Saltwater Flyrodders

Hello All,

My name is Chad and I am coming to Western Australia to Study at Curtin university and I plan on bringing my fly rods and trying to get onto some fish. I would like to catch some larger saltwater species around the Perth region but would also like to venture north possibly to exmouth on vacation. However I am wondering about the fishing right in the canning and swan river and the species I can expect to run into. Also what larger saltwater species can be reached via shore in the Perth metro area? Please let me know some species to expect and flies to use. Thanks and Tight lines.

Sincerely,

Chad

G'day Chad,

Welcome to the forum and welcome to Perth (when you get here.)

Perhaps the best land-based large fish opportunity in the rivers is a species we call the mulloway. It's fairly similar to your drum, growing to more than 20kg. They can be reached from shore in both the Canning and Swan rivers and from the metropolitan ocean beaches. Expect to put a lot of hours in between fish.

From Easter through to about November, you can get Western Australian Salmon from the ocean shore. They are a very good sport fish and one most of us love to chase. Not as big as mulloway, but they still give a very good account of themselves nonetheless. They are normally 6 -8 kg and best tackled with a 9 or 10wt system.

You're also likely to find tailor (you call them blue fish) where the salmon are. Rarely big ones though.

During summer, we get a reasonable run of giant herring (you call them ladyfish). Some specimens in the rivers get to over a metre long. Great sport if you can find them, but they move about a bit. Definitely a wading proposition.

Not as big as those fish, but still a hell of a lot of fun are the Southern Black Bream. You'll get them all year round, in both river systems and wading. A good and worthy challenge on trout-size fly gear.

There are other species to chase, but most of those will be from boats. Join the club and some of the guys with boats are likely to offer you trips out onto the ocean if you ask. i fish from a kayak myself and target snapper and salmon most of the year from that. In summer, I chase the giant herring (mainly) and this year, mulloway.

Flies? Clousers, deceivers, crabs, etc. - all the common salt water patterns will work. Nothing special required.

Cheers,
Graeme

(PS - I work near Curtin Uni in one of their IP spin-off companies. We can catch up for a fish before or after work if you like. Contact me when you get to Perth,)

Chad,

What part of the states are you from and how long are you around for?

Troy

Chad, when do you arrive? Exmouth is epic and well worth a visit...

Chad, Plenty of opportunity for larger species in Perth but mainly by boat, Samson Fish, Tuna species, Pink Snapper etc You will need to line up a boat ride /Charter to access those, Mulloway are a large species to target shore based in the river but even seasoned local fly fishers find them the ultimate challenge, they are best targeted wading around the city's bridges casting into the deeper channels late at night on the tide changes, so a lot of dedication is needed there. There are plenty of smaller species which are enjoyable to target in summer, and Giant Herring some years as they are tropical, depends on the water temperatures this far, they have been present last few years so they should be there this season coming hopefully. Agree with Liam, go out of your way to get up to Exmouth, a lot of us have been fishing it for 20 years or so and still haven't come close to doing it all there, it has everything, and pretty much fires year round.

Hey everyone sorry I have been of the forum for a bit but appreciate all the advice and replies! I arrived last Wednesday and have been getting all settled in and trying to learn my way about.

Troy- I am from the east coast, Massachusetts, a town called North Andover. I fish quite a bit in the ocean during the summer for striped bass. During year I attend a school in upstate new york and am able to fish for Great Lakes Steelhead and Salmon as well as some gnarly land locked salmon that run out of one of the smaller new york "finger lakes". I am here for the whole semester and believe school ends the end of November.

Liam - I arrived last Wednesday and yes I have been looking into exmouth. I am going to caravan up there with my girlfriend at the end of august for more of a tourist type trip. I will bring my rods but I don't know exactly how keen my girlfriend will be with me fishing the whole time as she wants to snorkel and see some of the sights. However, I will be fishing "a little" while i am there, because how could i not be, possibly, a cast away from a bonefish or permit and not fish? I am also looking into heading back up to exmouth in October for my birthday on a dedicated fishing trip.

Rohan - awesome thank you for the advise. I was out tonight fishing near the canning bridge and managed to see one little bream but couldn't get him to eat. I had a feeling that I should have been wading out and casting into that deep channel that runs under the bridge.

