The following article, penned by a Frontier Fly Fishing staff member, appeared in the April 2009 edition of The Complete Fly Fisherman magazine. The fishing in the Coral Sea is nothing short of spectacular and should be on the agenda of all saltwater fly-fishermen.
As our float-plane dropped through the dark, heavy clouds, we got our first glimpse of heaven at sea. From the window of the float-plane we could just make out Odyssey, a small speck floating in the middle of a huge, turquoise atoll. The pilot took one low-level fly-past to gauge the conditions of our watery landing strip, then put us down safely over the submerged coral bommies.
Our journey began when we departed from OR Tambo International, heading for Kenn Reef off the north-eastern Australian coast. Phil Schutte was joining me on a trip of a lifetime to a remote atoll in the middle of the Coral Sea, some 550 kilometres off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
This destination is so remote it took us four different flights to finally reach the mothership.
After a night in Darling harbour it was on to HerveyBay. From HerveyBay we boarded a Cessna Caravan and flew over some of Australia’s wild country to the small town of Rockhampton where we swapped wheels for floats and headed out and over the big blue for a three hour flight before touching down in the middle of the ocean. Here there was no airport or Customs’ officials; instead there was an 80ft mothership and a group of eager fishing guides waiting to greet us.
After being introduced to Captain Damon Olsen and the crew of Nomad Sportfishing Adventures, it was time to dump the bags and get down to the serious business of rigging up all the tackle required for a week’s fishing at sea.
THE MOTHERSHIP
Odyssey is an 80ft, ocean-going catamaran with sleeping arrangements for 26 people. It’s a very spacious and comfortable floating hotel, and an angler could quite easily spend a week at sea on the Odyssey without feeling claustrophobic. The vessel is equipped with a desalinator capable of producing 6000 litres of fresh water every day, a tackle shop, a fully licensed bar with beer on tap, and a world-class galley and chef, not to mention the rest. In addition, it is equipped with a large plasma screen for viewing all the photographs taken on a daily basis, and there is also a facility to copy everyone’s photographs of the trip onto a disc as a memento of your journey. There is also a facility to charge stills- and video cameras.
The unique design of Odyssey allows her to carry 20 thousand litres of fuel. This is necessary as the boat is so far out to sea that the floatplanes could not complete their return voyage to the mainland without being refuelled. Refuelling is done at sea before their departure from the boat for the mainland. The balance of the fuel is made up of diesel and unleaded fuel for the mothership, two 48ft gameboats and four 18ft dories.
THE GUIDES
Nomad Sportfishing Adventures offers a professionally guided, extreme blue water experience with no less than eight quality guides just dying to get you into some serious fish. Each night we would gather at the back of the boat, conveniently alongside the XXXX draft tap, for the guides briefing. Here we were briefed on the following day’s fishing, the rotation of the guides, boats, tackle and clients. This was a great way of getting us to rotate between the different guides and experiencing their favourite fishing spots. It was a tough decision to decide between hopping onto a game boat to chase billfish or into a dory in the lagoon to hunt down large GTs.
In every fly-fisher’s imagination there is that one ultimate trip they envisage, something so remote and unbelievable that it could only be a dream. Well this could be that dream. If it’s a remote, exhilarating and wild fishing experience you’re after, then the Coral Sea is for you.
For the bluewater enthusiast this is the destination you have long been waiting for. Here you can target species such as marlin, sailfish, GTs, dogtooth tuna and wahoo, just to mention a few.
The fishing varied from chasing billfish, wahoo and dogtooth tuna in 48ft game boats, to drifting crystal clear lagoons on dories or walking along exposed sand banks in the hope of sight-fishing to large cruising GTs.
The game boats are equipped with state of the art fishing gear. They are equipped with every possible lure on the market, rigged and ready to tease something from the deep. Casting rods are assembled with the famous Nomad stickbaits that will ruin any wahoo’s day, as well as heavy duty jigging rods for those occasions when the weather turns foul.
If it is your wish to chase billfish for a session, the experienced guides will prepare the boat for you. It is at this point you hope all your preparation and tackle is as well prepared as the guides; you don’t want to spoil that chance of a lifetime with faulty tackle.
After rising early, with the sun barely in the sky, we set off on what was going to be one of the most memorable days we experienced in the Coral Sea. Damon carefully navigated his way through the minefield of coral bommies and out into the big blue, big as in we had been experiencing some serious wind and angry seas. As we made our way into the dark blue water, LoLo was sent into action along with some other teasers. LoLo was a famous teaser; she was the shape of a bowling-pin dressed in bright blue and chartreuse with a splash of silver glitter. She had been responsible for the downfall of many a great fish.
