Bonefish in Australia

Guided fly fishing for trophy bonefish at Ningaloo Reef and Exmouth Gulf.

Taguchi Yoshihiko and Ian Gough with 80 cm plus bonefish.

Jon Clewlow and Garry Habel with 80 cm plus bonefish.

Join an exclusive group of fly fishers to catch trophy bonefish in Australia's first and only bonefish fishery. Plenty of other great fly rod species also available.

Ian Dollery and 85 yo Bruce Bailey with big bonefish.

We have found something very unique in north Western Australia- Australia’s first bonefish fishery.

Pete Murray with a big bonefish and permit on the same day.

Matt Gates with a big bonefish and permit (1of 2 permit) on the same day.

The fly fishing
North West Cape is about 1200 km north of Perth in Western Australia. Ningaloo Reef fringes the western side of the Cape from the tip for about 250 km south. The reef lays anything from a few hundred metres to a few kilometers offshore- thus forming a giant lagoon with extensive shallow sand flats and crystal clear water. There are not big tidal movements, and the sky is more often than not cloudless. These factors combine to provide great polaroiding from the front of the boat.

Ningaloo hookups!

Hunting the flats. School of golden trevally travelling with a stingray.

Ben and Simone with world class bonefish!

Pete Murray and Motohiro Ebisudani with trophy bonefish.

Other species
The area inside the reef holds numerous fish species including our recent discovery of trophy bonefish as well as permit, golden trevally, giant trevally, blue trevally, goldspot trevally, queenfish, spangled emperor, milkfish, giant herring, tarpon, cobia, and sweetlip (blue bastards).

Big giant herring and big golden trevally from Exmouth Gulf.

Exmouth Gulf holds similar fish species in bigger sizes and numbers. There are also extensive shallow flats in the Gulf.

Ant Simper with a big Gulf blue bastard and queenfish, both taken on 8 wt!

Leon Allen and Ian Dollery with Gulf queenfish.

For the trout fishermen that don’t know much about the fish species that inhabit these flats, there are some great saltwater fly species amongst them. Until a few years ago, bonefish were thought not to exist in catchable numbers in Australian waters. Our discovery of big numbers of trophy bonefish cruising the large sand flats inside Ningaloo Reef was recently described by the editor of FlyLife Magazine, Rob Sloane, as ‘one of the most significant events in the history of salt water fly fishing in Australia’.

Rob Sloane with two typical Ningaloo bonefish.

Permit
Most of our guests come with the main aim to catch trophy Aussie bonefish. It is an exclusive group of fly fishers that have landed bonefish in Australian waters. We estimate that 95% of bonefish captures on fly in Aussie waters have been while fishing with us. We would also be so bold to estimate that 100% of fly fishers that have caught a bonefish and permit on the same day in Aussie waters have done so while fishing with us!

Brett and former Blue Lake Lodge trout guide Tim Shepherd celebrate fine permit.

Ben Knight and Rod Kimberly with beautiful permit.

As the water warms up from late September through the summer and autumn, the permit turn up on the bonefish flats in bigger numbers. There is nowhere else in Australian waters that you can cast at bonefish and permit on the same flats and expect to catch either!

John Cullen's first foray into salt water fly fishing!

Ameku Takeji and John Waggott with permit.

Many well travelled international fly fishos come to Australia to add a golden trevally to their species list. Goldies are a big, beautiful, rubbery lipped fish that will take serious lengths of backing when hooked. The goldies cruising the local shallow sand flats are bigger than anywhere else in Australia. Many goldies that we catch are between 20 and 30 pounds- some bigger!

Tim and Ben with Ningaloo goldies.

John Mitchell and Peter Dillon were happy with these goldies.

Giant herring and tarpon are seriously ballistic when hooked. The backing knot disappears half a second after setting the hook, and the hooked fish spend almost as much time in the air as they do in the water. I rate these two species right up there with bonefish as the best light salt water fly rod species available- except the aerial acrobatics add a different dimension! These fish are seriously crazy when hooked, but because of this they burn themselves out within a reasonable amount of time! This allows the fly fisher to quickly catch another. Again both of these fish are a size class bigger than their eastern cousins, for example the tarpon are up to 10 pounds.

Gulf tarpon.

Gulf giant herring.

Milkfish are very abundant in the area and are the must catch species for fly fishermen in the north. In the past milkfish captures were considered a fluke. They are now becoming a more regular hook up. The main problem for us is to try to ignore the more catchable fish cruising past to spend some time to work out how to catch milkfish.

Garry Habel with a small milkfish and bonefish.

