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Fly Fishing Gold


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Hey Raiders,

The day finally arrived, Hooked Up & I were on our way to chase our first native species, the majestic Golden Perch.

The challenge we'd set ourselves was to crack a Yella on the fly rod!

After a lot of prep, tying flies & getting the boat ready, we launched her into the beautiful waters of Lake Windamere.

How beautiful is this part of the country, we were well impressed!

After soaking up the new landscape, our focus turned to searching the many bays, getting a feel of this wonderful piece of water.

It wasn't long before we had found a likely looking spot, which turned out to be the first hook up of the day.

Lee was on, and what a dog fight it turned out to be!

The fly rod was buckled, Lee was putting the hurt on, yet the mighty Golden didn't flinch!

After a stubborn fight, Lee's first Yella hit the deck, and we were well chuffed! Yeehaaa's & high five's all round!

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We were impressed with how well these fish fight, and loved their bulldog spirit!

After a few pics, off it swam to get bigger!

We searched around some more, checking out the terrain, learning as much as we could about the ol Windy!

After locating another great spot, I cast my fly out behind the boat, letting it sink before I started a strip pause, followed be a strip BANG! I'm on!

This fish was stubborn, it would not give up! It reminded me of a big Brown Trout, stubborn, using its weight to stay deep.

After a cracking fight on fairly light fly gear, my first Golden Perch was on the boat!

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What a beautiful fish, boy they go hard!

After a few snaps, off it swam!

Another missed take, followed by a dropped fish, this one going hard for the timber which resulted in shaking the hook!

This one fought much harder, going on a couple of screaming runs...Was it a Cod, was it a huge Golden? We'll never know, but it was enough to hook us in!

Gear used:

Sage TCX 9wt

Sage VXP 7wt

Intermediate Rio Lines

14lb Flouro Tippets

Successful Flies on the day were:

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Other flies tied:

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The mighty Golden Perch certainly lived up beyond our expectations.

To crack our first ever Yella's on the fly rod, on our own flies was extremely rewarding.

I think the Trout & Kings may be having a rest while TS focus their attention on this very worthy opponent!

Edited by foolforjesus
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Great day mate,

Not bad for our first attempt, cant wait for the next crack!

definately found a few great spots and learnt a heap.

That last fish you hooked where the hook pulled really had us scratching our heads as the yellas we got never took off like that! (palming the spool didnt stop it lol)

I reckon it was a big yella as there were some gooood fish showing on the sounder and im not sure if cod hang around together like that? but who knows?

Either way it was a good taste of what windy has on offer and more than enough to get us back for another go.

looking forward to sussing this dam out!

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Hi Stewie,

Yeah you could be right on the money with that call on the silver!

From what i hear they fight much harder than their golden cousins.

In regards to fly fishing records bear with us mate and we will take some proper measurements and weights on the next round.

W4z im sure youll be hearing a bit more about our adventures in the future.

Round 2 is booked in for next month which seems so far away at the moment lol.

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Great report guys. Great to hear about some natives taken on fly and I hope to hear more about it if you spend more time chasing them

Hi W4z,

Thanks Mate. We will certainly be chasing them in the near future. We'll hopefully tap into the Silvers & Cod!

You've gotta dream big hey!

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Might have been one of the Giant Silver Perch up there and well done fellas on the yellas.

Flyfishing records perhaps ???

Hey Stewy,

Ahhhh I so wish we'd got that last fish into the boat!

It really did fight different? The Yella's dug deep, whereas this fish ran deep, stripping a good bit of line, in two runs!

After reading the Silvers can reach 8kgs, who knows?!

Do you know if there is much of a Silver Perch population in Windamere?

Cheers, Chris

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Awesome write up and well done fellas. That's still something on the to-do-list for me. I've heard them yellas go hard. :)

Cheers scratchie!!!

Hey Scratchie,

Cheers Mate! Yeah they do fight we'll, very we'll I fact.

I reckon a 5kg plus fish would be awesome on the fly rod!

You'll get up there at some point!

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Foolforjesus -- mate !!! nice flies indeed, i have a box of similar style and colour ones, tied up or collect years ago that have been waiting to get cast at sweetwater natives for years... trout and kings seems to distract me, but this season definitely going bus in search of some gold, and green fish -- great post very expiring

thanks

Hey Jimmy, most of those flies are tied on size 4 hooks to give you an idea on size. Also love that squid fly in your pic! did you tie it yourself?

hi hooked up,

na thats one by jonny king ( you can find loads on his stuff on stripers on line site (USA striped bass fishing site).. . its called the sensational squid... there is an SBS and several versions , upgrades on this pattern to be found . they are very cool, but i tie mine along the lines of the EP calamari, ( mainly due to the material available... so using a cotton bud tube or articulated shank to build the hood on and on the hook put the legs etc and spin and trim the head + eyes - pigs to cast in the big sizes but kings love them .

my squids looks are not as cool see the first two pics the hood is estaz or cactus chenille with three hollow ties of congo hair, craft fur or similar and then on the hook, tie in a few saddle feathers, flash and or rubber legs for the legs with a dubbed ball under to splay them, the head is spun / dubbed over the tie in of those legs / feather using same hood material clipped to shape, and goo'ed / glued a bit and eyes stuck on .. some of the sensational squids next to that by jonny king ( that guy has talent ) .. i have an sbs for the sensational in PDF if you want it PM me, the one sof mine i just copied how i thought the EP squid were made?

cheers !

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Edited by jimmy72
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Hey Jimmy72,

Thanks Mate! It's funny, on the day the flies that I thought would get the action didn't!

You'll have to let us know if your heading up to Windy for a crack at the natives, it's great fun!

Hooked Up is becoming a gun fly tier, his Calamari flies are great, not to mention his other patterns!

Cheers, Chris

Edited by foolforjesus
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