics... As I worked toward teh middle of the beach, there was a patch a rocks about 40meters out and I thought maybe fish would congregate behind the rocks, using it to break the water. There must be countless tiny crescent perches in front of me as the lure was being pecked all the way in. And after a while, I felt something larger (but still pretty small) took the plastic. I fought it to the front only to have the hook pull 1m away from me... and the little cod swam away leisurely.

Taking into consideration that cods have amnesia, I continued to cast repeatedly back to the same area. And five minutes later, I was rewarded with this little cod. If he was caught by the guys at the pier, there was no way he was going back. But the fact was that he met me and lived to see another day.


After that little encounter, it was time for redfish. But the tide had already rose pretty high and true enough, I didn't find any...

MY 3 WEEK HOLIDAY (19 SEP - 13 OCT)

The day had finally come for me to re-live my bumming days (for 3 weeks...). The plan was to be in Singapore for half a week, spend the next two in Sydney, and the last half in Singapore again.

Touched down in Singapore on 19/9 and was out looking for Peacock Bass in the nearby reservoir... no takers... pretty depressing. Was sad to say that I didn't do much fishing, just walking in and out of tackle shops. But the good thing was that I stumbled upon some owner weedless soft plastic worm hooks that were just the right size. I was tired of losing jigheads and thought that this might be my life-saver... bought two packs.

The morning before the Australia leg of my journey saw me going onto Jeff moored boat for a short bait session. Things were awfully quiet for 3 hours until the line tightened and rod was bouncing away in the rod holder. Whatever that took the prawn certainly had some kilowatts in the horsepower department.... but superb (a shameless plug) rod technique made short work of my opponent... a nice Diamond Trevally.


48 hours later, I was walking the streets of the Sydney CBD into Prad... oops, a tackle store. I was looking for my trustee Berkley 2' Pumpkinseed Grubs but found none. So I bought some 2' Crays instead since they're reputed to be pretty effective. The next morning saw me head over to the neighbourhood park to re-acquaint myself with the breams... but unfortunately, only a few showed up. It was only through an elderly gentleman that I understood that it had been really quiet for the past 6 weeks!! Not surprisingly, it's the middle of spring but the weather was still bloody cold.

But undaunted, I drove the supra to another frequented location in the evening hoping to catch the upcoming tide. I was there too soon and the water was still too low. The wind was howling and the light was fast fading... it was time to go. Feeling very dissatisfied, I returned the next morning for the upcoming. This time, I decided to fish with the wind coming from behind. In less than 15 mins, I had my first Sydney lizard of 2008. The rest of the 3hr session saw me land another flatty and another two brembos... the second was about the 35cm mark and provided relief for my fish-impoverished soul.






Reuben and I had 2 fantastic bait sessions over the weekend with Ms Kim landing 14 fish in the session... it's gotta be the hooks :D The fishing was non-stop but no photos were taken.

The Sydney trip saw me making my biggest purchase in my entire fishing career.... an A$830 Winston BII MX. Luckily I've got some money from the tax return to ease the pain...


Back in Singapore, I paid another visit to Jeff's boat in the evening and saw me lost 5 fish.... how bad was that. :D

COD AND REDFISH

It's been some time since I last posted on the blog as I haven't been fishing alot until the recent month. But I did manage to sneak out once in a while when I have time.

Well, this trip is no different. Went back to my trustee Redfish hideout in search of some willing victims. Started the day as usual, spent the Saturday morning lazing around abit and taking the pre-noon ferry to my getaway.

But this day, I decided to do explore the surrounding area before I go looking for Mr Red. Whilst on my way to the rocks, I passed a spot that I read from a blog that had produced a nice john's snapper for the author... a nice place to go do some bait soaking. Moving along, I reached the rocks and started to look for a nice place where I could chuck a lure. I stationed myself where I could see a length of submerged rocks in about 2-3 feet of water and proceeded to cast the 3D minnow. Nothing fancy, just a straight retrieve.

And in about 10 mins, the lure got hit and I can't believe that there's still fish! Brought the cod up without fanfare for a few customary shots before returning him to grow a little bigger.... that's if the locals don't catch him first... they'd consider it a pretty good sized catch.



