I just come of the water after a successful day with a client. About three week ago I had a call from a young guy that had watch our DVD Tidal Water Action on bass and estuary perch and wanted to learn how to target Eps and bass on fly as he had just picked up a new fly outfit from the Complete Angler in the city and is heading down to the south coast the home of the big eps. After his phone call I picked the best times and tide to target these fish on fly.

I like to fly fish for the estuary perch when the tides are big and running Out hard. This is when the fish will hold in the quiet water or the eddy. The inside of a corner that has a drop off. This where the estuary perch will wait to ambush any bait that swims into these areas. Any area that you can find that has quiet water with current running past it is a good area to look for estuaries.

The best way to get your fly in front of them is with an extra fast sink fly line with a sink rate of at least 100mm per second and preferably 150mm. We use the fastest sinking line to get down to the to the depth where the fish are holding quickly. . It is also important to know the sink rate of your line so you can count down so your fly is at the same depth as the fish are holding.

 It is very important to have a good fish finder sounder to find the fish and at what depth they are holding. We find the Humminbird 37 Matrix work the best for me as they give wide bottom coverage.

The flies that I prefer are dark coloured clouser made out of rabbit strips these have a life like action when retrieved. The Leader is nothing fancy 8kg mono about 1.5 to 2m long with the fly tied on with a loop knot allows the fly to move more freely thus adding action when stripped. When you find an area with fish showing on your sounder cast, count your line down to the depth the fish are holding and strip back and cast again varying your retrieve. I like short sharp strips with a pause every two or three strips and a long slow strip in the middle. It is easier if you have two or three people fishing as you cover the area better and can use different flies and retrieves. When a estuary does hit strike by pulling your line and not lifting your rod until you feel the wait of the fish.

When fishing for bass on surface flies I like to fish the rising tide early morning and late afternoons. I have found that the bass will be looking up on the rising tide for any small crabs or insects that inhabit the tidal zone between high and low. This does not mean that only fish the rising tide I have had plenty of great days on surface fly on a falling tide.

I use weight forward floating lines with a leader 8kg, 2m long and tie a small Popper or The small fizzer flies that Eddy Studman Koolabung lures makes.

Cast your fly a close to the shore line, weed beds or in and under any over hang or snags. When the fly lands on the water let it sit for a second or three before retrieving and bass will often strike just after the lands or the first few strips.

Fly-fishing can be the most deadly way to catch estuary perch and bass if you know how, where and when to target them.

Well the first of the bonito turned up of South Head the water temp was just over 19C. We where trolling in between the Gap and south head with 100mm. Troll craft lure when we had a double hook up on bonito around the 2 kg. After unhooking the fish I circled back and had another hook up on bonito.

 Later in the day when the tide picked up the bonito where working between the head we caught serval more casting small metal lures retrieve them at high speed.

The salmon have been Schooling of the heads and have been taking small metal lures, slugos and flies these fish are all around the 3 kg.

On those days that they have not been working the top I have been catching them trolling lures close in to the rocks near the wash on small lures and soft plastic. Another way to target the salmon is to find them on the sounder and drop metal jigs and weight plastics down and work them back up through the school. Often we will hook up on other fish like kings, bonito and trevs it can be some of the most exciting way to catch these Aussie battlers.