Fly Fishing in Hong Kong
Species diversity
The species diversity in HK is quite insane. Just to name a few: giant snakehead, hampala barb, featherbacks and other SE Asian fish in the reservoirs. Natives in the creeks, Chinese seabass (same genus, different species as the Japanese suzuki), redfish, chinu, kibire, nanyochinu … Most of Hong Kong is still mountainous backcountry accessible by public transport within an hour or so. But that doesn't mean Hong Kong has more diverse fly fishing than Japan. As mentioned above, Hong Kong doesn't practice catch and release and there're & will be no regulations on commercial/recreational fishing.
In fact, many of the species in HK are far better targeted on lures than on fly due to location and water depth, and the number of fish available. Most areas in the reservoirs are deep up to 10m, slippery steep mud banks and little to no backcast space. You can't use a boat (which kills most of the fly fishing potential), otherwise I would surely go chase giant snakehead and hampala on fly. Most of HK's large rivers are channelized to prevent flooding, and polluted as hell, making the fish there inedible. Perhaps that's why the Indo-Pacific tarpon there exists in great numbers. Up North in the New Territories, there's good fishing in those shit rivers (more like canals) loaded with grass carp, barbel chub (distant European chub relative), 1.2m walking catfish, various snakehead species… But I would consider fishing there an insult to my fly line.
Where can i buy fly fishing tackle in HK?
Honestly, the only local store with fly fishing tackle is Po Kee in Sheung Wan. A tiny selection of 2012s Sage and Hardy rods and reels, last generation Rio fly lines, and a miserable collection of flies. They don't restock. I went there for once and ditched.
Local craftstores and locations such as Apliu street will hold natural and synthetic materials. Artic fox, craft fur, marabou...
In mainland China, a couple big fly shops have opened in the Trouty parts of the country. (Eg. BFO Chengdu in Chengdu, Fly Fishing Junkie in Beijing, Trout Hunting in Heilongjiang). All of which are on Chinese Alixpress Taobao and other mainland Chinese platforms. If language barriers are an issue, I suggest contacting them on Instagram, hoping for a reply. These fly shops are reputable distributors of major brands and are a good source of tackle.
In Mainland China, a handful of small individual companies or people have started their own fly shops. Again, on Taobao (language barrier exists). Mostly Made in China tying mateirals and gear. I won't say their stuff are not usable. But as a somewhat detail-oriented tyer chasing the pinnacle of fly tying, I don't buy too many cheap products. Unless it's stuff that I know will work (eg. ice dub, mono shrimp eyes). Best to purchase branded naturals fur and feathers for the best quality materials.
Creeks
Classic natives include Channa asiatica and Channa Gachua along with a few lesser studied species like Channa cf. royi. These are all pygmy snakeheads that are hard to track down. The asiatica grows up to 50cm and gachua up to 15-20cm. Both are poached for food and aquarium trade. I haven't fished for the native snakeheads much on fly but I reckon I might do so have this year. Some creeks hold feng shui koi released by villagers or invasive tilapia and hybrids of Northern & blotched snakeheads. Those are fun as well. In general, don't expect huge fish from small creeks.
Short 7' 1-3wt rods are the weapons for jungle creek fishing to deal with overhanging vines and vegetation. Hong Kong has small, oikawa-like species like the predaceous chub (Parazacco spilurus) and Opsariichthys evolans. Predaceous chub are my fav, and back then TFFCC had a vid on them. You can pretty much find them in every creek, tho they're protected and endangered in Mainland China. If I were you coming from sonehwere else, I would definitely want a good one.
They're truly one of HK's most iconic freshwater fish and are hunted to an endangered status in Mainland China. Fishing for them is not that hard but they can be spooky. You simply smack a fly hard on the water and they'll go mad after it. Or you can strip a trout streamer fast and they'll take it as well. You can use oikawa rods but I'd rather go for a graphite 2 or 3 wt for dropping nymphs and bushy dry flies if necessary. If you fish a 0wt and a size 24 dry, you'll easily catch 100+ smallest fish of your life per day. I mean EXTREMELY SMALL like 4cm.
These days, I don't fish for predaceous chub much since I've gotten bored of them. If I do fish, it'd be trophy hunting for 20cm 'mega-sized' specimens in their glory (spawning colors). The big males are very spooky, and the biggest out of all have learned how to survive. It usually takes one shot before you deter the 20cm 'beasts'… I fish a size 10-12 black foam beetle the most often. The 'large' fly is to pick the biggest fish out of the pool.
In terms of colors, that depends on localities. Electric blue + orange, light/dark purple, purple with hot orange throats… I have a number of spots that those colours, but my fav spot is a bush creek deep in the heart of NT It's quite an amazing spot with a lot, a lot of vines. The specimens there are blue + orange throat produce upstream and purple downstream. I usually do a few km hike from upstream to downstream until I reach the rivermouth. There's jungle perch in there too but only a few sightings.
I can only name a few unchannelized rivers that are large enough to fit a 9' fly rod, yet clean enough to wade. Most, if not all of them hold predaceous chub and other natives, along with koi (released) and chances of pygmy snakeheads. Tilapia are usually there too in great numbers.
