Greg Finney enjoys the convenience and affordability of South Coast swoffing.

The South Coast of New South Wales may not have the widest range of feather munchers around but it does offer some great species on which to learn the saltwater fly ropes and hone casting, presentation and fighting skills. We all dream of heading north to the tropics at some time but the reality is that most of us don't have to go too far from home to enjoy some great fly fishing in the salt.

The list of species ranges from tuna and billfish out wide, to bream, flathead and mullet in the local estuaries. However, the most popular and accessible flyrod targets are Australian salmon, tailor and bonito. These three pelagics will grab just about any offering of fur or feathers, are easily reached from land or boat and are available for much of the year.

Picture: The Australian salmon, or kahawai, is widespread in southern waters and along with several other common pelagic species contributes to some worthwhile swoffing.

Of the trio, salmon are easiest to locate and to target. They fight hard, jump, grow to a size that makes them fun on light tippets and are suckers for a wide range of flies. Being pretty poor eating fish, salmon are perfect catch and release candidates.

Salmon, bonito and tailor, are all available to the land-based angler, which makes them even more attractive as anyone with basic fly fishing skills and tackle can head for a safe rock platform, particularly during the autumn months, and have an excellent chance of hooking a fish on fly. Just about any prominent headland on the NSW South Coast will produce pelagic fish from March through to May and you don't need to go to the better known and written about platforms to be successful. Indeed, you may be much better off finding your own secluded headland where you can get a back cast in without hooking anyone else. The fish will more than likely be there and you will have a much better chance of catching them by avoiding the crowds.

Fly fishing from the rocks is probably one of the most difficult facets of our sport but it does produce fish and it is very rewarding. Like many other South Coast swoffers, I started my SWF career on the rocks. Despite the usual hassles of running line tangling around barnacles and various winds to contend with, we caught fish including the above trio as well as the odd small kingfish. We lost a few bigger kings that were way too big to stop on 10/11 rods and 8 kg tippets but that's just par for the course on the South Coast. The feel of a fish hitting one of our crudely tied Deceivers as it was stripped back to the platform in the pre dawn light was sheer bliss and made all our efforts worth while.

Picture: Greg Finney with an average Jervis Bay salmon that grabbed a green and while Deceiver fished on a three kilo tippet.

Of course, having a boat of some sort is a big advantage if you are serious about chasing the southern pelagics on fly. The added mobility means you can fish a stretch of coast rather than just one headland. We like to cover a lot of territory, stripping flies through every likely looking wash. In tight against the rocks is prime salmon water and getting any fly with a bit of flash and color in close to the white water will put you in with a great chance of a salmon or tailor. Another tactic that works well from a boat is to put a few deep casts around any offshore reef system or bombie and particularly the white water that is created where they break.

Another very effective technique is to have one angler cast a hookless popper into the washes and around any reef system. If there are any fish in there you can bet they will follow the popper out and offer an easy flyrod target. On a good day it is not unusual to have dozens of salmon follow the popper out, shouldering each other out of the way as they all attempt to slam it. Once within casting range, simply drop a fly that roughly resembles the popper in their midst, give it a few twitches and hang on. Our favourite popper for this technique is the Kokoda Roger with the hooks removed and fished on six or eight kilo threadlin tackle. Throwing these into various washes is also an excellent way of attracting kingfish - for these you can use bigger poppers and large Flashy Profile flies fished on heavier 15/17 tackle with 10 kilo tippets.

Most flies work in the coastal washes but you'll find 1/0 to 2/0 Deceivers or small Flashy Profile flies hard to beat. South Coast favourites include chartreuse or red and blue Deceivers which have produced many fish over the years, but these days I find myself fishing the Flashy Profiles more often. These put out a lot more flash and glitter and last longer around fish with teeth such as tailor and bonito. I like these in purple and blue, or chartreuse and green, and usually tie them to match a particular baitfish or even the hookless poppers we use. Single hooks in the 1/0 to 3/0 size produce flies with enough substance to do the job and they are still small enough to set and to achieve solid hookups with light tippets. Tie them mainly white with just a flash of colour along the back and some tinsel down each side with a big flashy eye.

Picture: Even youngsters can learn the SWF ropes when the salmon are plentiful - eight year old Andrew Finney puts a bend in his dad's 8-weight rod.

Late autumn and early winter will often see light westerly winds blowing and the seas glassed off. There will be no water movement in close to produce white water and most of the time small whitebait will be schooled up in every gutter. This is bonito time, and schools of them will bust out on top every now and then and work in close ambushing whitebait. On such days you really need a pattern that matches the colour and size of these tiny baitfish. The larger Deceivers and Flashy Profiles that worked over the past few months may take the odd hit but, believe me, having a small whitebait fly such as a white #4· Deceiver or, even better, a silver and black Epoxy Minnow, will make things much easier. Simply find a few fish working the surface and put the Epoxy Minnow in their midst, followed by a slow to medium strip back.

During summer and autumn there are nearly always schools of fish to be found working the surface in sheltered bays and around prominent headlands. These will include the above mentioned species along with various speedsters such as stripies and mackerel tuna. With a boat it's no trouble to find a school, get in front of them and quietly drift back down until they are within casting range. In most cases fast, two handed retrieves are required along with flies that represent the particular baitfish they are feeding on, which may include pilchards and small slimey mackerel. Getting the baitfish equation worked out is usually the top priority as it saves a lot of wasted casts with flies that look like nothing else in the water and stand little or no chance of being eaten.

Another technique that works well around schools of fish and which can only be achieved with fly, is to cast and do nothing. With a sinking line the fly will head deep and despite a school of fish going ballistic on top several hundred yards away it is amazing how often the deep fly gets hit while just drifting. We've taken salmon and bonito this way, particularly on days when chasing them and trying to put casts into their midst proved to be a waste of time. Interestingly, large flies seem to work best with this technique-even when the fish are visibly feeding on small bait. A large Flashy Profile in green and purple, or white and blue, seems to work best.

Picture: When fishing off the rocks, heavier tackle in the 10/11 range and 6 to 8 kg tippets help to combat the wind and to lift fish out.

I suppose that compared to stories from the northern parts of our continent the above ramblings may seem rather sedate. Sure, there aren't too many sailfish, golden trevally or barramundi on the NSW South Coast, but for many anglers who can't afford expensive guided trips there's more than enough action to keep them satisfied. There is also the opportunity to do it yourself, experimenting and learning in the process, which makes any saltwater fly capture even more significant. It comes down to looking closely in your own backyard and making the most of available options.

Takeaway Tackle For most South Coast work you can get away with a quality 8/9 outfit. With this, 4 or 6 kg tippets will work perfectly on pelagics up to the size mack tuna, and it is great fun on salmon and bonito. You can use the same outfit on the flats for flathead by simply changing lines, making an 8/9 the most versatile of all SWF outfits. For pelagic work you won't need anything more than a shooting taper line backed up with at least 300 metres of gel-spun. A shooting taper is perfect for close in work around the washes and also works fine when casting to schools of fish. Leaders and tippets don't have to be fancy. A simple leader consisting of 1 metre of 3-4 kg mono Albrighted to 30 cm of 15 kg shock tippet, will work on most South Coast species. The new generation of fluorocarbon leaders, and Bimini/Huffnagle connections, work even better. Rather than a loop knot to tie the fly on, I use a small black snap swivel that is virtually invisible but makes changing flies much simpler - it's better than ending up with only six inches ofshoclz tippet and having to discard an otherwise perfect leader after several fly changes.