Walter& Group........
I don't usually send promotionals out, though I get a number of them. This one, however, is special; partly because it comes from Gavin Platz (one of our Group members and an MCCI candidate), and partly because it depicts some world class big game fly fishing. I don't know if the pictures will copy and send. The video links are very good.
For those of you who have not fished for wahoo, it is very likely the fastest fish in the ocean. It was named by Zane Gray, years ago who hooked one. As it went for a screaming run, he yelled, WAHOOOOOO ! The name was born on the spot.
Gordy .........
Well, as you all know, I went out into the Coral Sea with the Nomad Sportfishing crew as part of a team lead by Damon Olson to check out an area where they had found what is believed to be a spawning aggregation of wahoo. I travelled with Ed & Jason in the 38ft Blackwatch game boat from Hervey Bay some 250 miles out to rendezvous with the mothership, Odyssey, which had already arrived inside a tiny atoll in the Coral Sea called Wreck Reef. We rounded Breaksea Spit at about 8pm on a glassy calm sea and the music blaring. We were hyped to say the least and covered every topic during the 24hr crossing.
[Pic - mothership, Odyssey, from the seaplane]
I was going to give a full fly fishing
report on what happened but how do you report on such an amazing experience.
I've fished all my life and have seen some amazing bites, especially when I was
fishing mackerel for a living back in the early 80's, but let me tell you
nothing prepared me for what happened over the next
week.
[Pic - Ed & I with what we came for,
good sized wahoo]
The plans were etched at home, on land, away from the
action. Damon, Ed and I have separately used all the techniques in the books and
videos on teasing pelagics and switch baiting billfish successfully in our own
areas. We had intended to bring together what each of us had learned over the
years and use it here. We thought that teasing wahoo would be easy because they
just love biting things in half and we thought
there would be heaps of them.
How wrong we were!
Actually, the sheer numbers were a problem and even though these fish are vicious we got footage of them sipping cubes like a couple of lazy trout in a stream. Who would have thought? Well, actually nobody, because nobody has ever really been in a situation quite like this before.
[Pic - My companions for the week had a ball, John Clark & Mark
Joseph]
We had our normal teaser rods - inline rods fitted with 150lb gel spun
and these worked a treat with marlin, sails and an odd wahoo. But the fact is
you cannot out run a wahoo even with the fastest fishing reels on the planet. So
we had to accept this fact and think way outside the square. Damon's skill here
and Ed's love of dragging fish in on maxed out drags here solved the
problem.
Here's how it worked. A pair of big game bent butts replaced the high-tech
castable teaser rods. These rods are so heavy you just leave them in the gunwale
and wind with the reels in low gear. We'd already worked out that we couldn't
out wind the wahoo so then we'd just let them eat it and if they wouldn't let go
we would just lock up low gear and drag the lead fish to the boat. First time we
did this we noticed it fired up the rest of the school.
[Pic - the Big game Bent Butts in the gunwale idea worked a
treat]
A few days later we noticed that if we added a hook and could hold a fish purposefully the school stayed longer. It also became apparent that when the fish went deep due to the current slowing down a little, or maybe they were just regrouping like the Indians ready to assault the cavalry (who knows?) but time and again we'd drop back the deep diving teaser minnow with a stinger hook in the tail and one wahoo would pull away from the pack and eat it.
Hey presto! The whole pack would arrive from
out of nowhere wanting to kill something. Carnage at it's most glorious -
especially if you're on strike.
[Pic - Wahoo with throat cut out by another
wahoo by another wahoo who tried to steal the fly out of his
mouth]
[Pic - The mouldcraft's dilemma - going,
going, gone... When there was no skirts left we just strung the heads on the
teaser strings]
On the best day (I cannot for the life of me remember which day of the week it was), started slowly, if you can say that having an uncountable number of wahoo raised is slow... The ocean current started to hit the wall hard (a ledge that drops off into the abyss 1000 or so mtrs) and a current line formed up and the bite just started. We went from 3 teasers to 2 then we couldn't even drop one teaser out the length of a fly line before a pack showed.
