The annual Darwin Saltwater Fly Fishing Challenge has been going for more than 25 years, and has always been held in Bynoe Harbour.
Hosted by Darwin Fly Rodders, competitors stay at Sand Palms Roadhouse for the two-and-a-half-day event.
Often this fly-fishing competition is plagued by breezy conditions which is far from suitable for casting fly lines.
However, conditions for last week’s event were favourable with hardly any wind except later in the afternoons.
The principle behind fly fishing is that the artificial fly – even though for saltwater fishing it is meant to mimic a small baitfish and not an insect – weighs hardly any more than the hook, and thus the fly line itself is what gets the fly out there.
Fly rods and lines come in different weight ratings, both to facilitate the size of flies cast and the size and strength of the quarry.
Rod sizes range from 0 to 18 weight, with the smaller sizes used mainly for trout fishing with actual flies tied to look like the little insects trout are feeding on.
The heaviest fly rods are used for billfish and the larger pelagic species like big tuna.
Somewhere in the middle is what is mainly used in the Top End for barra and small-to-mid-sized pelagics.
We’re talking 8-10 weight fly outfits here, which is what most if not all competitors in the Saltwater Fly Challenge would have been using.
Team numbers were down on previous years: there were seven teams of two anglers.
However, as always the event was keenly contested.
Unlike other fishing competitions, this event focuses on catching seven nominated species: barra, tarpon, salmon, trevally, queenfish, mackerel and snapper species.
Catch all seven on any one day and you’ll get a bucket load of points.
As usual, there was an abundance of the more-common species captured, in particular: snapper (including mangrove jack), trevally and queenfish.
Regular competitor, Roger Sinclair, said: “There were good numbers of grey and spotted mackerel around but it was frustrating to tempt them to take a fly, and when finally hooked bite-offs were common as the use of wire trace reduces the fly’s appeal.
“Barra numbers were low but this was not unexpected as the tides across the competition days were neaps.
“Among the number of queenfish, there were some good-size models, with Hayden Woodroffe landing a whopper 88cm fish (measured to the fork).
“This also took out the Most Meritorious fish for the competition.
“Sharks also presented as a nuisance for some teams with reports of hooked fish being devoured before they could be landed,” Roger reported.
The species count numbers were as follows: barra 5, tarpon, 9, salmon 88, trevally 339, queenfish 146, mackerel 18, snapper 200 and others 91.
Results:
Champion Team: Dave Maurier and Tim Harding – 10063 points
Runner-up Champion Team: Peter Thiel and Roger Sinclair – 9349 points
Champion Angler: Dave Maurier – 6640 points
Runner-up Champion Angler: Tim Harding – 6423 points
Seven Species Challenge: Dave Maurier (seven species on day 1)
Barra were scarce, but Peter Thiel managed to catch one in the Darwin Saltwater Fly Fishing Challenge.
Roger Sinclair with a beaut queenfish from the Fly Fishing Challenge.