I continued casting for another 15mins without inquiry and headed off to Mr Red's. It was a good 45mins before I found myself in familiar territory. This time round, I decided to give the fly rod a go first. 15 minutes passed without any customers and it was time to break out the spin rod. Whipped on my trustee Berkley Powerbait and within 10 casts, I was in business. It was awesome... I can't believe that there's still some around!


But that was to be my one and only red of the trip as the tide signalled the end of happy hour. But all in all, still a very fruitful trip in overfished Hong Kong.

Seeing RED in Hong Kong

Hello there...I've finally got something to report from Hong Kong - the "kill every fish" drift net capital of the world.

Woke up at 6am and the sun was already beaming... but with some important work not finished, I decided to hack away at the PC till afternoon and maybe head out then if I made progress. Made some progress and there was no time to lose.... I only had about 2.5 hours of fishing time as I've a dinner appointment with my boss and some colleagues in the evening.

Decided to try out an area that I pinpointed on the good ol Google earth. The tide was low when I reached (don't know if it was the bottom or not though).... the wind wasn't too kind either . So I decided to rig up my trustee Berkeley 2-inch Grub on the spin rod to see how I'd do in the wind. First cast veered off to the right cos of the wind, compensated for the veering on the second cast, and was just doing a simple twitch-pause-twitch routine on the grub.

Then out of nowhere the line tightened and I realised something actually grabbed the lure And it felt like a nice fish too... and I'm obviously pretty stoked... There were a few close calls when it tried to swim towards some oyster encrusted rocks but a few rod-lefts and rod-rights saw it swim clear of them... although it felt weighty, the drag didn't have the opportunity to sing... By now I'm dead curious as to what's on the end of the line...not catfish I hope...as the bar of silver came near, the tell-tale spot on the tail gave the Redfish away. A few clicks on the camera and back into the brine it went.

Feeling that there could be more, rigged up another grubbie and flicked it out in the same direction...twitch, twitch, twitch, twitch.... FISH ON!! This time the rod began to bend deeply and the drag started to sing its song... definitely a bigger specimen this one... I grabbed the leader (bad move...) and tried to lift the bugger out... the 8lb fluro snapped as the fish shook its head in disapproval, and taunted me as it swam ever so slowly into the deep .... taking my last suitable jighead with it.

It's time to bring out the long wand... wind or no wind... tied on my Bentback Whistler and managed to put out 60ft in the menacing wind... took less than 10 casts for fly to get smashed. Pretty good sized one too from the way it pulled... Fought it carefully as I'd really like to get a shot of it... Finally rocked it, a few happy snaps, and released it.

Casted a few more times without luck as the bead chain eye on the fly had fallen off which resulted in the fly not being able to hold at the required depth... Decided to call it a day.

-Justin-

Rock Hopping- Many firsts in a day

The past 2 weeks have been rather fishless ever since My beloved Loop opti was snapped by a rampaging JEWie. So when time came for a fish, I decided to make the most of it. The arsenal this time was simple. 9Wt Green wand+ lots of sink tips+ lots of sinking flies.


Walsh bay proved to be quite a bad start for the morning as my fishing Companion Brandon landed our only fish for the session. A tailor. Dejected and wishing that my only fishing day for a while could have gone better, I was pleasantly surprised when My better half's uncle called me to ask if I'd like to join him for a fish. As I was in need of a serious hook up "Yes"was undoubtedly the reply and I was off.

Thinking that the harbor was not really producing the goods on this glorious day. I opted for an estuarine location. to keep things short. It was not good either and bush overgrowth made my casting a little hard.Then "Uncle" Suggested going to the moutain goat place (it's his favorite bait fishing spot). For those that have been following our blog, This is one tough fishing spot to get too. Climing rock face walls with wand in hand is no joke. But I had an itch to scratch and would happily have swam through lava if I was promised a chance at a decent fish.

this time I kept it simple. Just rod flies and some leader. The Simms sun-gloves doubled for climbing gloves and my first cast was made. "Uncle"was doing his usual bait thing as I started my retrieve. "slam" my fly was hit by a kingie. this came together with uncle shouting and waving as his rod was bent into a deep arc.

