Im expecting my harfin LR110W to arrive any day now and it will go on my new 10wt scott tidal for the trip. I can test it soon to see if there will be an issue with tangling on the legs.
Tropical critters
-
Brad Yates
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:32 am
Tropical critters
Have booked 2 days fishing for wild snakehead in Thailand in August and starting to tie some bugs and critters to tempt the big fish that sit below the fry balls. Apparently snakehead are hard to get hookups with as they slash at the tail of lures and flies quite alot. So Ive adapted this summers hottest bream surface fly, the disco shrimp, into a disco frog. Tied on an SL12s 3/0 with a 1/0 owner aki stinger on 60lb jinkai.
Im expecting my harfin LR110W to arrive any day now and it will go on my new 10wt scott tidal for the trip. I can test it soon to see if there will be an issue with tangling on the legs.
Im expecting my harfin LR110W to arrive any day now and it will go on my new 10wt scott tidal for the trip. I can test it soon to see if there will be an issue with tangling on the legs.
Re: Tropical critters
I'm pretty sure the snakehead guarding the bait balls are not actively feeding and are more or less defending their young from would be predators. The hits are therefore territorial, with this in mind if it were me i would be tying large flies that will move a lot of water and fish them just below the surface.
-
Brad Yates
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:32 am
Re: Tropical critters
Yep pretty much what I thought about this fly, the foam will sit on top, the sequins push water like no tomorrow and all the EP body will sit just under the surface. Zonker strips move around like mad. But until it sees water and I know it wont tangle then its only an idea. Going to look at some flies with magic heads on them as well for a bit of wiggle and movement as well as some big rattle rousers too. Apparently a hard fish to get on fly, I like the challenge.
-
Stephen Bradbury
- Club Member
- Posts: 232
- Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2015 1:26 pm
- Location: Perth, Western Australia
Re: Tropical critters
Very nice Brad, I would of thought that style of fly worked slowish, erratically with pauses would elicit a pretty savage response from what I have read about Snakehead and Tomane when protecting their fry not to mention Toga's back here in Aus. Love to hear how they go when you get back ? You will enjoy the Harfin LR110w I've caught plenty of Salmon and some Queenies and a small Longtail on mine of late and it performs very well, despite there not being quite as much outgoing drag noise (Tibor music) as I'm used too ! 
-
Brad Yates
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:32 am
Re: Tropical critters
Been a while since I was on this site.
The trip was very good. However the logistics of fishing fly there are very hard to get around. First off the boatman had never seen anyone fish fly before. He had no idea of boat positioning and often I had a big grassy bank behind me which was no good for getting 40-50 feet of line out. He sat back a long way and we needed some long casts on occasion. Secondly the size of the fry depend on what you can use to catch the fish. The first day we only found larger fry so anything under about 6 inches long was actually chased by the fry themselves not the mothers. I managed two on spin gear on big rapala magnums. Reminds me alot of impoundment barra fishing in terms of fight.
Anyway the other thing is your on a longboat which is all of 2 foot wide and standing up to make a cast on spin is near on capsize material, let alone casting on fly!
Second day we found a fryball with very small fry in there and set it up for a shot on fly. However the first day I ran a 10wt floater outfit with the surface flies and the second day I only took the 8wt outfit with an intermediate line and a fat boy style fly about 4 inches long. We would have been better off that morning with the floater and the bigger surface flies.
The opportunity is there to potentially develop a fly fishery but it would be requiring alot of effort in terms of fly research and getting there before other lure fishers target the fish. Apparently once a mother has been caught once that season she wont be caught again. And they are very smart fish popping up and looking at you while they breathe. You have to follow them around for up to a couple of hours casting hard and fast. Not easy on fly unless your chuck norris. Would not encourage someone to go and do it without taking a baitcaster set up (and be proficient in using it) as a backup plan.
Other than that it was a really spectacular place to go and see. John at BKK fishing tours is really passionate about it and puts in alot of effort, and was excited at the prospect of catching them on fly but it might take a few more trips to nut it all out.
Was lucky enough to at least pop the cherry on some peacock bass in Singapore on the way home!
