FlyLife Australia & New Zealand — Winter 2017

FLYLIFE^87

REDFISH
We started off in a sheltered bay and
Brian had barely begun poling when
the first waker appeared. The water
was around 30–40 cm deep, with
numerous patches of weed. It was not
very clear but this wasn’t an issue as
the wakes pushed by the bull reds were
visible from quite a distance. They tend
to move with intent, tracking straight,
so you have plenty of time to get ready
for the cast.
Because of the slight murkiness of the
water there was no need for long casts,
but feeding the fish proved rather coun-
ter intuitive. The best presentation for
redfish is to cast the fly just behind their
head and drag it across their line of
vision with a longer steady strip. Once
that got their attention the retrieve

needed to change to short ‘bumps’ and
the bite would follow shortly after-
wards. Do this to most other fish and
they will run a mile, but once mastered
it proved effective. Redfish are very
satisfying to fish for, as if you do every-
thing right they eat almost every time.
The weather wasn’t great on that first
morning but improved steadily dur-
ing the day. We had plenty of shots at
reds, and caught plenty too. What was
most impressive was the average size
of the fish, easily in the 15–20 lb class.
The first day yielded Kelvin’s largest
fish of 31 lb, and I managed to land
a 28-pounder as well. We landed fish
in the high 20 lb range every day;
my biggest for the week topped out at
32 lb and there are fish in the 40 lb
range caught every season.
Most of our fishing took place in East,
West and Grand bays, as well as the
aptly named Redfish Bay. Depending
on the weather, we would move around

to get away from the prevailing wind,

and fish either for waking fish or laid-up

fish near the reeds. When the sun was

out they were relatively easy to spot.

When clouds came over we had to rely

on Brian’s sixth sense, but often the fish

would swim close to the boat and not

spook as much, so a short accurate cast

was often their undoing. We also found

schools of fish in the open water that

were easy to spot because of the large

numbers of pelicans dive-bombing the

bait. We didn’t get to visit the outer

barrier islands, where the popper fish-

ing on big schools of bull reds is meant

to be insane, but that will have to wait

for a future trip.

We mainly used EP fibre streamers

and Redfish Bugs, but spent some time

fishing poppers as well. Although not

as effective as the subsurface flies, the

surface strikes on the poppers made

up for it. Colour did not seem to make

much of a difference; if the presenta-

tion was correct the fly would inevita-

bly get eaten.

Water depth varied as we moved

from backwaters to areas closer to the

ocean, but the constant factor was the

amount of bait. In some of the more

sheltered spots with clearer water it

Spot on a slot.

Local hazards. Ready to cast.

Lurch for freedom.

KELVIN NG