Flyfishing Weipa
One of the great things about fishing is thedesire to travel to other places (whether they are far awaylocations or not) for the sole purpose of fishing. I don’tknow about you, but for me this instils a great deal of bothexcitement and apprehension, and is well worth it.
Since taking up the exciting sport of saltwaterflyfishing, I have never travelled more, purely to chase otherspecies and to fish in different locations with a wide range offriendly people and top personalities. It is now in my distantitinerary to fish places like Florida, and Belieze, which issomething that I once would have never even considered. So bewarned, if you are looking at taking up the sport or if youalready do, the travel bug is not too far away and well worthpursuing.
A recent ‘short’ trip I took was fullof both excitement and apprehension and was well worth the priorplanning with late nights tying flies and meticulously packingfishing gear. The first leg of the journey saw me leave my homebase of Palm Island (which is very hard to do considering theflyfishing options here) and venture up north to Cairns to meetup with some old friends and fish the waters of the Mulgrave.This has to be one of the most picturesque places I have fishedwith a beautiful river system and huge mountains for a backdrop.This place would be great for fishing photos, but as the daywould have it, we only landed some small trevally which were notworth the processing and developing price of film these days. Theouting was still very worthwhile as I spent it in the company ofsome great fishing companions who had a great sense of humour andadventure- something that can really make an outing.
Cairns has a great estuarine system and is invery close proximity to the Great Barrier Reef. There are manycharter boats working out of the area catering for the typicaltourist and also to the serious fisher person.
The main species targeted in the ‘deep blue’ are thebillfish, and Cairns has the enviable reputation of being theplace to go for some hot bill-fishing action. Cairns also has avariety of sports fish in the estuary systems with species likebarramundi, fingermark, trevally, queenfish, and the giantherring.
After spending a week in this tourist mecca, itwas time to go remote and jump a plane to Weipa (I get itchy feetjust thinking about this place). The flight from Cairns to Weipais both very comfortable and quick, taking just one hour andfifteen minutes. We barely reached altitude, had an in-flightmeal, and were then flying over a huge estuary system-Weipa. Thehuge expanse of this area is something to be seen.
Weipa itself is fairly spread out and it is notsimply a walk from here to there as I found out while waiting atthe airport terminal. Lucky there are taxi’s, and thanks toRon our driver, who gave us a great overview of the area, andmade the 15 kilometer trip to town so much more enjoyable.
I had arrived two days after the wet seasonended (so I was informed) and the place was a lush green colour,just like a tropical paradise.
My home base for the next week was the WeipaCamping Ground owned and operated by Ian and Gail Prewett. Thecamping grounds are situated right on the water (its notrecommended to wade the flats there) and are only a short 5minutewalk to the main shopping centre. There is also a pool so you canswim without having to worry about crocodiles, and the receptionarea has a heap of tourist souvenirs and some great photos on thewalls- definitely worth the look. Both Ian and Gail are there tohelp you in any way and were a great source of information onanything like advice on where not to fish because of crocodiles,and will also help you with booking any fishing and charteroperations, if there are still vacancies.
I had organised a charter with Dave Donald forthe following morning. This was organised two months prior to myarrival, and was the only space he had left. For anyone going toa new destination, this is money well spent. I spoke to someother tourists later in the week who had been there for threedays and had caught bugger all. I think they were a little dirtyto learn that we had caught and released close to 25 barra theprevious day and what made it even worse was that we were flyfishing and we let them all go. To a bait fisherman these are twoof the biggest sins possible.
Dave Donald runs a guiding service that isexceptional and he has the local knowledge to know when and wherethe fish are biting. The one morning I spent with him was full offishing and every destination we went to fired with non-stop flyfishing action, quite often with tripple hook ups.
Being from Palm Island, the fly fishing inWeipa is a little different to what I have been used to andalthough there is blue water fishing, we concentrated on theestuaries. The sheer size of these is amazing and you could getlost in them - I did, and I was only a passenger.
We spent the morning targeting and catchingtripple tail, queenfish, trevally, and barramundi all on the fly.We also encountered salmon, which were not as responsive.
