Fly Fishing in Hong Kong
- 1. How’s the fly fishing scene in Hong Kong?
- 2. Creeks
- 3. Sheit rivers
- 4. Resevoirs
- 5. Area
- 6. Saltwater
- 7. Redfishing
- 8. If I come to HK just for redfishing, will I blank?
- 9. How’s the fly fishing community in HK?
- 10. Bottom line
- 11. TFFCC 公式YouTube | Our YouTube Channel
- 12. この記事のディスカッションに参加する | Join the Discussion
How's the fly fishing scene in Hong Kong?
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 (Yup, same genus, different species as the Japanese one), redfish, chinu, kibire, nanyochinu … In fact, we have around 7 to 8 species of chinu available, including one endemic to the Zhujiang River Delta, unknown to science. 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 with 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.
Creeks
Hong Kong's small creeks are full of life though. You have Channa asiatica and Channa Gachua along with a few lesser studied species like Channa cf royi. These are all pygmy snakeheads that don't get too big, with the asiatica growing up to 50cm and gachua up to 15-20cm. 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 findmthem in every creek, and one thing to add would be theyre 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. Speaking of small, 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 2wt bamboo and a size 12 black foam beetle the most often. Hide under a tree/rock and smack the fly hard on the surface to excite the fish. The 'big' fly is to pick the biggest fish out of the pool.
In terms of colors, predaceous chub depending 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 N. T. 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, so don't expect one.
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.
Resevoirs
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.
If you look online, ppl would tell you to get a licnese (for cheap). Irl, no one cares who tf you are so you can bascially get away with no licnese. The odds of bumping into rangers or anyone regulating whether this guy has a license or not is almost non existent. You can also get a license for jsut in case. But to me, it's not worth it unless you live here.
I won't get in-depth with the reservoir stuff. It's miserable (what a good word to descibe the general fly fishing scene in HK). My advise? Don't expect good fly fishing.
If you look online, you'll see a licnese is required for the resevoirs. I'm not telling you not to get one but in case you can't/or only stay here for a moment, then you can absolutely 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 busy with how to send money back to 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. Kore, https://share.google/68Pamu9OUeCSDTIeYSome other saltwater stocked ponds stock permit (yup, 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. l
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 (e.g. grunters, puffers, palm-sized GTs). For some reason, I’ve never seen a tailing chinu on a flat (although my sifu claims to have seen one in Lantau Island). 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 it’s mostly a luck thing and not doable.
You can try searching for chinu on a flat and even blind cast at oyster-covered rock bar dropoffs. The later has a higher tendency to produce, especially on topwater. To me, I've never had much luck on fly but I target chinu on conventional topwater.
Since back from Japan, 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, plsu the captain knows nothing about putting you on good fly rod positions. I live 5 mins from local seabass hotspot Shing Mun River (Kawasaki-like river). I've heard a few massive XPLOSIONS near the bridge pylons (must've been barramundi) and that's also where the seabass are in. If I can throw in a kayak, then I might be able to make it happen.
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 Okinawa or somewhere else with that money.
Redfishing
Redfish, introduced back in the last century from Florida, are quick to become my favorite saltwater fly target. 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 Japanese angler Lefty Hama-san 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 I come to HK just for redfishing, will I blank?
Yes. Highly likely if you come here DIY for a few days starting from scratch. The redfishing in HK is much harder than you'd imagine. I've blanked many many sessions, lost count but I'm guessing up to 30. They're all over Sai Kung 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.
However, I can take you redfishing with a boat. I do have a spot(s) that constantly produces when the tides and season are right. So I usually spend most of my time there trying to bump into a school. Other spots of mine are not as good on the fly, but I've seen reds occasionally. But really, you can't go wrong with my honey hole where I can guarantee shots at schools of fish on a good day in summer. 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. Oh man, they're massive!
In short, come here during summer and autumn (May to early November). Pick days with spring tides and lots of lots of tidal movement. Ideally, we can fish both the incoming and outgoing during the high tide. But in reality, most days you can only fish either one phrase.
Right now in winter, the redfishing is definitely tougher than ever. On a good day, you only see a couple 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.
Bring 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 10' - 60' casts quick. 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, but I prefer one with a moderately aggressive 40ish' taper and a long belly for easy pickups (eg. SA GRAND SLAM, AIRFLO RIDGE 2.0 FLATS UNIVERSAL (my go-to)) or any other equivalents.
For the flies, the fish are sometimes picky, sometimes not (especially when there's competition). I fish all sorts of flies from streamers to shrimps. To keep it simple, you can just tie a bunch of size 4 - 4/0 white clousers and a bunch of baitfish/shrimpy patterns. The Gamakatsu SC15 #1/0-3/0 makes good tarpon toads/cockroaches 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, so that'd be one of this year's objectives.
I'm looking forward to putting fellow TFFCC members on a HK redfish. I'm just unsure if anyone will come or will I have enough time. My dad drives the boat so gotta make sure he's free too. 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. I'm also free to guide TFFCC members on small creek species and maybe carp in the future. If you're ever in town, send me a DM on various SNS platforms.
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).
Bottom line
Don't expect good fly fishing in HK unless you fish in the sheit rivers or creeks. Fishing here is already tough, and fly rods make it 10X harder. The only reason I'm still fly fishing here is that I'm broke. Who doesn't want white sand flats and tailing fish every day? Sometimes it's simply hard to endeavor. Maybe I should quit this someday and leave it to the 10-year-later me.
https://tokyoflyfishing.com/fishery/flight-away/internationa...TFFCC 公式YouTube | Our YouTube Channel
この記事のディスカッションに参加する | Join the Discussion
東京フライフィッシング＆カントリークラブのFacebook グループ「Friends Lobby」ではメンバー以外の方とのディスカッションも行っています。気になる情報や質問などはこちらまで！
https://www.facebook.com/groups/tokyoflyfishing