Depth of water being fairly important and size of fish too.... Funily enough Kiribati guides varied greatly on there preference, some liked bigger heavier flies - lead eye charlies and the bigger clousers for the big schools that group on a full moon - a bigger than usual size to weed out the runty fish,while other guides liked small bead eye charlies stripped down to only a few strands with the length reduced in the tail for loooong casts at very flighty fish in super shallow water.The one fly i thought was ridiculous actually nailed my biggest fish at Kiribati with head guide, on a looong cast to a single feeding fish over a shallow sand spit - it had two hairs and a bit of a shank wrap - i thought the guides who tied them were just running low on supplies.
but, to answer your question id say generally a number 6 pink crazy charlie or similar size clouser cut short and stripped back to about half.I watched a common theme emerge from the guides to pinch the tail vertically and cut at a 45% angle - seemed to work well enough but, if i was fishing in exmouth or somewhere for bigger fish then bigger and heavier clousers or speak to some local crew for advice.
Im no expert at it though - maybe speak to Tony Ong from Saltwater flyrodders for more advice - top bloke and very helpfull.
Hey guys thanks for the advice, I have fished Kiribati a few years ago and we were using small crazy charlies, nothing big at all. We had alot of success, 30 -40 fish a day easy. It did help having a helicopter to take the guide in, we fished some spots he had never been to as access is almost impossible.
I recently went to Cocos, and got a heap of trevally and silverys. Last year i got a good Bone on a clouser with brown goat hair and pink around the shank.
The reason i am asking is i didnt know if there were any new fly`s out there.
I would love to target reef fish in 10-15meters of water, i have a 9 weight with floating line, what would your ideal setup be for small gt, trout, cod.
If you want to get down to 10 to 15 metres you will need a different line, fast sinking. Streamers will be fine then, most of the fish you mention will take anything you put in front of them ...just wiggle it a little and strip, if they see it, they will eat it.
I fished for them in the cook islands last year, I cant remember the name of the fly but it resembled a small shrimp with large yellow eyes. Was very productive. I will post a pic of it if I can find it.
Get yourself a 300-400 grain Deep Sea line, Rio make them. It will make sinking flies down deep a whole lot easier. I have used my 300 grain deep sea to sink white deceivers down 10-15 metres for makkies. You have to cast well ahead and then let it sink for ages!!! I mean ages. Adding lead wraps to the bodies of your flies and tying with the biggest dumbell eyes you can find will really help you get them down there too.
i found avalon crab flys did very well for me in exmouth and coral bay
the first fish i landed on one this trip, was a blue bone only a littley, but a blue bone.
caught a few bones and a couple of permit , and had fun with a school of bloody fast, (i havent a clue !! ).possibley milk fish by the tails out of the water.
and lost a few flys to them and didnt manage to stop one of them , caught a few other sorts , had a ball up there, cant wait to go back.
fly lines used scientific anglers, tropic express wf-300-s streamer intermediate, express wf-350-s, and Reo wf9f bonefish
used two weight leaders 14 and 20 lb between 9 and 12 foot all on a 9 weight Thomas and Thomas
trymyluck
Posts: 908
Date Joined: 06/05/12
Clousers and Crazy Charlies
Clousers and Crazy Charlies in chartuese yellow and white combos
joffa
Posts: 45
Date Joined: 18/04/10
lots of variables Mr Viking22
Depth of water being fairly important and size of fish too.... Funily enough Kiribati guides varied greatly on there preference, some liked bigger heavier flies - lead eye charlies and the bigger clousers for the big schools that group on a full moon - a bigger than usual size to weed out the runty fish,while other guides liked small bead eye charlies stripped down to only a few strands with the length reduced in the tail for loooong casts at very flighty fish in super shallow water.The one fly i thought was ridiculous actually nailed my biggest fish at Kiribati with head guide, on a looong cast to a single feeding fish over a shallow sand spit - it had two hairs and a bit of a shank wrap - i thought the guides who tied them were just running low on supplies.
but, to answer your question id say generally a number 6 pink crazy charlie or similar size clouser cut short and stripped back to about half.I watched a common theme emerge from the guides to pinch the tail vertically and cut at a 45% angle - seemed to work well enough but, if i was fishing in exmouth or somewhere for bigger fish then bigger and heavier clousers or speak to some local crew for advice.
Im no expert at it though - maybe speak to Tony Ong from Saltwater flyrodders for more advice - top bloke and very helpfull.
cheers Joffa
viking22
Posts: 15
Date Joined: 10/09/12
Hey guys thanks for the
Hey guys thanks for the advice, I have fished Kiribati a few years ago and we were using small crazy charlies, nothing big at all. We had alot of success, 30 -40 fish a day easy. It did help having a helicopter to take the guide in, we fished some spots he had never been to as access is almost impossible.
I recently went to Cocos, and got a heap of trevally and silverys. Last year i got a good Bone on a clouser with brown goat hair and pink around the shank.
The reason i am asking is i didnt know if there were any new fly`s out there.
I would love to target reef fish in 10-15meters of water, i have a 9 weight with floating line, what would your ideal setup be for small gt, trout, cod.
Cheers
trymyluck
Posts: 908
Date Joined: 06/05/12
If you want to get down to 10
If you want to get down to 10 to 15 metres you will need a different line, fast sinking. Streamers will be fine then, most of the fish you mention will take anything you put in front of them ...just wiggle it a little and strip, if they see it, they will eat it.
pgreen1
Posts: 395
Date Joined: 20/02/08
I fished for them in the cook
I fished for them in the cook islands last year, I cant remember the name of the fly but it resembled a small shrimp with large yellow eyes. Was very productive. I will post a pic of it if I can find it.
K1W1
Posts: 28
Date Joined: 16/09/12
fly selection depends on
fly selection depends on where you are fishing. the same flies you would be using in cocos would be useless in exmouth.
Tagetting coral trout is a very bad idea. if you are going to do it get a shooting head system, and take plenty of spare heads.
Ryan Thipthorp (not verified)
Posts: 23
Date Joined: 01/01/70
easy!
Gotcha flies........thats got me all my bones and permit on fly!!!
Paul Cunningham
Posts: 103
Date Joined: 14/07/09
Get a Rio deep sea line
Viking22,
Get yourself a 300-400 grain Deep Sea line, Rio make them. It will make sinking flies down deep a whole lot easier. I have used my 300 grain deep sea to sink white deceivers down 10-15 metres for makkies. You have to cast well ahead and then let it sink for ages!!! I mean ages. Adding lead wraps to the bodies of your flies and tying with the biggest dumbell eyes you can find will really help you get them down there too.
Good luck and let us know how you go.
Paul
nowoolies
Posts: 2
Date Joined: 09/02/13
i found avalon crab flys did
i found avalon crab flys did very well for me in exmouth and coral bay
the first fish i landed on one this trip, was a blue bone only a littley, but a blue bone.
caught a few bones and a couple of permit , and had fun with a school of bloody fast, (i havent a clue !! ).possibley milk fish by the tails out of the water.
and lost a few flys to them and didnt manage to stop one of them , caught a few other sorts , had a ball up there, cant wait to go back.
fly lines used scientific anglers, tropic express wf-300-s streamer intermediate, express wf-350-s, and Reo wf9f bonefish
used two weight leaders 14 and 20 lb between 9 and 12 foot all on a 9 weight Thomas and Thomas
Paul