We traveled seven hours last night nearly due north on our mothership the Wildcard. It was a wave rolling ride. Fortunately it rocked my seaworthy Yellow Dog Flyfishing group to sleep. The only time I woke for a few minutes was when I heard our mighty anchor drop around 1 AM this morning. We are in a bay very close to the northern tip of the Wessel Islands. Far far from home.
It was stormy all night and torrential rain fell during coffee time. Normally I’m up on the deck at 5 AM working on my blog but today there was no way. We all nestled around the breakfast table wondering if we’d be able to go fishing today.
As you would imagine, the Wildcard has full eyes on the weather and Captain Tom had good news. The rain and wind would start letting up at 10 AM. We all decided instead of going out at the usual 8, we’d kick back and enjoy a morning on the boat. We ate a bigger breakfast. Enjoyed an extra coffee. And, watched an episode about the Wildcards main business, commercial mackerel fishing. There is a TV series that takes place on the Wildcard called Cape Carnage Killer Catch. The episode we watched was an eyeopener for what really swims under the boat at night!
As predicted, the rain died off as morning moved along. Today I was back with Neuman and we fished again with guide Peter. Peter was eager to go as soon as the heavy rain dropped to a light rain. He didn’t have to ask us twice. We were on our way!
Peter took us fishing around the most outer island of the entire Wessels chain. The rain may have been slowing but it was sure dark out. Neuman took the bow and I patrolled the back of the boat with a Clouser.
You may remember I lost the queenfish of a lifetime to a shark two days ago. That still has me irritated. Therefore when a hungry blacktip shark meandered by us this morning, I set down my Clouser rod and grabbed my 10-weight Winston already rigged with a popper on wire. I lobbed a cast about five feet to the side of the fish yet at the same time ahead of him. This way I can gently pop it into the shark’s lane. Sharks are spookier than you may think so this is by far the best presentation to use for them and on this one it worked like a charm. The shark swam over and sipped my popper like a cutthroat trout taking a mayfly.
Few fly fishers try for sharks but I’ll tell you from years of messing with them it’s a blast. You should however discuss your plans with your guide. While most guides find it fun, there are a few that don’t like dealing with the teeth. This doesn’t mean you can’t fish for sharks, but you may have to unhook them yourself. Fortunately for us, Peter is up for just about anything and he was thrilled when Mr. Blacktip sucked in my popper.
It’s best not to haul a shark in the boat as a ton of things can go wrong even with a little guy like this. Once Peter said we were clear of crocodiles (hopefully) I opted to hop over the side and battle the shark from the beach. This way I was able to drag him to shore and pin him down for a safe photo. This fish put up an excellent fight before I finally wrangled him.
The shark was fun and I kept my popper in hand hoping for another, occasionally landing some blind casts. I picked up a handful of fish. Most were small queenfish but I also got a few golden trevally and this brassy. The whole time I was casting, Neuman and Peter were hunting for permit and not casting at all. Plain and simple, with dark gray skies and no sun, they just couldn’t find the fish.
That’s about when Peter did something brilliant. Almost cheating but brilliant and I’m glad because it was to our benefit. Peter broke out his drone and from far above, even though visibility was brutal, he found some permit. They were happy permit too. The best kind. They hung around and allowed Neuman to launch ten minutes worth of good casts without spooking. Then it happened. One of the permit charged and devoured Neuman’s crab!
To say Mike is having one heck of a first saltwater flats trip is an understatement. Neuman is having one of the best saltwater trips he may ever have in his life!
As all permit do, this guy took off on a crazy run. Mike got him half way back at least twice but the permit ran off again. Each time the run was shorter but this fish was showing his power. Then we had a major concern. We spotted a shark zipping around us. It was bad enough we lost a queenfish the other day; we had to get this permit in and released without shark madness. I’m happy to say, the shark left on his own and we landed and released Mikes first permit without any shark attack.
Not many flats anglers can say they caught an Indo-Pacific permit on their first trip. But Neuman can. This has been a fun trip to watch unfold. For me, the icing on the cake would be my first blue bastard. Even in bad light, the blue of a bastard stands out. I took the bow in hot pursuit.
It didn’t take long before Peter spotted one of the burly fish feeding close to shore. I gently landed one of Neuman’s Shrimp patterns, let it sink to bottom and then gave it one little twitch. The blue gray blur shot my way and tailed. I patiently gave him a couple seconds to chew on the concoction then in one strip he was on!
Getting broke off by a blue bastard two days ago didn’t set well with me. I planned today’s blue bastard battle. Before I made my cast, I made a mental note where the nearest rocks were. I tightened my Bauer reels drag all the way. All I had to do now was keep my rod tip slightly up so it could bend to the cork. Bending the whole rod as opposed to only the tip, tires a fish fast. It’s also a good way to make sure my 9-weight didn’t explode!
I had two close calls with this blue bastard. The first run as always ended very close to the very rocks I’m certain this fish calls home. Then there was the random run to the center of the bay. I don’t know if rocks exist there but if so, I got lucky. After the second run, I hoisted him to the net. A new species on the fly for me – and a good one!
All I can say is, when you have a blue bastard in your hands, you have a lot of fish there. These fish are about as stout as any fish I’ve held. Dense might be the best way to describe them. We shot a handful photos, then I did my usual and studied every inch of this new to me fish. Someday I’ll be painting one for my store fish series so I looked at the fins and scales closely. Then, as I got ready to release him, I stared into his eyes. And boy, it was wild. These fish have cool looking eyes!
Landing a blue bastard was one of the main goals I had for this trip. I popped a brew with Neuman and we enjoyed our 30 minute boat ride back to the Wildcard. When we got there I was pleased to learn Jeff Smith was well enough to spend the whole day on the water with Mike Lodge. And though Jeff didn’t connect; Mike landed a blue bastard of his own. Steve and Therese had a slow one but still a great day on the Wessel Islands flats.
Today officially marks the halfway point for this amazing trip I’m hosting for Yellow Dog to the Wessel Islands of Australia with Aussie Fly Fishers. I can never believe how fast these go – all because its so fun I guess. That’s all for today. Its steak night here and I am hungry. Until tomorrow. . ..
Big black mark on the lower cadual, blacktip reef shark as opposed to a blacktip, right?
Randy, thank you for this. I did notice that in my photos and was going to ask Tiger as he excellent with his fish. He didn’t see this fish or the pic. I may have blown it off but I’ll look into it and confirm. But I’m pretty sure you are correct. Which would officially be a new one!
Congrats. That’s why I asked. Blacktip reef sharks were on my hit list last year in Australia.