We beat the afternoon offshore wind yesterday and we decided to try and beat it again. Departing at 6 AM for fishing here on the west side of Cape York Australia will be the norm for our last four days of fishing. Aussie Fly Fishers guide James had us heading south of Weipa by 6:15. It was another stunner of a morning and beautiful boat ride to the first Anak permit flat.
You may remember the flats were murky yesterday. We hoped that the offshore winds overnight would blow the water out to sea and replace it with crystal clear water but it wasn’t the case. We gave the first flat a short go but it simply wasn’t possible to see a permit in time to get off a cast.
James suggested a look for blue bastards (a cool fish) along some rocks in shallower water. The tide was low and visibility wouldn’t be an issue. We made our way further south. Sure enough the shallow flat, dotted with rocks and sand, had an excellent view.
Low and behold. There were some permit also. I spotted two hefty ones zipping down the edge of the rocks. James put us on a hot pursuit and I managed three good casts with the crab. Each time the fish expressed no interest. It turns out they seemed to be interested in each other.
It wasn’t long after that we spotted another individual permit. This one was happy and feeding over the rocks. I’ve seen this behavior plenty of times and its these permit that often take the fly. James eased me into perfect position and I made the cast. My fly landed just right and as it sank the permit charged and went down with it. It appeared things were about to unfold in our favor when the permit up righted and did a funny little dance then spooked. Dang it! The fish headed for Papua New Guinea.
That was all for permit action. Luckily the blue bastards took their place. For the next two hours we saw at least a half dozen of the blue bastards. They were ridiculously spooky and most of the time they saw us first. Granny and I got a lot of casts but most the time they were already sneaking away. But there was one. One big boy and I got him to eat.
The bastard was in deeper water nestled between two rocks. While my chances of landing him were slim, I made sure to lose him with a major screw up. I made a mental mistake of thinking I was fishing straight 40lb Fluoro – like I normally am in the rocks. But no. This was my permit rig and I had on 20lb tippet. The fish ate. I locked up on him. And before I got my rod high enough to absorb the run I busted him off. Though it’s likely I’d have been broke off anyhow it was a stupid rookie mistake!
Though we had nothing to show, it was a very exciting morning. It was our first time all week with constant flats action. If only we converted just one fish. But that’s the way it goes sometimes. You can’t look back. It was time to bang some fish on Clousers in deeper water. I kicked us off with my first ever Spanish flag. New species for the list!
Not too long after we noticed a nice queenfish lingering over a sand flat. The fish was riding high and Granny made a great cast. Unlike some of the flats fish here, queenies are almost always cooperative. This one devoured Granny’s fly and took her for a ride. There are several species of queens in the world this is the Talang, the same one we catch in Dubai.
There’s this fish too, the tomato cod. We caught several of these little guys yesterday and again today. Some more brownish than this reddish one. I thought it was the blacktip grouper we catch in the Seychelles until I glanced at my photos yesterday. Its missing the “blacktip” and is indeed another new species for me – (Cephalopholis sonnerati).
After yesterday’s black marlin adventure we couldn’t go without another look today. We also needed a tuna so we could enjoy some fresh sashimi this evening. We headed offshore around 1 PM and like yesterday, zigzagged the edge of the inshore water and the blue. No luck on the marlin, however the longtail tuna were feeding heavily. It didn’t take long to stick a fly in couple.
I can officially give the ok on the new Bauer SLT reels. I’ve been beating on demos for three years now, most recently in Colombia back in May. While the reel was 99% ready in Colombia, the yellowfin tuna finally did it in. Bauer made a few more adjustments and after today I think its safe to say its ready. This week the reel has battled many of these handsome tuna along with many other fish.
By midafternoon it was time to make our way home. The forecasted offshore wind was building. In fact, so much so that our boat ride was rough and wet. About half way James offered to take a break and hit one more set of rocks. I’m glad we did. I added a couple of the colorful leopard coral trout (Plectropomus leopardus) to my list. I’ve caught a few coral trout species in the Red Sea but this one is different and equally beautiful.
Man it was a long rough ride home. Fortunately upon arrival the reward was high. There’s nothing like fresh tuna sashimi. We had an absolute feast!
Kevin and Josh saw more permit today than Josh can recall in a long time. They too struggled to convert on them however Josh thinks they should be there again tomorrow. Time for a good sleep then we will head back north. Tomorrow will be the Anak day!