SALT WATER
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TROPICAL FLIES
Detailed
below are the flies I used on my last Tropical Fly Fishing Trip. Whilst
that trip was to Melville Island off Darwin the selection is relevant
to most Australian tropical destinations and is a good starting point
for one of those exotic tropical fly fishing destinations. For
normal salt water use I always tie on
Stainless Steel hooks so that the fly can be rinsed and put back in my
fly box. Because
there is the potential
to loose a
lot of flies when fishing up north you may want to consider cutting
costs by substituting coated hooks rather than Stainless steel and bead
chain eyes rather than the much more expensive dumbbell eyes and real
eyes. Also think about "form & function" and restrict the list of
flies that you take to a selection that covers the range of fishing
situations that you expect to encounter and carry multiples of each fly
rather than a having more than one fly with the same form and
function. A good tip is to carry some
split shot. If the fish are fishing too deep just adding a split shot
can get the fly down that extra meter or so and that may make all the
difference. Also tie some of your flies with weed guards. They don't
cut down the hook up rate and you
will find that they save a lot of snags when fishing shallow drains and
other shallow areas. In any case you can cut them off if necessary but
gee they are hard to add in the field. I like to carry two rigged rods.
My preferred outfit is a #9 weight rod rigged with a Rio Intermediate
sink tarpon taper line. I use this for 90% of my tropical fishing. I
also carry T14 fast sinking shooting heads backed with 50lb slick
shooter running line, and a floating line amongst my spare lines. I
nail knot 1 meter of 50lb of good
quality mono off the end of my fly lines as a leader and finish that
with a loop knot. I like my tippet to be connected to that with a loop
knot and to be the
weakest link in my rig so I restrict that to a maximum of 40 lb
straight
mono or fluorocarbon. That can be fished straight through to the fly or
you can add a lighter tippet or heavier shock/abrasion tippet. Oh and
if I was only taking 2 flies they would be size 2/0 the first would be
a pink things and the second chartreuse/white clousers - these two
flies will cover 80% of your fishing.
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CLICK
PHOTO
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OPEN
RECIPE |
PREFERRED
SIZE
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PREFERRED
COLOUR
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THESE FLIES IN SIZE #2/0 COVER 80% OF
TROPICAL FLY FISHING SITUATIONS:
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CLOUSER MINNOWS |
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#2/0
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White,
Chartreuse/white,
Pilchard/white
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| CREASE MINNOWS |
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#2/0
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White
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DECEIVERS
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#2/0
#4/0
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Red/white, Yellow/
white |
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THINGS |
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#2/0
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Pink/white,
Black &
barbed/orange, Gold/black
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WIGGLE
MINNOWS |
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#2
#2/0
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Chartreuse/black,
Black/orange, White/pink
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ARTICULATED POPPER HEADS
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20mm
HEAD
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White,
Chartreuses, Pink
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YOU MAY ALSO GET AN OPPORTUNITY TO USE SOME OF YOUR OTHER FLIES SO YOU
COULD ALSO TAKE ALONG:
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CRAB
PATTERNS, DAHLBERG DIVERS, CANDIES, ESTUARY
FLIES,
MUD PRAWNS AND OTHER SHRIMP
PATTERNS |
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REFER
BASS, ESTUARY
AND OFFSHORE FLY
PAGES FOR PRICES
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