One of the things that really impressed me wasthe amount of fish activity, and during the travel from one spotto another, there would be numerous schools of baitfish beingsmashed by bigger predators. This must be commonplace, as Davedidn’t even bat an eyelid.
The morning was spent walking the banks andsight fishing to all manner of species which would eagerly take awell placed fly. There were a few locations which proved to bequite hot and you would find the three of us casting flies -tripple hook ups were common.
One such spot yeilded some great barra fishingon the fly and at one stage every cast brought a hook up. It wasthen a matter of keeping them in line and away from obstructions.Dave had a big fish on which ran him into the rocks and madeshort work of the 60pound shock tippet.
We used an assortment of flies on the barraincluding Polar Fibre minnows (featured in the
The tackle we used consisted of rods from#6weight to #9weight and all were equipped with Scientific Angler‘Wet Tip’ lines. So far, I have found these to be thebest for use in the tropics. Leaders were conventional taperedleaders in either 12-15pound test with 60pound shock tippets. Iwas surprised at the heavy shock tippet size but then when I hadencountered a few barramundi, I knew why, as every fish had leftme with no option but to cut and retie the fly because of theabrasion on the leader during the fight.
For someone who hasn’t been to Weipabefore lets look at some of the things that will make your tripmore enjoyable and ensure you have maximum time fishing.
Guides; Weipa has a surprising amount ofguides working out of the area for both sports fishing and reeffishing charters. Some of these (like Dave Donald) are wellestablished and know the area well. Make sure you check this outbefore you leave and book way ahead of time as the moreexperienced guides will have their time full. It is alsoworthwhile checking the appropriateness of the boat you arefishing from and for fly fishing this can be the differencebetween a good day and one not worth remembering. There isnothing worse than having your line tangled around a bollard orother obstructions, especially when you only have one shot at asighted fish.
By booking a guide, it is also a good time toask them for advice on what to bring and what to expect, that wayyou are well prepared.
Tackle; As I briefly mentioned earlier,the fly rods I used ranged from #6-#9weight and I found thesewere ample for the fishing I did. I also took my 4-piece#10weight which stayed in the case the whole time (my safetyblanket!) Make sure you take a back up rod as Dave was quick totell me that many an anglers tackle has been pushed too far and Icould think of nothing worse than to break a rod while the fishare running hot- something that seems quite common in Weipa.
As with any type of saltwater fly fishing, makesure your reel has a good drag system and ample backing,especially when targeting species like tuna, and xos gianttrevally. These are just two of the hard fighting fish availablein Weipa that will test your drag.
I used a Scientific Angler, ‘Wet Tip’line on both rods and was never at a disadvantage. These linesallow you to fish shallow water, but still give you the choice tofish a little deeper if the need arises. I also carry anintermediate and fast sink line just in case I need to fishdeeper.
Tippet class should mainly be governed by theweight of rod you are using, but make sure you have some heavymono (60pound) for shock tippets. Without this, I would not havelanded many (if any) barra.
Species; The fish species available inWeipa is truly unbelievable. I get regular reports form DaveDonald and the species list reads like a piscatorial dictionary.Let me give you an example. Last months list of species caughtincludes; barramundi, mangrove jack, estuary cod, queenfish,giant trevally, golden trevally, bludger trevally, grunter,threadfin salmon, long tail tuna, spanish mackerel, barracuda,stripeys, black jew, bream, giant herring, coral trout, parrotfish, flathead, swallowtail dart, and arher fish.
There is also a big buzz around Weipa at themoment with the snub nosed dart (permit). These are a speciesthat will get any serious fly fishers heart racing and aresomething else to see tailing in the skinny water. I have nodoubt that these fish alone will bring many fly fishing clientsto Weipa, both form Australia and overseas, such is their cultfollowing in fly fishing circles.
Weipa is a destination that is not too far awayand doesn’t cost a packet to get there and fish it. Add tothis the enviable reputation that Weipa has as being one of thepremier fly fishing destinations in north Queensland and you cansee why it is a popular spot for many people. If you haven’tbeen there yet- get to it, but book ahead.
Just between you and I, word has it that May isone of the best months to fish Weipa.
Words and pictures Copyright,Anthony Gomes.
SaltWater FlyFishing inAustralia, 2001.