Fly fishing for Galjoen

[nakes]

Hi all

Have any of you ever caught or tried to catch Galjoen on fly? What fly should I use? What retrieve works best?

[nakes]

I'm thinking probably sinking or intermediate line with a san juan worm?? or somethig similar??

[lookout]

Never caught a Galjoen on fly, but I do know they love shallow turbulent water over rocky areas. Not somewhere I would like to cast my flyline into too often. When snorkerling along the EC coast I am always amazed just how shallow these fish go. If you can cut open a couple of redbait pods this will certainly improve you odds of attracting Galjoen as they are constantly on the move and would need some encouragement to remain in one spot for any lenght of time

[nakes]

I know of a small bay, fairly shallow and isn't too rocky, where I fished for Galjoen with bait and a 7ft shimano convergence rod.. so I know where to find them in waters that's sort of ok for a flyline to survive (not so sure about the sinking line - but i'm prepared to try) I'm just not sure of a technique, well not yet anyway..

[henried]

You should try and get hold of Sean Mills; according to me he caught some on fly if I'm not mistaken...

Flywaters.co.za

[swsmith]

good luck is all im saying.how do you get the fly line under control in turbulent water....????

[nakes]

You should try and get hold of Sean Mills; according to me he caught some on fly if I'm not mistaken...

Flywaters.co.za

I emailed Sean... so i'm waiting on his reply...

[nakes]

good luck is all im saying.how do you get the fly line under control in turbulent water....????

You don't only find Galjoen in turbulent water.. so the spot i have in mind is a small bay, fairly shallow and can only be fished on a spring high tide...

[swsmith]

i do agree.having done my fair share of r&s and having caught many of them,i just feel that with my experience they tend to favour the 'washing machine' water.i dont mean to be negative at all,i would love to be able to successfully target all species but i feel that some may be harder than others.take for instance there liking for vrot red bait.obviously they have keen senses.do you think a red bait imatation with no smell would interest them?in the same breath we have caught them on fresh reb bait when they didnt want vrot stuff.maybe even a prawn imitation,thats mostly what we fish with up the coast and catch all our species on.

the question we have to ask is that if someone has caught one on fly was it by luck or can we say for sure he has cracked the code.

[nakes]

i do agree.having done my fair share of r&s and having caught many of them,i just feel that with my experience they tend to favour the 'washing machine' water.i dont mean to be negative at all,i would love to be able to successfully target all species but i feel that some may be harder than others.take for instance there liking for vrot red bait.obviously they have keen senses.do you think a red bait imatation with no smell would interest them?in the same breath we have caught them on fresh reb bait when they didnt want vrot stuff.maybe even a prawn imitation,thats mostly what we fish with up the coast and catch all our species on.

the question we have to ask is that if someone has caught one on fly was it by luck or can we say for sure he has cracked the code.

No doubt it would be a challenge and a half to catch a Galjoen on fly.... But I'd like to try though... Maybe I'll "crack the code"... I think worm or amphapod imitation will work... I wanna try tomorrow but the weather may not be ideal....

And yes, Galjoen do tend to favour turbulent water and gullies but also some shallow bays where you'd never think to fish... as long as there is a food source and you don't spook the fish...

I think this winter it will be my mission to catch Galjoen on fly... how about Dassie/Blacktail?? I think it's an area of fly fishing that needs to be explored a bit more... could be plenty fun... i know they are fairly strong fighters because I've caught them on fairly light tackle...