As we crashed our way through the water, the teasers danced in the water behind the back of the boat. Phil was armed with his 15-weight rod and a fly that would scare most anglers at the thought of casting it. Our guide Tom gave us a quick briefing as each of us had a specific job to do in order for this to work.
It wasn’t long before we all were alerted by Captain Damon to the presence of a billfish behind the boat, and jumped into action. I reeled in LoLo, Tim was on the teaser and Phil was already casting his huge fly off the stern of the boat. The sea rocked the boat, making it really difficult for us to hold our positions at the aft deck. During all this unstable commotion the fly hit the target, the sailfish ate and the line tightened as the fish disappeared below one of the huge swells. Commands from the captain’s chair directed us as to the behaviour of the fish but then it happened – the hook pulled. All I can remember was, “Retrieve and cast” repeatedly screamed from above, but the fish was gone.
This was to set the tone for the rest of the day: we raised four sailfish and a blue marlin, which would have been the highlight for any angler, but unfortunately not one made it to the boat.
The multitude of wahoo in the area is incredible, so every now and then Captain Damon would stop the gameboat and order the stickbaits to be thrown in a certain direction. With amazement we would watch “street gangs” of wahoo appear from nowhere, fighting for the stickbait. Sometimes the first sight of these incredible neon striped fish would be when they erupted from below the water’s surface like Polaris Missiles, often travelling as far as fifteen feet into the air, each and every time with the stickbait firmly grasped between their razor sharp teeth.
This was great fun – they were like hungry dogs chasing a hare, and if you are quick enough to get the fly into the water you’re guaranteed a fish. Their speed makes them one of the most amazing bluewater species to catch on fly. Experiencing their first blinding run has got to be one of the best experiences for any saltwater angler.
These guys became the fun and games of the trip – between every strenuous session of chasing big billfish or doggies we would work out our frustration on one of the many wahoo street gangs we ran into. Some of these gangs had leaders of over 40 kgs, and believe me these bad boys can put up a titanic struggle.
The experience of the guides and their captain shows when they make sudden changes while out fishing. We would reach a particular area and the captain would call for a change in tactics. At this stage we saw LoLo at her best. We had reached a particular drop-off where the sea wall extended far into the abyss. This was the hunting ground for one of the prized species in the Coral Sea, the dogtooth tuna.
We patrolled the drop-off with LoLo set deep, creating a huge bubble trail several metres below the surface, and it didn’t take long before the water below us was teeming with hungry dogtooth tuna. With the weather still on its head, it was becoming increasingly more difficult to use a fly-rod loaded with monster flies. Some of the other anglers opted for a direct route to the fish by way of a jig stick which saw multiple hooks-ups. Most of them ended in disappointment, with the dogtooth tuna either biting through the 80lb wire, or tearing the #10/0 hooks off the jigs.
Fishing from the well-maintained dories offered a completely different form of fishing. This was fly-fishing at its best, with the angler holding the fly-rod in one hand and the line neatly coiled in a basket, while eagerly scanning the aqua blue water for any sight of large GTs. If that option didn’t work, the guide simple anchored the angler in a deep channel surrounded by huge coral bommies so that the large reef fish found in the Coral Sea could be targeted. The one thing we learnt quickly when fishing such areas was how sharp the coral was – it would make razor wire look blunt!
It is impossible to wade these lagoons unless there is an exposed sand spit; the coral is so sharp and extremely brittle in some areas that an angler could seriously injure himself, and although the mothership is well prepared for most injuries, it would be irresponsible to take a chance in such remote location. The other telling factor as Phil pointed out to me was you would be sharing these coral bommies with hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of highly venomous sea snakes.
The lagoons of the Coral Sea are teaming with all sorts of fish species, and rigged with a Clouser Minnow and a heavy shock tippet we had great fun catching loads of fish, as well as tangling with the odd shark or two cruising these areas for a quick and easy meal. As the tide started to push we would weigh anchor and make our way for one of the sand spits. One of our goals was to catch a large GT for which the Coral Sea is famous, but until this point they had been difficult to lure due to the weather we had been experiencing.