Queenfish are a regular catch of fly fishos in the north of Australia. Despite that they are a superb sportfish and many a hookup has been confused with more glamourous species. Inside Exmouth Gulf there are marauding schools of XL queenies. Some of the giant trevally that cruise the local waters are just too big to catch on fly unless you are seriously into self punishment. Sometimes we tease GTs back to the boat with hookless poppers that are so big our guests are too scared to cast their fly at them!

Dave loves those Ningaloo GT.

Ningaloo GT and queenfish.

Jake Guastavino with an XXL GT and Enomoto Makoto with a less punishing GT!

Offshore there are plenty of pelagics including longtail, mack and yellowfin tuna, Spanish mackerel, wahoo, dolphinfish, sailfish and marlin.

John Lewis and John Waggot with longtail tuna.

Every October/November/December sailfish turn up in good numbers in Exmouth Gulf. Fly fishing simply does not get any better than catching a billfish!

Ben and Tim with their first fly caught sailfish.

Jeff McIntosh with his first sailfish on fly.

Fishing gear
Fly rods from 9 – 10 weight, a 10 weight is the best all rounder. Clear sinking tip fly lines are best, either the Scientific Angler Wet Tip Clear, or Scientific Streamer Express (orange with a clear tip).
All leaders for bonefishing should be fluorocarbon. We normally use about 6 feet of 30 pound fluorocarbon as a butt section and attach about 6 feet of 20 pound fluorocarbon tippet. If in doubt about leader connections, wait until you get here and we will do it. Bluewater Tackle Exmouth has available a selection of great value quality fluorocarbon.

Brett and Ben teasing sailfish. Sailfish hookup.

A quality fly reel with at least 250 metres of 50 pound gel spun backing.

Flies- clousers, deceivers, big Gotchas, weighted crazy charlies, shrimp and crab patterns. Suitable flies are supplied at cost as part of the guided fishing. If you are a keen fly tier email us for a detailed list of the best flies.

A 12 weight fly rod with intermediate or clear tip line is handy for tackling monster trevally and large cobia.

You will want a 12 wt fly rod to tackle Brassy trevally like these!

Two bonefish and a golden trevally ready to be released.

Big bonefish and jumping queenfish.

Getting to Exmouth
Exmouth is 1250 km north of Perth by road.

Skywest offer a daily morning and afternoon flight from Perth to Exmouth/Learmonth (Learmonth airport is a 30 min drive from Exmouth).

See www.skywest.com.au or phone 1300 66 00 88 for more details.

Brian Chambers hooked up and holding Aussie bonefish.

Accommodation
There is a large range of accommodation options available in Exmouth from motel style to self contained units and a new luxury waterfront resort.

Most of our guests stay either at the new Novotel Ningaloo Resort (phone (08) 9949 0000 www.novotelningaloo.com.au), or at the Osprey Units managed by the Potshot Motel (phone (08) 9949 1200 www.potshotresort.com). Ray White real estate in Exmouth also manage some of the Osprey Units (phone (08) 9949 1144 www.raywhiteexmouth.com).

The Novotel is a a few kilometres from the main restaurant and shopping areas of Exmouth, but it sits right on the edge of Exmouth Gulf and offers the most luxurious accommodation in Exmouth with a beautiful outlook.

The Osprey Units are walking distance to the restaurants and shopping areas.

Budget accommodation is also available at the Potshot Motel.

We will be happy to discuss the options with you at any time.

Daniel Clarke and Mick Kearney with good bonefish.

Non fishing partners
If your partners enjoy sun baking on and swimming at beautiful secluded beaches, snorkeling, whale watching and sight seeing in National Parks, then this trip is for them. The beaches are superb, safe (i.e. no crocs or stingers) and extremely uncrowded.

Sayuri Morioka and Cheryl Buchanan with their first Aussie bonefish.

Imogen Dillon and Cheryl McCrae celebrate their first bonefish.

Ningaloo Reef has become famous for its whale shark migrations. In May and June there are plenty of tours available to see cruising whale sharks. Humpback whales are very abundant from August until November. The snorkeling is great in any of the marine parks.

Val Hans relaxing on the lagoon. Steve Lubiana with his first Aussie bonefish.

Exmouth is pretty much a country town but it is changing, and dining out for great local produce (especially fresh prawns) is increasingly becoming a good option.

Guiding rates
A guiding day includes morning and afternoon tea, refreshments, hamper lunch, use of fly equipment if required, and obviously guided fishing.

Salt water flies will be supplied at cost as required. Any breakages of loaned fishing gear will be charged at cost. When applicable access fees across private farm land will be charged at cost (normally about $20/day).

Single angler = $810/day

Twin angler = $445/angler/day

We are offering a special deal where you can book 7 days and fish and pay for the best 5 days of weather of the 7 days. This will give everyone a chance to enjoy the other beautiful attractions the area has to offer, but mostly our guests have taken as much guided fishing as possible while in the area!

Matt and Brett hooked up to permit.