We went to hit ocean for change this weekend. I was keen to explore surf around Mandurah, but as we had a late start, we didn't have much time to move around, so we went down to a small bay where we had a few good sessions before.
We walked around for a half hour or so, but we didn't see anything. We were almost giving up and walking back to our car. Then herring started chasing bait fish in front of us.
Herring is not known to be choosy for what they chase. They normally hit anything they move. People even catch them on a bare hook sometime.
However the fish that we were trying to catch in that bay were as selective as brown trout feeding on #20 mayflies on the Mataura River in NZ. In fact, the fish were feeding on something just below surface, much like trout rising to emergers. Slow yet deliberate.
Every time we saw a rise or swirl, we cast at it, but we were having a hard time to fool those fish. We eventually managed to get a few fish after a couple hours of struggle. I felt that it was more of fish making a mistake rather than us outsmarting the fish. Anyway I decided to keep them. Not only I wanted them for dinner, but I was keen to find out what they were feeding.
Well, they were feeding on tiny fish looked like miniature sardine. These were sightly over 20 mm long, and our flies were too big to match. Also, the shape of our flies were different from the actual bait fish. These bait fish were short and stocky like an almond whereas our flies were looking like a torpedo.
Although I didn't get many fish, I was happy with our new finding that even fish like herring gets selective from time to time. It reminds me that selecting a right fly is important for any fish we chase whether I am fishing for trout rising quietly to a mayfly spinner or big saltwater fish smashing bait as if there is no tomorrow.
The pelican armada flying pass
An old biplane flying pass
Finally this cool looking thing was flying over
Our dinner (before)
Our dinner (after)
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