Fly fishing fanatics Marc and Henrik Skovby from Denmark embarked on an ambitious project with us over a week in early July – to prove it is possible to capture a Catfish on the Fly.
We knew the task would be difficult at the start of the week, and the guys accepted that even a single capture of a Siluro on this method would represent success. The Flies which were tied were as large as it is possible to cast on this gear and were designed to push the maximum amount of water possible. With sinking lines they were able to present the flies in water as deep as 6 metres, and very effectively in areas around 3 metres.
An example of a Cat fly tied by Marc and Henrik.
Henrik works a fly down the delta margin at twilight.
The moment of success which we had hoped for (although perhaps not expected) arrived on day 2 of the trip in bright sunlight, when a 51lber accepted the fly on one of the shallow plateau areas close to the Delta islands. Marc skillfully played the fish on gear far lighter than would be normal to tackle a fish of this size and was delighted to capture a 51lber – mission accomplished!
The rod gets a good work out!
Come fly with me! Marc proves it can be done..51lb
After recording this success, we were optimistic that it could be replicated with more fish to follow. Sadly this did not prove to be the case despite a great effort from Marc and Henrik who made countless casts in search of more Cats.
The final day was windy, which made life difficult for the guys, so we switched target to mullet, with both guys ticking off another species to catch on fly gear!
Good fun catching Mulls with fly tackle
Marc gets another notoriously difficult to catch species on fly.