As we approached a particular sand spit where GTs had been seen before, I caught a glimpse of a large, solitary shape a couple off feet of the sand, slowly being nudged along by the current. As our guide beached our craft, I leapt for the sand, keeping a close eye on the shape as if drifted away from me. It wasn’t an easy cast as I had to get the fly far enough ahead of the fish to allow me time to strip. I placed the fly ahead of the fish and within seconds the huge shape chased down my #6/0 Flashy Profile. I set the hook and the fish was off; was this to be the giant we were after? In a blur of turquoise water, with my heart beating wildly, I suddenly felt the line go slack and watched as the huge fish charged off across the lagoon. After the disappointment of losing such a fish, we spent the rest of the pushing tide sight-casting and catching bluefin kingfish and darts (Largespot pompano).
One of the other exciting ways to fish off the dories is to make sure you put some time in with Scotty, an American guide. One of Scotty’s passions is dogtooth tuna, and he has several secret pinnacles and drop-offs scattered all over the ocean where he targets this fish species. Often when we were cruising between lagoons, Scotty would sneak off to one of theses spots to see if any doggies were home. He has a unique way of teasing these fish closer to the surface: he gets the angler to cast out a fast sinking line with a large Mega Clouser, and when he feels the fast sinking line is nearing the strike zone, he sends down a heavy, hookless jig. When the fly-line has reached its maximum depth, he gets the angler to start retrieving before he commences his retrieve. With the angler’s fly charging toward the surface, he retrieves his jig at a high speed, forcing the doggies to chase it up from the deeper water. The desired result is that when the pack of doggies reaches the jig, the angler’s fly is in the same area, resulting in a hook-up. During the trip we landed doggies of up to 60 lbs using this method.
On the whole this venue offers some of the most varied and dynamic ways of targeting different species on fly.
Here are some recommendations on tackling up for this trip. Bear in mind that there are weight restrictions on the float planes so make sure you pack only the essentials.
RODS
Although the charter offers top quality and well maintained fishing gear, all fly-fishing gear is your personal responsibility.
You will need to take either a 9- or 10- weight rod for the fishing around the sand spits. You will need nothing less than a 12-weight rod for targeting larger fish in the lagoons, and for the GTs. As far as fishing from the game boats is concerned, you will need at least a 14-weight fly-rod, but preferably a 15- or 16-weight if you have one. It is worth taking a spare rod in the heavier line weights.
REELS
You obviously need to match the reels to the rods you are going to select. What is of utmost importance is to have a reel with good stopping power and enough backing capacity, especially in the larger reels. I recommend a reel like the Abel Super Series, which has a cork drag system with huge stopping power, and can hold hundreds of metres of backing.
I recommend that you rig you reels up with the following backing: your 9- or 10-weight reel should hold at least 200 metres of thirty pound Dacron, while your larger reels should hold as much 50lb Gelspun backing as can be accommodated.
LINES
Again you need to match the lines according to the rods you have selected. I would suggest you select an intermediate line such as Scientific Anglers’ Bonefish or Tarpon Taper lines for your 9-, 10- and 12- weight rods.
You will also need a fast sinking line such as Scientific Anglers’ Bluewater Express. This line comes in a range of sink rates but its best feature is that it has a 60lb braided monofilament core making it extra strong. You will also need a dedicated line such as Scientific Anglers’ Billfish taper when fishing for billfish.
It is strongly advised that you take a couple of spare pre-looped lines as back-up.
TIPPET MATERIAL
As far a tippet material is concerned, I suggest you take fluorocarbon in various breaking strengths from 15lb to130lb. This will allow you to fish the lighter tippets for smaller fish on you lightweight outfits, and heavier shock tippets where larger fish are concerned.
Don’t leave home without a load of wire for trace. I would recommend you take a couple of packets of 40lb – 60lb Toothproof wire. To save time I suggest you pre-rig some of the flies with trace to save you time and frustration on the boats.
FLIES
I have never before been exposed to such huge flies on a fishing trip. We were presented with a variation of a Flashy Profiles, only these flies were three times the size we would tie in the Seychelles. These flies are rigged on a tandem rig using #10/0 hooks. These were used for large dogtooth tuna and wahoo. Other flies you will need are a good selection of billfish flies tied with tandem hooks, using a combination of #4/0 & #6/0 hooks, some large weighted #6/0 & #8/0 Mega Clousers in varying colours, #6/0 & #8/0 Flashy Profiles, Sempers and Deep Water Whistlers.
For the lagoons and sand spits I would use smaller flies in #2 & #2/0. You should have a selection of Clousers, Fire Tiger Clousers, Bunker flies and a range of crab patterns.
All in all this is a trip of a lifetime. Such a trip requires a great deal of planning and preparation. You need to have all your tackle well prepared in advance, as there is no time once you begin you trip for last minute issues.