Sheit rivers
Unfortunately, most foreign fly fishers only know the sheit rivers from our TFFCC vids, or a couple other sources of more than 10 years ago. They sure hold good fish in numbers and variety (as mentioned above) and the only downside is the water quality. There you've definitely got some of +852's best fly fishing. Not recommended, unless you rly want a fish.
Reservoirs
Hong Kong's resevoirs are not fly-fishing-freindly at all. Steep and muddy banks, minimal backcast space, water depths more than 10m, not allowed to use a boat... Some resevoirs are easier to fish than others, but you drfinitely need a hike to get in there. There're spots where the creeks flow into the resevoirs (which are significantly easier to fly fish), but getting there means a hike. You can definitely fish for koi and carp near those spots.
I won't get in-depth with the reservoir stuff. Don't expect good fly fishing apart from koi, tilapia and perhaps cichilids and snakeheads in particular reservoirs.
If you look online, you'll see a licnese is required. I'm not telling you not to get one but in case you can/or only stay in HK for a moment, then you absolutely can get away with no license. The HK Gov doesn't regulate the reservoirs at all, even tho rod limits and size regulations exist. Bait fishers throw 20 spin rods with massive livebaits and take whatever they catch and still get away. So, regulations are basically non-existent. The gov is too busy sending money back to Mainland China and bring more mainlanders into HK instead of caring our fisheries.
Area
Couple of pay ponds stock pacu that eat dries readily. Think of bread, hoppers, etc.
https://share.google/68Pamu9OUeCSDTIeY
Some other saltwater stocked ponds stock permit (The real indopacific permit, Trachinotus blochii). Belive it or not, I've been eating farmed permit for almost every week of my life, yet too broke to go chase such food fish on a fly rod. To me, permit are just glorified pompano made a hype by a niche group of rich caucasian flyt*rds and guides. I can't speak much about the salt/fresh stocked ponds here since I almost never fish them.
Saltwater
In the salt, the flats look promising on google maps but in fact don't produce at all. The flats are full of nano species (eg grunters, puffers, palm-sized GTs). There are bonefish in HK, but don't consider HK a bonefishing destination as you're almost never gonna bump into one. There're a couple sightings on Lantau and around Sai Kung, and even permit (possibly released but they're a native species), but mostly a luck thing and not doable.
I've been wanting to find a Chinese seabasss ( Lateolabrax maculatus) charter and make seabass on fly happen in HK. Unfortunately, the costs are ridiculous as you can expect 50000+ yen per 4 hours. That's the harsh reality of fly fishing as you have to rent a whole boat, plus the captain knows nothing about putting you on good fly rod positions. I live 5 mins from local winter seabass hotspot Shing Mun River (Kawasaki-like river). This river holds good numbers of kurodai at the right time. But the fish are extremely technical and almost impossible to catch during day time. In summer, all sorts of weird sheit swim into the river based on tides. GTs, tarpon, barracuda, mangrove jack etc. Tho local knowledge is certainly required. Not recommended, as there are other places that are far more fly fishing freindly.
Apart from that, there're pelagics such as mahis and Chinese mackerel. But not a lot of fly fishing has been done on them. Somebody's gotta give it a go but that also means you gotta rent a whole boat. (The costs are no joke). To me, I'd rather go to somewhere else with that money.
Kurodai
Around 10 years ago, chinu topu (kurodai/black bream on topwater lures) was imported from Japan to Hong Kong. Nowadays, the technique is still a somewhat niche category of conventional tackle fishing, tho a cult is currently growing. Every part of HK has kurodai, as long as the geography is inhabitable for them. HK actually has more bream species than Japan (at around 7 or 8, including a species undescribed by science, endemic to the Pearl River Delta). The primary species for chinu topu is still kurodai, and occasioanlly kibire and pikey bream.
The only reason that kurodai on fly exists in HK, is entirely because of inspiration from Japanese fishing culture, paying tribute to TFFCC's Japanese grassroots fly fishing origin.
I still remember watching videos of Capt. Wake from AWAKE, who casually slides a popper fly almost completely parallel to the water's surface along urban seawalls and concrete structures. I remain deeply impressed by the technical mastery he has achieved. Indeed, the kurodai fly fishing in HK echoes the Osaka Bay and Tokyo Bay type structure casting.
Depending on which side of HK you're in, the fish can be anything from hyper aggressive to very lethargic. There are flats that look promising on Google Maps, where you believe they'll come up and tail in the shallows. Wrong. I have NOT personally seen one tail on a flat. But I would guess when conditions align and at the right spot, they might tail. But structure casting is far more productive, just because of how pressured the fish are.
I've been targeting kurodai on topwater lures for 5 or 6 years with great success. Personally, I have caught them on fly in HK and Japan. Tho hard work was put in (especially for HK). Hyper-specialized local knowledge needed. I don't believe anyone dropping in HK for a day a two will be able to decode the local fishery. The nature of HK fly fishing is based on suffering becuase of how overfished HK is.