The trip was very good. However the logistics of fishing fly there are very hard to get around. First off the boatman had never seen anyone fish fly before. He had no idea of boat positioning and often I had a big grassy bank behind me which was no good for getting 40-50 feet of line out. He sat back a long way and we needed some long casts on occasion. Secondly the size of the fry depend on what you can use to catch the fish. The first day we only found larger fry so anything under about 6 inches long was actually chased by the fry themselves not the mothers. I managed two on spin gear on big rapala magnums. Reminds me alot of impoundment barra fishing in terms of fight.
Anyway the other thing is your on a longboat which is all of 2 foot wide and standing up to make a cast on spin is near on capsize material, let alone casting on fly!
Second day we found a fryball with very small fry in there and set it up for a shot on fly. However the first day I ran a 10wt floater outfit with the surface flies and the second day I only took the 8wt outfit with an intermediate line and a fat boy style fly about 4 inches long. We would have been better off that morning with the floater and the bigger surface flies.
The opportunity is there to potentially develop a fly fishery but it would be requiring alot of effort in terms of fly research and getting there before other lure fishers target the fish. Apparently once a mother has been caught once that season she wont be caught again. And they are very smart fish popping up and looking at you while they breathe. You have to follow them around for up to a couple of hours casting hard and fast. Not easy on fly unless your chuck norris. Would not encourage someone to go and do it without taking a baitcaster set up (and be proficient in using it) as a backup plan.
Other than that it was a really spectacular place to go and see. John at BKK fishing tours is really passionate about it and puts in alot of effort, and was excited at the prospect of catching them on fly but it might take a few more trips to nut it all out.
Was lucky enough to at least pop the cherry on some peacock bass in Singapore on the way home!
-
Stephen Bradbury
- Club Member
- Posts: 232
- Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2015 1:26 pm
- Location: Perth, Western Australia
Re: Tropical critters
How did the Disco Frog swim ? I think you should get that thing into Corroboree billabong in the NT.
Sounds like Snakehead are a challenge to hook anywhere from what I've read. Still, a bit of adventure and exploration in another country is what fly fishing is all about, a challenging new species and nutting it all out just makes that first fly capture all the more sweeter !
Were the Singapore Peacocks from one of those big public reservoirs ?
Sounds like Snakehead are a challenge to hook anywhere from what I've read. Still, a bit of adventure and exploration in another country is what fly fishing is all about, a challenging new species and nutting it all out just makes that first fly capture all the more sweeter !
Were the Singapore Peacocks from one of those big public reservoirs ?
-
Brad Yates
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:32 am
Re: Tropical critters
It makes the most awesome big bloops with that sequin on the front. Casts like a soggy football sock though. 10wt made it easier than the 8wt. Possibly going to a different leg material might lose some weight, but the body isnt real aerodynamic.
The peacock came from a reservoir but involved a rough 40 minute hike through jungle to get there. Got to the waters edge and there were a few of them swimming around a little sandy flat. Shame their fishing there is banned. It could be a really good licensed fishery for lure and fly only. I spent more time worrying about being caught rather than watching for fish.
The peacock came from a reservoir but involved a rough 40 minute hike through jungle to get there. Got to the waters edge and there were a few of them swimming around a little sandy flat. Shame their fishing there is banned. It could be a really good licensed fishery for lure and fly only. I spent more time worrying about being caught rather than watching for fish.
-
Stephen Bradbury
- Club Member
- Posts: 232
- Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2015 1:26 pm
- Location: Perth, Western Australia
Re: Tropical critters
Yeh last time I was in Coho fly shop in Sing, Henry showed me a lot of photos of some surprisingly big Peacocks from the 'off limits' areas of the reservoirs but the prospect of a large fine or Changi prison ! made me far to nervous to contemplate going there, so I settled for trying to break as many rods and lose as many flies as I could at Edmund's GT pond ! 
I know it's probably akin to visiting a brothel for the purists out there, but it's awesome fun ! 
made me far to nervous to contemplate going there, so I settled for trying to break as many rods and lose as many flies as I could at Edmund's GT pond ! I know it's probably akin to visiting a brothel for the purists out there, but it's awesome fun !