For those of us who aren't lucky enough to be able to travel up north to Awoonga or Peter Faust dams, or even those who are lucky enough to get there but just not get the weather conditions conducive to fishing (i.e. me!), then the Aussie Fishing Park on the Sunshine Coast of QLD could be the answer.

If you are yet to add the famous barramundi to your list of captures on fly then give this place a go. I went there in October for a few hours after a visit to Harro at Bribie Island (that's another story), and was impressed with the setup and some of the fish I saw.

The park itself is at Bli Bli about 10 minutes east of Nambour and is stocked with a good population of barramundi from about 30cm through to 115cm monsters. As well as the barra there is a huge pond stocked with mangrove jack, giant trevally, estuary cod, milkfish, bream, flathead and a few other species worth going after. This pond is a natural ecosystem and the fish are therefore not fed on pellets.

The other two ponds are full of fish that have been pellet fed, but will attack flies and lures also. The first of these two ponds is a little creek system that is stocked with the juniors fish of about 30 – 70cm. The second of these two ponds is called the big boys pond…. That's where the bigger guys go after they outgrow the creek. So most fish are in the 60+cm bracket and give you heaps when hooked!

I hooked up on one fish on my eight weight that headed in to the weed and reeds and straightened the hook on me when I applied the brakes… what a rush!

To guarantee a fish on fly I suggest you use a pellet fly. In other words a fly that has been tied to look like one of the pellets. They are basically deer hair flies that are flat on top and bottom and about as round as a 5 cent piece. Black and brown would be my suggested colours.