Presented from Issue 92
My season was filled with a mixture of highs and lows. I spent some time in the Kimberley and experienced some great fishing there. I thought previously that Cape York probably had the best salt water fishing in Australia, but northwestern Australia also has its fair share.
The highlight was polaroiding a sailfish and seeing the hookup. That is as good as it gets.
My trout season though had its good, bad and ugly side though.
We didn’t seem to have a lot of the blue-sky polaroiding days that I love so much. And the back lakes were closed until after Christmas because of the huge amount of rain we’d had. It had its advantages later on as these lakes and tarns stayed high all season.
Arthurs didn’t fish as well for me early in the season, but there were a few late hatches, so maybe the coming season will see a revival.
Some of the small mountain gave me a lot of enjoyment with some magic sessions. There is a lot to be said for a tiny rod, small flies and feisty fish.
With winter on us it is a time fly tiers look at replenishing boxes and trying some new techniques and materials.
I recently came across some new fly tying products called ‘Fish Skulls’.
These are very realistic in the shape of a fish head and available in seven colours and four sizes. The heads have a small indentation on each side where the supplied three dimensional eyes can be glued.
The heads are slipped onto the fly after it has been tied and can be used ‘right way up’ and the fly will ride with point down, or turn the head 180 degrees and the fly will ride hook point up. Saltwater fly fishers will love these.
How do you use Fish Skulls?
Firstly tie up any wet or saltwater fly you want — making sure the head has some bulk and is finished back a little further than normal. This leaves room for the hook eye to poke through the slot.
Before you push the ‘Skull’ on make sure the fly’s head has a good coat of super glue and this will hold it firmly in place.
Another way they can be used is to just carry them loose and slip them over any wet fly you want to sink faster.
Trollers can also use flies with these heads for harling (trolling) with a couple of heavy flies.
Hope you enjoy these new heads and have some fun tying up some flies over winter.
Distributed by Clarkson Imports.
