Broken Bay Pelagics
December 2001
Well it looked like we weren't going to get our chance at the action in Broken Bay if conditions on Saturday were anything to go by. A bit of a southerly, rain and a reasonable swell on moderate seas had us thinking of staying home. Sunday morning however, saw a sunny day, light breeze and a dropping swell, so we met at the boat ramp at Woy Woy for our first ever foray into the pelagic on fly scene.
Nine members of the CCFR came to throw flies at the salmon etc in Broken Bay. We headed out from the ramp at about 07:30 to meet up with Wozza and Ross Huntington at Pretty beach. A few quick transfers between boats and we were soon heading past Half Tide Rocks on our way towards Box Head.
The swell and seas were a bit larger than anticipated and that made life interesting given that three out of the four boats were under 4.5m in length! Suffice to say that we didn't venture too far out of the bay in search of our quarry. It wasn't long before we saw a school of tailor thrashing at the surface and Ross and Chris Martin started to get amongst them. Big Bob was having engine trouble at the ramp and joined us out in the bay about 15 minutes later.
The swell soon had Bob and I heading toward Pittwater to try and find some protected fishing. You wouldn't believe it, boats everywhere and salmon busting the surface. A few casts at them and nothing. They had moved a bit further up. We motored over to them and it didn't take long for Roy Browne to hook into one. Whilst I was casting and watching Roy out of the corner of one eye, I got hit and hooked up on a sambo. After a short tussle with the fish it jumped clear of the water and slipped the hook..... game over!
Brownie was still fighting his fish and I asked them to motor over to us once they had landed it for a photo session. Result below..... Not a bad fish.
Reports from Wozza's boat who went wide and up the coast a little were even better than the tailor and one salmon that we landed. Wozza and Bob Beamish managed about a dozen salmon taking between 10 and 15 minutes to land each. The fish were about the 2 - 3kg mark and were caught on 8 and 9 weight outfits. The guys eventually gave up after their arms were stretched and a little sore. Pictures will be available once processed.
So despite the weather a good trip was had by all, and at least everyone got something on the day, including Chris Martin's yakka on fly! I leave you with a quote from Bob Beamish:
"Several hours of really good fly fishing action however, saw us hook and
land at least a dozen salmon in the 2kg to 3kg size range on 8/9 weight fly
tackle. The "long draw" and dapping" techniques demonstrated on Wednesday night
worked particularly well. Most of the fish took the fly on or near the water surface, so the fishing was very visual. Most fish took 10 to 15 minutes to subdue.
When are we going to do this again?"
Enough said - Thanks, Bob!
Nine members of the CCFR came to throw flies at the salmon etc in Broken Bay. We headed out from the ramp at about 07:30 to meet up with Wozza and Ross Huntington at Pretty beach. A few quick transfers between boats and we were soon heading past Half Tide Rocks on our way towards Box Head.
The swell and seas were a bit larger than anticipated and that made life interesting given that three out of the four boats were under 4.5m in length! Suffice to say that we didn't venture too far out of the bay in search of our quarry. It wasn't long before we saw a school of tailor thrashing at the surface and Ross and Chris Martin started to get amongst them. Big Bob was having engine trouble at the ramp and joined us out in the bay about 15 minutes later.
The swell soon had Bob and I heading toward Pittwater to try and find some protected fishing. You wouldn't believe it, boats everywhere and salmon busting the surface. A few casts at them and nothing. They had moved a bit further up. We motored over to them and it didn't take long for Roy Browne to hook into one. Whilst I was casting and watching Roy out of the corner of one eye, I got hit and hooked up on a sambo. After a short tussle with the fish it jumped clear of the water and slipped the hook..... game over!
Brownie was still fighting his fish and I asked them to motor over to us once they had landed it for a photo session. Result below..... Not a bad fish.
Reports from Wozza's boat who went wide and up the coast a little were even better than the tailor and one salmon that we landed. Wozza and Bob Beamish managed about a dozen salmon taking between 10 and 15 minutes to land each. The fish were about the 2 - 3kg mark and were caught on 8 and 9 weight outfits. The guys eventually gave up after their arms were stretched and a little sore. Pictures will be available once processed.
So despite the weather a good trip was had by all, and at least everyone got something on the day, including Chris Martin's yakka on fly! I leave you with a quote from Bob Beamish:
"Several hours of really good fly fishing action however, saw us hook and
land at least a dozen salmon in the 2kg to 3kg size range on 8/9 weight fly
tackle. The "long draw" and dapping" techniques demonstrated on Wednesday night
worked particularly well. Most of the fish took the fly on or near the water surface, so the fishing was very visual. Most fish took 10 to 15 minutes to subdue.
When are we going to do this again?"
Enough said - Thanks, Bob!
