Sebarau on Popper Fly

Fly Fishing Trip, Fly Pattern, Freshwater Trip, , , ,

The sebarau is one of the more exciting fresh water gamefish to target on fly, especially on surface fly. The take of the sebarau on surface fly is always exciting, providing a sensory overload from the visual, auditory and kinesthetic sense. The best time to target them on surface is in the early mornings and late evenings, where they will be actively hunting on the surface for any unsuspecting prey such as grasshoppers, spiders or any unfortunate insects that get blown onto the water. The use of large noisy poppers in bright colours, decorated with flashy tinsels and enhanced with UV flash works best. In the early morning, we would cruise the banks of the waterway where there is thick vegetation and if there is a tree that has fallen into the water, that’s the best place to find them hunting actively. Once we have located a likely spot, we would shut down the boat engine and slowly drift into position, careful not to drift too close. The boat will be drifting parallel to the bank about 50 to 60 feet away. We would pick a target, usually a tree trunk partly submerged or a clump of vegetation and cast to it. Once the ripple has settled, the line is stripped in a short burst and rod tip is twitched to enhance the action and the commotion of the popper. The trick here is to “ pop”, stop and then “pop” again. This action allows the popper to remain in the strike zone longer while giving time for the sebarau to examine the fly. They usually take the fly when it starts moving. There are times when they will follow the fly close to the boat and take the fly before diving down into the deeper water. Sometimes, the sebarau will take the popper on the drop if it lands near them. It is important to hang on the line at the last cast so that your hand is always in contact with the line. Some people would just let go of the line and let it fly out, adding distance to the cast. While this is good if you are distance casting, but to catch fish, the hand needs to always be in contact with the line, ready to strip strike when the fish take the fly. Lifting the rod to strike like when doing conventional fishing will only pull the fly out from the fish’s mouth. In the late evenings, the sebarau will hunt in groups and it is this behavior that gives them the name River Wolves. They can be seen charging at helpless baitfish near the surface and it takes speed, accuracy and a cool head to cast to them. In this situation, once the popper lands, start popping fast and hard. A strike usually doesn’t take very long. ~More Gallery Click Here~

Booby Minnow Wiggle (BMW) by Dron Lee

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A game changer in minnow flies Brandon Ho FFI CCI When the fishing gets tough, the answer is a fly that will imitate the baitfish both in profile and also swimming action. Dron Lee has got the answer to this. We were out fishing in Air Kuning, Perak. It was the raining season and the water level has risen considerable, dropping the temperature and making the fish lethargic. Fishing was slow to say the least. I put my fly rod down and started casting my baitcaster. I wanted to get the lures deep and to cut through the water weeds that were growing in profusion in these waters. A normal fly, even a weighted one like the clouser would not be able to get deep enough or close enough to the weed to entice the fish. Out of every 5 casts, 3 would be snag. The popular saying was, “if the flies are not snagging , the fish are not biting”. But with the fly getting snagged on every other cast, enough was enough. I was busy casting to a toman fry ball when Dron hollered me over. I went as fast as my 55lb thruster would take me and he asked me to shot a video of the fly. I was amazed, the fly was swimming like a baitfish in distress. As a reward, Dron gave me two flies to try out and I powered away to a weed patch to try it out. On the second cast, there was a strong pull and the fish tried it best to swim onto the weeds. Using the strong backbone of the new Vision XO Graphene XO weight 6, the fish was quickly subdued but not after doing a few airborne somersaults. Not a big fish in these waters but still a beautiful fish. The fish was so confident of the fly that it fully engulfed it. Wow! This fly really works. I moved to another weed patch and started casting. There were commotions on the water surface and I promptly casted to it. I felt a tug but no hook up. I casted again and this time the pull was much stronger, line was slipping through my fingers. A fish jumped out of the water and it was unmistakable a giant snake head or toman. As the fish landed, my fly came flying back. The fish spat the hook out. I was not expecting a toman to take this small fly and I didn’t accord it the strip strike that I would have normally done. The fly is so good that even the apex predator in these water couldn’t resist. So, what is this new fly pattern from Dron? The fly is a baitfish profile with a shinny reflective belly. The UV fibres here really help to catch and reflect the light, especially useful in these dark waters. The back is of SR fibres which helps to give it a baitfish profile. The tail end is from a pair of hackle which imparts life and movement. A line of tinsel flash running along the body imitates the lateral lines. The additional of a foam tube at the head which also serves to be a place to position a pair of oversized eyes really make this a very enticing prey to the aquatic predators. The secret to this fly comes in the form a curved lip at the front of the eyes. This is where this fly is different from the rest. The lip makes the fly swim deep and also imparts side to side movements. Normal flies will just be limited to up and down movements but this fly moves left and right too, giving it a wider range of movements. Another insight to this fly design is the use of the foam tube. This allows the fly to be suspended at the depth whenever the fly is not stripped. The depth of the fly will depend on the type of line used. In my case, I was using a full sink line with 9 feet of tapered fluorocarbon leader. I was able to get the line deep and swim the fly slowly among the weeds. The lip serves to push the weed apart allowing the fly to swim through it without snagging. This versatile suspended booby minnow pattern can be fished with floating, sinktip or sinking line, depending on where your target fish is holding. The plastic lip creates the sexy wiggling action that most fish will find irresistible. With the right presentation, the Wiggle Booby Minnow can imitate a swimming or injured baitfish. There are so many ways to fish this remarkable fly. This fly made the difference between a depressing day on the water and catching fish in difficult situations. This is one fly that I will make sure to always be in my fly box. When all fails, this could be the trip saver. ~More Gallery Click Here~