The gear is a 6-8wt saltwater rod + reel. (NOTE: if you wanna do redfish, the 7 or 8 is your best friend . Tho as a crossover rod, I lean towards the 7.)
Full clear or at least a clear tip fly line recommended. Whether a full clear adds stealth or not seems to be controversial . Some people from foreign platforms believe good casting solves everything, and that a full clear is a waste of money. But, bream are hyper spooky. I believe you should max. out your mileage on the tackle. Parts of HK can be crazy crystal clear with 4m water visibility, sun overhead. I like full clears just to add a bit of confidence, as well as minimizing false casting shadows. Long casts to cover water and structure required to prevent alerting fish, so I prefer fly lines with a long head of at least 40ft. Personal preference. Backing is optional because you'll be hand-fighting fish that will dig you into oyster bars. By the time the fish is on the reel, you would've been cut off already. Long leaders with 10-15lb fluoro tippet recommended for a louder "bloop" on a popper rod.
Flies are popper flies or any topwater in general. I believe the ones thrown in Osaka Bay, Tokyo Bay, Hamanako, Amami Oshima, Okinawa etc. will work. A size M double barrel popper head on a size 2 hook makes a nice no BS fly. Crease poppers, disco shrimps and whatever surface patterns you have confidence in. Fish care more about presentation than fly choice. Tie the tail short, as kurodai are known to nip on tails from behind. Stinger treble or single recomended to compensate their extremly shitty accuracy on topwater.
Redfishing
Redfish, introduced back in the last century from Florida, are quick to become my favorite saltwater fly targets. There's a solid, established population of them, especially around the East Coast in Sai Kung. On lures, they're easy targets when you can blind cast with lures, covering water fast. On fly, things get 10X harder even if you blind cast. I know TFFCC member Lefty Hama once lived in HK and he caught his redfish blindcasting on Ma Wan island. But to me, that's not authentic flats fly fishing. Nothing excites me more than the sight of a school of fish casually swimming, and my mind telling me to creep up onto them and make the shot. It's the adrenaline rush, the speed and precision, the challenge that makes saltwater fly fishing addictive. And blind casting (usually) kills most of that.
If you come here DIY for a few days starting from scratch, the odds are no good. The redfishing in HK (on fly) quite tough. I've blanked many many sessions, lost count but I'm guessing up to 30. The fish are all over Sai Kung and certain spots in Lantau, but not all spots are made equal. With lures, you can just blind cast for them and cover a lot of water, so you're much more productive. If you want the classic flats fly fishing, sight fishing thrill, then your chances are rather slim.
In summer and autumn (May- Nov) (and at the right tides and spots), there's a good amount of chance of bumping into a school of fish. When there's a bit of competition, it's usually easier to convince a fish to eat. If you're lucky enough, there should be 1 or 2 bulls in the school. Massive massive bulls with a distinctive head and colour.
Pick days with spring tides and lots of lots of tidal movement. An early morning high is best. Ideally, fish both the incoming and outgoing during the high tide. But in reality, most days you can only fish either one phrase.
In winter, the redfishing is definitely tougher than ever. On a good day, you only see a few solo cruisers, all laid up (motionless) on rocks and not in feeding mood at all. It's quite hard to spot them unless you're static. Quite hard to achieve from the boat since you're always difting with the current and pushed by wind.
The gear is a 8wt, a saltwater reel with tropical floating line and a box of flies with 15/20lb tippet. What works in the US works here, but my mate who fished Louisiana commented HK reds are much harder (that day we had shots at around 15 fish but got none to eat!). For the rod, I prefer one that loads at typical saltwater distance under 60ft. The shots are mostly close range and sometimes a rod length or 2. You stand on the deck waiting for a fish to show up as we drift past the spot. Put the fly on the fish's face fast whenever it pops up. For the line, any tropical saltwater line with a taper to your heart's content would do. Redfish lines and general purpose lines, or even Outbound Short type tapers should work well.
For the flies, the fish are sometimes picky, sometimes incredibly dumb. Flies that push water are best. To keep it simple, you can just tie a bunch of size 4 - 3/0 white clousers or bunch of baitfish/shrimpy patterns. The Gamakatsu SC15 #1/0-3/0 makes good baitfishes or general purpose patterns . #1-4/0 B10S works good for clousers and wiggle minnows. Redfish cracks will also work, so do barramundi/tarpon/snook flies. I've yet to find a 'killer' pattern that the reds don't reject.
Not many (maybe up to 10) ppl have had an HK red on fly, let alone one sight casted in the authentic flats way. If you can make it happen, that'd be an achievement.
How's the fly fishing community in HK?
Teeny tiny. Probably not over 20. There're pros and world class fishers who live here though. Most fly overseas for fishing often. Unfortunately, I'm too broke for that. No fly shops, no competitions and gatherings, not many like-minded ppl… Many who start fly fishing simply teach themselves and then blank many sessions and lose hope. I'm lucky enough to know maybe 5 who regularly fly fishes in HK.
I import everything fly fishing and tying from a couple fly shops in Mainland China and overseas (especially the US and UK).
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