Learmonth airport may have never had so many fly rods pass through its small baggage chute as it did in early September this year. Fly anglers from all over Australia converged on beautiful Exmouth, WA for the inaugural Loop Saltwater Fly Festival. The week kicked off with over 60 anglers crowded into Whalers Restaurant. Enjoying the local seafood, sharing fishing reports and waiting for the week to begin.

View Joshua Hutchins’ LOOP Saltwater Fly Fest Blog Post »

In this months Loop profile, we talk to Loop Pro Team member and Aussie Fly Fisher Joshua Hutchins!

What was your first fly fishing experience?

My first fly fishing experience was when I was 13 years old on the Ovens River in Bright, three hours from Melbourne, Australia. I was spin fishing until a family friend, an old Scotsman named Ronny showed me a fish he had caught on fly. I was instantly intrigued. I asked my parents for a fly rod that Christmas, and along with the fly kit, came an instructional video on VHS. I studied that video meticulously and then finally caught my first fish on fly one year later. It was a 25cm brown trout from the Macquarie River, near my hometown of Bathurst. From that point I have never used conventional fishing gear since.

There is an ever growing popularity in Saltwater fly fishing, tell us about your first experience on the salt.

Yes, I completely agree, it’s great that saltwater fly fishing is growing. Although I have been fly fishing for 18 years it took me almost 16 years to look beyond trout and freshwater species. I can’t explain why I ignored salt water fly fishing for so long, especially as Australia has so many salt water options, but at the time no one was inspiring me to try it. Strangely enough, my first salt water experience was chasing sea-run trout in New Zealand and I happened to catch a small Kahawai. We all go on a journey in our fly fishing and salt water eventually grabbed my attention to the point now where I can’t stop thinking about it. If I had to think of a particular time that lit the saltwater fire, it would be two years back with Justin Duggan in Sydney Harbour. My first kingfish on fly showed me the thrill of saltwater fly fishing and the rest is history.

What are your top target species on your home shores?

This was a much easier question to answer a few years ago when I was limiting myself to freshwater species. These days the list is quite long, but if I had to name my top five, in no particular order, I would say, trout, murray cod, permit, giant trevally and kingfish.

How did you become a globe-trotting angler?

Long before I began the Aussie Fly Fisher business, I was lucky enough to travel around the world with my old job as a Food Safety Auditor. As part of my ‘business trips’ to Europe, North America, South America, and Asia, I was able to add on international fly-fishing adventures several times each year.
I had been running my guiding business, in addition to my food safety role, but when a cross-road arrived, I left my full-time job and made fly fishing my full-time passion. For the past 14 months, my work has consisted of local guiding for trout and murray cod, hosted fly fishing travel and photography projects locally and overseas. Needless to say, I love it.

You have a signature style of photography & film, do you have any new projects coming up that we can look forward to?

Thanks very much. I’m honoured that people seem to enjoy the work. I could never have pictured to see myself in this position. Photography has been an amazing journey for me the last few years. What started as happy-snapping random fish has become working on week-long photography assignments in amazing destinations, with plenty of learning and adjustments in between. I think anyone’s photography should be unique and essentially we all end up finding our own style. When it comes to video work, I leave that to my mate Filippo Rivetti. He has filmed and produced two films for us so far, and we always have something new in the pipeline. This season, I’m aiming to work on a few projects close to home, but I am not ready to reveal them yet! As for the photos, in the next six months you will see plenty of snaps from Australia, New Zealand, Seychelles, Tahiti, Argentina and a few more surprises.

What improvements have you found in fly fishing tackle designed for saltwater fly fishing?

With my history in saltwater, I’m probably not the best person to ask that question, but I am grateful to enjoy this sport with all the latest advancements in fly fishing technology. I was lucky enough to recently trial the new range of LOOP Cross SW rods in Exmouth, Australia and these are some of the best saltwater offerings on the market. Light, powerful and responsive, I’m looking forward to giving them plenty of use this summer.

What is your ultimate Loop tackle set up for Trout fishing and Saltwater fishing?

Obviously there are plenty of different set-ups for different purposes but if I had to come up with two favourites, they would be:

Freshwater: LOOP Cross SX #6 9ft rod with Opti Dry Fly reel.
Saltwater: LOOP Cross SW #10 9ft rod with Opti Strike reel.

With so many places travelled in the world, where would you like to go to next and what would you fish for?

Up until last year, most of my travel was freshwater based, but my new love for salt has created a whole new bucket list. I’m not one to sit around hoping, so I got to work. This summer, I look forward to plenty of saltwater closer to home and am especially excited for a trip to Seychelles with Alphonse fishing company. After this, the two top fish species on my list are Tarpon and Rooster Fish. Hopefully 2017 has a place for those. Beyond this, I love the feeling of going to new places. And at the end of the day, if that is a small brook trout in a tiny stream, or a big GT on a saltwater flat, I am equally happy.

The Adventure continues… aussieflyfisher.com

As the 2016 Atlantic Salmon season draws to a close, thoughts turn to a new season to come and many winter months of tying and filling up the fly boxes.

This months fly of the month is the Irish Shrimp style fly two ways, a feather wing and a hair wing designed and tied by Loop Pro Team Fly Dresser Denis O Toole.

Deadly patterns throughout the season and worth a cast in any likely pool.

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