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When it comes to fishing, I’m not fussy. I love it all. I have chased anything from backcountry bass to billfish offshore. However, if there is one style of fishing I probably do the least of, it has to be saltwater fly fishing. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, especially sight fishing on the flats, but these days I simply struggle to fit it into my hectic schedule.
Looking back, I have caught some cool fish on the flats, from kingfish to bones, but if there is one fish that has eluded me it is the permit, the Holy Grail of the flats for the wand. So, when Auds and I got the invite from the YETI crew to join them on a trip to Weipa, Cape York, I was zipping up my Panga before the call had finished. Then it dawned on me, it had been a good twenty years since I last picked up the fly rod. Suddenly I was nervous, really nervous.
The nerves went up a level when I learnt that our destination was The Cape Lodge. Part of fellow YETI Ambassador, Josh Hutchin’s Aussie Fly Fisher line up, the lodge is world famous for its permit fishing. Permit are notoriously hard to catch on fly so I was incredibly excited but if I’m totally honest, my excitement came with a tinge of nervous tension.
When we arrived, we were greeted by a howling wind which did nothing to calm the nerves because, as all fly fishers know, wind is the worst enemy of a fly fisher, especially one that hadn’t picked up a fly rod in two decades. I felt like the odds were stacking up against me.
Day one rolled around and I fought the wind, managing to surprise myself with how quickly I got my eye back in on the wand. I even managed to get a couple of runs on the board in the form of a few, a perfect boost to my confidence. Day two however, was the big day. We had a chase boat booked for the camera crew and, of course, the wind had increased a few notches. The main thing was that we had blue skies which made for perfect sight fishing the flats.
We saw a few fish, managed a few nice shots but the boys really wanted a big fish, ‘preferably a permit’ as they put it. Around lunchtime we spotted a small bow wave cutting across the flats and Cullan Ashby, my guide, suddenly got excited. He knew what was causing such an impressive bow wave – Permit, huge permit! They were feeding hard, making this the perfect scenario. If we could just get in front of them and present the fly correctly, we were in with a shot.
This style of fishing really is akin to hunting. We shadowed the school, trying to out manoeuvre them and achieve the perfect position, not just for the fish but for the wind as well. It took more than an hour to place ourselves in the best vantage point. Having primed ourselves for the shot of a lifetime, I was so nervous, I completely fluffed it.
I can’t tell you the frustration and disappointment I felt but Cullan, being the quality guide that he is, was back on them and the permit settled down surprisingly quickly. The camera boat had all but given up by this stage, but we kept at. Half an hour later, everything fell into place. The fish stilled slightly before they began swirling about pursuing their bait. As we watched and waited, they turned back towards us. The wind direction was right, and with a wave of adrenalin, I floated by fly in their direction. Alas, my cast fell slightly short. I have to say, the flyfishing gods were shining on me at that moment, and I watched as the permit turned and swam straight at my fly. Seconds later, the line ripped out of my hand. I was tight to the Holy Grail of the flats. Before I knew it, my line had been shredded to the backing as my permit headed for the horizon. Facing off against this awesome opponent, I couldn’t have been more excited.
It took a further 25, incredibly tense, minutes before Cullan slipped the net beneath the fish securing my first ever permit on fly. The elation you feel with success of this magnitude is indescribable. All the woes of earlier misplaced casts vanish. The only thing that made this capture of a lifetime even better, was the feeling as this beautiful fish slid out of my hand to fight another day. It’s an encounter I’ll never forget.
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