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.

Site Upgrade

hi all,


I have to apologise for the lack of posts as of late. My once busy fishing schedule has been sadly interrupted by work commitments. Still, I've been able to sneak in fishing in the mornings before work and on weekends.

The weather has been uncomfortable as of late but I've still managed to break my beloved Loop on a nice jew fish. Yes the 9"6 met its match in a Jew that was more than your average schoolie. Yes angler error was to blame for the rod that is now on its way to Sweden to be repaired.

More importantly, I'll be "revamping" the site. I've been tinkering with some ideas and am sure that The "add-ons" will make your visits here more entertaining and informative.


Proposed Changes include:

A new gear and 2nd hand gear column.
more informative and interesting links(i look at some of our links and think they ought to go)
hopefully a better layout.(we'll see if blogspot offers more)

Till the upgrade!Tight lines