I would just like to say thank you to everyone who responded and I truly appreciate the advice given. I think I am going to come to the club meeting which is on the first of the month (?) and try and meet some of you in person and pick your brain about where to go in exmouth as I am planning on caravaning up the coast. Additionally, Have any of you heard about carp living in any of the weirs or lakes in Perth? I did some google searching and some old forum posts (Wicked fishing or whatever) had some talk about people catching massive carp. I am going to try and poke around for these in some lakes and ponds around the city as they can be a good fight on the fly rod.

Thanks again to all who offered advice or replied and tight lines!

G'day Chad,

The next meeting is next Tuesday night. You timed it well: we've got one of the members giving a talk on his recent trip to the US catching strippers - or was that stripers? I'm not quite sure, but we'll find out one way or another on Tuesday.

I'd strongly advise bringing your birthday forward a month and join us on the Boneheads trip in 6 weeks time. You can't do Exmouth in any better way than to join a bunch of mad Aussie fly fishermen all obsessing on fishing for the week. It's the most cost effective way of spending a week fly-fishing in Exmouth, too.

Cheers,
Graeme

Oh no way! That will be an awesome meeting to come to and I would love to talk about my experience fishing for striped bass as well if any of you would care to listen. And I know I have been reading about this trip but sadly I am studying abroad here with my girlfriend and I promised her that I would go on a caravan trip up the coast, we will be ending in exmouth so maybe I could just spend one or two days with you all on the water? I see that you must pay a fee and perhaps I could just pay a slight fraction i can only join you for a day or two. But boy I wish my girlfriend was more of a fisherwoman because Im sure she would love this opportunity if she only knew what the fight of a big (or aggressive) saltwater fish is like on the fly rod....... thinking about it now makes me anxious.. And just the scenery alone that you must be in to find these fish is well, paradise to most women eh? clear water and beaming sun.. sounds like a vacation to me weather sitting on the beach or wading the flats..

Stay tight on the regular everyone!

Chad

Hi Chad
Welcome to Perth , re the carp yes many of Perths waterways and ornamental lakes are riddled with carp.
Not aware of anybody targeting them on fly though.
The local carp here are basically Koi , and hard to target.
Cub member David.Nye. has caught some nice fish ( but not on fly ).

Going to go a bit negative and nanny state on you now.
Be aware that most local councils discourage / ban fishing in lakes and ponds.
You will get hassled / fined by local rangers.
Also , technically you will need a freshwater fishing licence.

If you visit some of the Wilder urban wetlands , BE VERY AWARE
you will come across snakes.
The two most dangerous being the Dugite and Tiger snake.
Sept / Oct will have these things coming out of winter semi hibernation.
They will be cold , dopey and slow.
Tiger snakes particularly will not bother getting out of your way.
You don't want to get bitten by ones of these lovely things.

Also educate and protect yourself against Kangaroo ticks and mossies. They can carry some nasty
consequences.

If you make it up to Exmouth , DO NOT wade barefoot in the Gulf ( particularly around Wapet Creek )
STONEFISH , lightweight neoprene booties will not cut it.
Stingrays , move slowly and shuffle your feet. ( look for a straight black line in the sand , like a section of fishing rod , this will be the ray"s tail )
Sharks , there are lots , don"t wade too deep and in low light conditions.

You're going to scare the poor bloke off Mick

Seriously though, the Tiger snakes and Dugites are already being seen out and about and it pays to be careful and keep an eye where you're walking, in and out of the water.

Carp on fly have been a real challenge that I've not yet been able to manage, mostly of what Mick said (the locals and rangers aren't too keen on the idea of people actually having fun) and due to a lack of time and availability of spots. There are some bloody big Koi/Carp in many local parks/dams/lakes that are a hell of a lot of fun on light gear. I've had most of my success using bread after lulling them into a false sense of security by getting them feeding first and then offering a piece with a cheeky hidden book. I have actually done this using a fly rod for a laugh (1wt + 5wt) and it was great fun. My next idea (if i ever get a chance to do it) will be to tie a bread fly and offer that instead. I have had fish follow nymphs, worms and woolly buggers but only ever had one take (on a nymph) but I trout struck out of excitement like a bloody amateur and missed it.

Welcome to WA, i'm sure you'll have a great time fishing over here mate.