Smiling I thought "How Green tide is this ?" needless to say when fishing off the rocks and decent kingies are about, you loose a lot of shooting head. Fights were kept to minimum time with all Kings busting both of us off. When I say all it was about 4 of them with 2 a piece. My 4 inch deceivers were dissapearing at an alarming rate.

Convinced the kings were not to return for a bit. I swapped to a surf candy when I saw fishing chowing down on the burley trail uncle had set up. Casting and fast stripping trough the surf brought up Sea pikes of all hues with the biggest of the bunch kept for a bbq later that evening.As the Pikes were noting of a strain on the 9wt, I got negligent and forgot to check my tippet. The rocks we were fishing from made short work and I lost my favourite surf candy.

As the action quietened down. I thought I'd try to explore the rock outcrop with some sinking flies and proceeded to loose at least 5 clousers and 30 more feet of shooting head. This prompted a change of tactics and a 2 inch white deceiver was tied on to my 14th tippet of the day. first cast out saw boils and uncle's bait get smashed. Seeing that uncle was on a good fish, I re cast and was rewarded with my First Rocks based Australian Salmon (kahawi) on fly! it put on a great display jumping as it did in an attempt to free itself. Unfortunately, Uncle thought it was prime BBQ fish and killed it while Helping land it from the rocks.Asian Bait fishermen.. everything is a feed.

So on the salmon run went and I was having a ball till a fish of unknown description took my last deceiver and wrapped me on a rock bommie.having lost the last of my shooting head, I decided to give the clousers one more go and cast out a 1/4 weighted model. This day nothing could really go wrong. the last cast out(uncle reported no more bait and had already started cleaning the fish he wanted to keep which means everythiing). was smashed by my first legal Snapper on fly! what a way to end a glorious day swoffing around Sydney.

Actual time spent fishing (around 12 hrs)

time spent getting into fish (1 hour)

Unbelievable. It just goes to show that location plays a huge role in success or failure and I'm thankful for being able to fish such a remote part of Sydney and catch some of the most memorable fish in my Angling career.


PS: It was unfortunate that every fish that showed some size was killed and taken home by Uncle and some of the photos are only of those that had been cleaned. I'm trying to educate my old schooled companion but it is proving to be a long long road.Still I will try till he understands why we catch and release.













Till the next time

take a kind Fishing!

Justin (agent X) in Singapore

Hi all,

While I was stuck here in Sydney and the horrible low pressure system, weather,and fishing, Justin was happily off in Singapore. We are happy to report that he has broken the fishing draught (and the lack of Singaporean local food) on his last trip to the Sunny Garden City we call our Homeland.

Here is a copy of the Email sent to me while I was busily typing away at my desk.

See the pics =)

I actually wanted to just go to Sydney for 2 weeks in early Oct, but looking at the fishing, I'm gonna have to do a week in Sydney and the other in SG =D Wanna join me?


The 8 groupers and 1 ACK were caught at singapore river. They've sealed off the mouth of the SG river at Marina South and it'll become fresh water soon, so we went there to clear as much fish as we can. The small golden trev and fingermark were caught at the SAF yacht club where my fren - Jeffery has his boat parked. I hooked on to a runaway train on Mon night but it spat the hook. Jeff also told me that there are Giant Herrings and Milkfish on the calm mornings....bring the flyrod next time. The net of a neighbouring kelong broke a couple of weeks ago and they landed over 200 pcs of the escapees. The fingermarks are almost always around and 6 - 8 pcs per night is not uncommon. As the water isn't very deep, using the flyrod with live prawn is a very attractive and viable option... heheheh.

I was there at 3pm and fished till 530pm. Only found out that I left one section of my rod at home after I reached the place... but luckily, I had a spool of 10lb vanish and opted to do use it as a handline... good choice... hit an ACK before the rain came, and then the Goldie and another ACK after the rain... lost a pretty good sized one as well... all in less than 2hrs of fishing (discounting the rain). Went back there at 930pm - 12mn... lost one (line snapped) and dropped one (the runaway train).

Can't wait till Sept/Oct!!!!!!