Peacock Bass on Fliptail Clouser – On water test in Clearwater Sanctuary (CWS)

Fly Fishing Trip, Fly Pattern, Freshwater Trip, , , , , , , ,

Peacock Bass on Fliptail Clouser On water test in CWS Clevin Kham FFI CCI With the launch of the FTN Silicone and Latex Fish Tail, many variations of baitfish patterns emerged and we took the opportunity to tie a few to test it out on the Malaysian favourite sportfish, the Peacock Bass. Brought into the country in the 80s as an ornamental fish, this fish found its way into the many ponds in the country. With its predatory nature and hard fight, this fish is sought after by fly fishers. Various fly patterns are specifically designed to target this fish. The long weekend, in conjunction with the National Day holiday, was an opportunity to test out this fly. The target species, Peacock Bass. The location, Perak. The fly, Flip Tail Clouser. The equipment, #6 rod with floating line. Darrell and I drove down from Kuala Lumpur and met Asrul Affendi (Asrul), Khairulniza Arifin (Ija) and Aimar Aizat (Aizat) who were so gracious to be our guide on this trip. Arriving at the location just after 8 am, we choose a spot where there was a small stream feeding into a large pond. This is the ideal sport as the PB will be waiting in ambush for the baitfish. Occasionally, the baitfish would be scattered by some large predatory fish. This was a sure sign our target fish was there. I casted my #6 floating line connected to a 7 foot leader. A chartreuse Flip Tail Clouser tied on Ahrex NS150 Curved Shrimp #6 was connected to a 20lb tipper. Many would think that clouser is a sinking fly and thus be fished with a sinking line. I decided to do the opposite. Using a floating line will allow the fly to be stripped upwards and as the fly descended, it will create an aggerated movement of the flap tail. It will have more action than an ordinary clouser, making it more attractive to the fish. Well, this was all my hypothesis. Only the fish can prove this. I cast to a spot near the outflow of the stream and allowed the fly to sink before giving it short but crisp strips. Pausing, to keep the fly in the strike zone longer. As I resumed stripping after the pause, my line was stopped and instinctively, I stripped strike. The fish didn’t like it at all and proceeded to speed off in the opposite direction. It fought doggedly, zig zagging in the water. It was a tough but short fight.  Soon, a dark green fish with an unmistakable black eye fringed by a yellow circle near the tail was gently guided onto the bank. It was a good fish, almost 33cm in length. The fish was safely released after a quick customary photo shoot. The scene was repeated several times. About lunch time, we grab a quick lunch and checked in into CWS and started fishing in the fishing club house spot where the wind started to pick up. Darrell and I moved to another spot just right outside our room, successfully landed a 35 cm fish. The Flipper tail seemed to be working like a charm. It is simple to tie and easy to swim either on a sinking or a floating line. The action seems to drive fish crazy. Try it the next time you target the PB. The beauty of this fly is that can be used as a spin fly on UL spinning gear. ~More Gallery Click Here~

It’s raining poppers!! Testing the FTN Poppers

Fly Fishing Trip, Fly Pattern, Saltwater Trip, , , , , , ,

It’s raining poppers!! Testing the FTN foam popper Brandon Ho FFI CCI At 6.45am, we pulled up at a pay pond in Jugra. James and Than were already there gearing up for the assault on the Barramundi. It was a dark cold morning as the constant rain in the past weeks have lower the temperature significantly but it did not dampen our spirit. The night before, we were tying flies late into the night and with only a few hours of sleep, we were at the pond. The objective for the day was to test out new flies: Poppers, Booby Streamer, Articulated Rattling Streamer. According to Than, the early morning would be the best time to test out the surface flies. At 7am sharp, we walked towards the pond at the back and started to cast. On the very first cast, Than got a hit on his newly tied Booby Streamer. The moment the fly landed on the water, a big splash erupted and his line went tight. Unfortunately, the fish managed to free itself. Standing by the side of the pond, I cast out my Goldfish Popper about 40 feet out and started to pop it back. I was focusing more on how to create a larger trail bubble while maximizing the “popping” sound. Out of the blue, a wave came rushing up to the moving popper and a respectable silver gray torpedo smashed into the orange and fluorescent yellow popper. It pulled the 6 wt line out of my finger, bending the Vision XO rod. A few seconds later, I suffered the same fate as Than. The fish was gone. The commotion got everyone excited and the pond was pounded with poppers of all colours. Otto was the next person to get a hit and he did a great job landing the fish on a Green Yellow popper on Ahrex SA 220 Streamer #2. A few minutes later, it was Nic who got another barramundi from another pond, on a Yellow Red popper. James, who was fishing at the back pond managed to have a solid hook but, unfortunately his 12lb tippet broke. By then the sun was already peeking out from the eastern sky and then surface action tapered down. It was time for some streamer action. I tied a Dark Brown Articulated Rattling Streamer onto my tippet and cast out. I allowed the fly to sink to the bottom before slowly retrieving the line with erratic movement to enhance the action as well as to create the rattling sound. It worked like a charm and within the first 5 minutes, I got a tap. I continued the retrieve but it didn’t activate any bite response. I cast to another spot and this time, a savage bite and the fish took the fly and ran away with it. It gave a good account of itself and was landed after a brief fight. The fly worked. To prove that the fly really works, it must catch another fish. True enough, the very next cast got connected to another good fish. That’s the proof I was looking for. I needed photo evidence and Janice took a good photo of the fish. What a great end to a fun testing trip. ~More Gallery Click Here~