It was as if the wahoo were so excited to eat they just followed the boat. I don't know how many were raised, but I do know that both Ed and I couldn't keep up with the carnage and I don't mean the hookups - I'm talking about damage to the gear. We never broke a rod or a reel, but every fly line I took sustained very heavy damage and was much shorter when I got home. We were literally hooked up both of us for about 4 hours solid. I couldn't even begin to count the number of double hookups.
[Pic - Ed with a wahoo]
Well that was the best day - the worst day
was coming home.
Here at Tie ‘n' Fly Outfitters, we are really proud to be selected by
Damon Olson as the exclusive Fly Fishing Agent for
Nomad Sportfishing Adventures.
Next year there's a group of us (fly fishers with a real
need... real need for speed) are going back to fly fish the same wahoo
aggregation.
There are only 2 weeks and only 20 places.
It's that prime time of the run down to the
new moon when they bit last year and this year.
Already guys are booking
their spots so get in fast.
Dates are - 24 to 30
July 2008 and 30 July to 5 August 2008.
Make your booking now through Tie 'n' Fly Outfitters - we'll make sure you go with the best possible fly gear for these extreme conditions.
Contact us NOW on
+61 0-7 5444 0611 or email us at info@xxxxxxxxxxx
Click on this link to get more info
http://www.nomadsportfishing.com.au/nsa_locations/nsa_locations_Wreckrf.htm
Not convinced yet - then click on
the links below.
The first one you will see a short DVD that will give you some idea of the mayhem of a hot wahoo bite. It's a teaser to get you to buy the DVD released later this year. You can pre-order your copy now - email me personally at gavin@xxxxxxxxxxx
Link to Wreck Reef Wahoo on Fly
http://www.nomadsportfishing.com.au/nsa_mages-video_pages/nsa_imagesvideo_wahoofly.htm
The second is the Nomad Sportfishing trip report in case you thought I was exaggerating.
Link to Wreck Reef Trip
Report
http://www.nomadsportfishing.com.au/nsa_trip_reports_2007/nsa_tripreports_wreckreef_August2007.htm
The third - Check this out - Tim Baker swimming with a 400lb black marlin!
Link to Tim Baker Swimming with a 400lb black marlin
http://www.nomadsportfishing.com.au/nsa_mages-video_pages/nsa_imagesvideo_timmarlin.htm
Isn't that absolutely amazing! These
atolls in the Coral Sea are the most amazing places you could choose to visit
where anything can happen. A highlight was when Cally, the hostess, was doing
her chores on Odyssey and a pod of humpback whales came right close to the quay.
She actually swam with them and got some amazing pics too.
Email us at info@xxxxxxxxxxx to make your booking.
I also forgot to tell you about my mate John
Clarke who had a wahoo hit him in the chest while he was fly fishing in one of
the dory's. How's that? He's lucky it didn't do him damage. Later after dinner
and a couple of fine reds he admitted to actually catching it with his bare
hands - fly and lure was far too easy so he thought he raise the bar a little
for us young guys to chase.
[Pic - John with a great wahoo and dogtooth tuna caught the hard way - on fishing gear]
We didn't just fish.
[Pic - Gavin harassing them under the water
after creating carnage on top]
Do yourself a favour and just do
it....... Join us & you'll have a ball.
Well this is probably the longest newsletter I've ever typed and
I never even scratched the surface about the trip.
I still have loads of things to share with you about what we
learnt about the flies, lines and gear but that'll have to wait till
later.
[Pic - Sunrise over an atoll]
I was the only one to see this awesome sunrise - what a privilege, especially as I had just finished another 10 flies for the day.
What a deadline..... Love it!
Catch you on the water,
Gavin
Capt Gavin Platz
Tie 'n' Fly Outfitters
AUSTRALIA'S ONLY
SPECIALIST SALTWATER FLY FISHING OUTFITTER
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