Pimpin'

Hey all,

I've done the first round of "face lifts" to the blog. I am still working out a way for our readers to get their hands on gear. As of late, I've been in contact with some really nice people and they happen to have pretty good gear that they wouldn't mind selling for cheap. I don't need all that gear so I thought I'd allow our readers a fair go. Upgrade or Update your kit. I'll work out the kinks and the new little "trading" zone should be up pretty soon. In Case you're wondering, I do not work at a tackle store or am I a member of any of the big tackle manufacturing companies. I don't get endorsement deals. I'm just a craze keen fly angler who writes the blog.

Now that the Update of the site is under way I thought that I would write something a little bit different.We all know fly fishing is an "accessory sport." whether we want to admit it or not, on some level or another, we( anglers) love accessories. a New reel here, some clipers there, a new knife... the list goes on. So in the spirit of new and wonderful gear, I present, Pimp My REEL!

Here are some of the reels that I've come across in magazines, tackleshops, websites. They are in no particular order and The article is just for entertainment's sake. So enjoy.

1.) Tibor Reels
Coming in with a hefty price tag, this set of "bling" raises debates as to whether one is going fishing or to a fly fishing "pimp off" The standard colors of gold or silver make these reels look like gaudy ornaments rather than fish fighting tool. Having said that, I fish with Tibors and the new colors that are being introduced have made it possible to fish without being tempted to do a DIY "re annodize" your reel in your garage with a can of Spray paint.


2.) Abel Reels
What can I say? Fully Custom made to your liking. That is looks wise and if you can afford to plump down a small fortune for one of these painted dmaes of the fly fishinf world. from simple colored reels to artists' rendering of your fravourite scene or even fish coloration, Abel does it all. Serious bling with sweet sweet performance.



3.)Exclusive reels
You know that kid who always needs to stand out? the one that has to have something so unique that everyone in the group counldn't help but wonder at it? Well, if you're that kid ore you know him/her, this is the reel they would probably fish with. One of a kind, and only attachable to your rod if you have it done by a licienced dealer,These reels bring a whole new meaning to the word custom. It's almost impossible to figure out how some of their models are meant to function. Just look below!



4.) VAAN STAAL
I'll leave loop out of this survey as the Swedish award for most "pimped" out reel would have to go to VAN Staal. Not happy with making spinning reels in gold and silver (not to mention designs that would, in my opinion,require some acquirement of taste)They have released a "new" set of fly dedicated reels that scream like that ugly shirt you have to wear out cause someone close spent a lot of money and bought it for you.

5.)Coming in 5th on the list would be the new Jack Charlton MAKO reels. Costing more than your average Tibor or Abel, these reels are billed as "probably the best reel for the salt at fishable prices".I think the marketing people have to check their demographic.How many anglers would not baulk at plumping down $700 for a reel? very few I suspect. But then, a person I spoke to (they work for the company) said that the 8 week delay from order to delivery (look at their website www.makoreels.com) was due to high demand. Am I the only person in the world feeling the effects of a slowing economy? apparently I am.

Anyway the site does not hint at any warranty for the piece of equipment and you are expected to place all faith in the handy work and materials used to construct these "bullet proof" reels.The reels are sweet to fish but come on,reels in the same price range like Tibor and Abel have a life time warranty and I like a company that's willing to put its money where its mouth is.so to me, you get a new form of annodizing, a lighter reel, and 4 color schemes to choose from(varying in price of course) very bling. Just pray that yours isn't one of those reels that was perfectly hand crafted and died due to operator failure.


Nothing says "i'm rolling in dough" like cracking a couple grand on a reel and pitting it against fish that could possibly destroy a bullet proof jacket under the right circumstances.



6.)Our last entry is one reel that you would never even see, not to mention fish. It is one of a hundred reels made by the boys from the isles of England. The Hardy Company has outdone itself in all things snotty and grossly over indulgent. They built a reel completely out of titanium. It will never rust corrode or bend. Hell, it'll out live you and all your decendants. This (it really is)"virtually indesructible" piece of piscatorial jewelary would set you back 10 thousand dollars. The Crown jewels of your reel collection I must say.