Fly-fishing in the sea

[Guest Mike Connor]

Quite a few people have asked about flyfishing in the salt. Perhaps you might find this of interest. It is basically a few e-mail replies to questions put to me at an "advice board" on which I am listed.

 

 

It is a very long time now since I did any bass fishing, there are none

where I live, and I very rarely get the chance at mullet any more either !

 

I might be able to be of some help however. Do you want to use

"conventional" fly gear, or do you just want to try flies? In most

situations, fly-fishing for sea-fish is quite a difficult business, unless

you know of a few very good "close-in" marks.

 

I invariably use special "casting floats" nowadays, Which may be used

instead of a fly line. They allow presentation at distance. They are much

easier to cast than fly-lines, and they are a lot cheaper as well. Nowadays

I fish mainly for seatrout, and a couple of other species, in the Baltic

Sea. I rarely get to the UK anymore.

My last bass fishing was done in Ireland a long time ago, and was really not

a crowning success. I caught quite a few fish, but mainly on live sand-eels!

 

At that time, I did not have this "casting float" gear. I am sure things

would otherwise have been much better. After almost two weeks of trying

with conventional gear ( I am a pretty good caster as well), we simply gave

up trying to battle with the wind, and went back to float fishing sand-eels.

 

My website is not on line at the moment, and has not been for some time. I

was out of the country, and unable to do much with it, so I cancelled it. It

was far too expensive anyway. My provider wanted a lot more money, due to

the very high download volume from the site, and I could not afford it.

 

I used to catch quite a few mullet, mostly in estuaries on "weed flies".

This is marabou or fox-fur ( arctic fox) dyed to look like "silk" weed. Some

smaller shrimp patterns, were also pretty successful. The greatest problem

( as ever!!! ), was finding a shoal of fish.

 

I fear this is not much help to you. If you need any specific info on

tackle, flies, and the like, drop me another mail. Personally, I would

try the casting floats before buying a lot of expensive fly-gear.

 

Q.A couple of years ago i fished a mark near Holyhead for bass on chug bug

surface

lures and there were fish taking food items off the surface .

They turned out be mullet & most fish were around 4 lbs or more.

Ive been back there lots of times & its still the same (mullet everwhere).

 

A.Mullet are notoriously difficult fish. I have caught quite a few on flies,

but I must

confess that most of mine have been caught on bread, usually in harbours.

 

Q.Most of the bass fishing i do is within 30 yards of the shore & i know the

fish are there & are caught on spinners & plugs so they should take a fly

don`t you think?

 

Bass will take a fly quite avidly. Sandeel and shrimp patterns are very good

for

them. A ninety foot cast with a fly line is a very good cast indeed, and

not easy to

do consistently. The slightest wind will also cut this down a lot. Control

of the flies

and bite indication ( purely "feel" of course), are also extremely difficult

at range.

 

 

Q. There`s a game tackle shop near here and he recommended

the following gear.

ROD 9FT # 8/9 4 PCE £ 70

REEL SALTWATER # 8/9 TAKES ABOUT 125 YARDS OF BACKING £35

I think i will be using fireline as backing .

A FLOATING LINE # 8/9 £ ?

Leaders he said 12 lbs for bass & trout gear for mullet .

Any tips you could add to this .

 

A. The rod weight is OK, but I would go for a two piece. Modern multi-piece

rods are pretty good, but when sea-fishing I like as few connections as

possible in the system, and this includes ferrules, or joints! A two piece

rod only has one, and that is mainly why I still prefer them. Depending on

your physique etc, I would also go for a 9´6" rod. Heavier longer rods are very tiring in use. Make sure to rub the ferrules of your rod with a white candle ( this is paraffin wax) before use, and clean them off occsionally with meths, this will prevent wear,a nd sticking, and it also prevents sand enetering the joint. ( The wax forms a seal).

 

Any cheap single action carbon fibre reel will suit you. Get a Mullarkeys

catalogue, and have a look in there. Avoid aluminium reels and similar

stuff. 125 yds of backing is OK.

 

DO NOT USE FIRELINE FOR FLY-FISHING !!!!!! It will cut your fingers to the

bone at the slightest pressure from a fish. It is also well nigh impossible

to shoot, tangles easily into terrible knots, and will damage reel bars, guides, and rod rings very quickly

indeed. Remember, you will be handling the line a lot. Use either "amnesia"

( flat monofil) or waxed dacron. You can also use bricklayers polypropylene

twine. This shoots like a dream, will not tangle, will not cut your fingers,

floats intrinsically, and is dirt cheap !

 

An ordinary #8/9 line will not load the suggested rod properly at all, and

you will have extreme difficulty even casting half of it, which means

forty-five feet casts maximum! This is seldom enough for sea-fishing.

 

In order to consistently reach the distances you wish to achieve, you will

require a shooting head tailored to the rod. Nothing else will do. For

sea-fishing, most people prefer intermediate lines, ( neutral density), as

these are less affected by wind and waves. Floating lines are lighter,

difficult to cast any distance, and they have a number of other

disadvantages.

 

A rod marked AFTM #8/9 means that the manufacturer is of the opinion that

this rod will cast best with a #8 DT ( double taper) or a #9 WF ( Weight

forward) line. This may indeed be true for some circumstances, but not for

those you are hoping to master. For your purpose you will need a shooting

head about thirty feet long, ( experienced casters usually prefer longer heads, as they prefer to aerialise more line, up to forty-five feet in some cases)and this may be made from the front of a

standard #10 DT. My advice here would be to buy a cheap "mill end" from

Mullarkeys, and make up your own. It is easy to do. If you wish, I will mail

you the instructions.

 

For maximum distance, and fishing water more than six-feet deep, you will

need a high density sinking line. These are easier to cast, ( heavier, and

thinner), with practice, and you can achieve greater distance more easily.

 

Shooting heads are "shot", not actually cast, and this requires a technique

known as "double hauling". There is no other way to achieve the distance or

power required. When using larger flies, more power is required to reach

even short distances as the line must be capable of "carrying" the fly to the target. With large heavy or bushy flies, this is difficult in any case.

 

Basically then, I would advise a 9´6" two piece #8/9 rod, coupled with a

"tailor made" head of about thirty feet of #10 sinking line.

 

I would use eight pound leaders for Bass, and go a bit higher in coloured

water, or where abrasion on rocks etc is likely. Mullet are a very great

deal more powerful than trout, and I would stick with the eight pound

leaders here as well, going down to six, or even four, if the fish are very

picky. ( Mullet are sometimes extremely leader shy! ). It takes very

considerable skill to land a mullet on fly gear and a light leader. It is

not at all like using a good fixed spool with a drag. The fish is basically

"played" from the line hand, and retrieve rates are also a joke compared to

a fixed spool. You need a single action reel ( no gears etc) on which the

spool may be "palmed" or "thumbed", to act as a brake. Some reels with drags

are available, but the cheaper ones are invariably totally unreliable, and

it is best to do wthout. A simple "click and pawl" mechanism is best.

 

Q also any tips on casting aswell

 

My best possible tip on casting, would be to take a couple of lessons from a

pro. ( APGAI etc). This is not cheap, but will save you a lot of time and

money in the long run. Wait until after the lessons before buying any gear

at all. A good pro will be able to advise and help you here. Tell him

exactly what you want to do, and he should be able to tailor the lessons to

this target.

 

You might like to have a look here:

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/authors/mike10.htm

 

For some general casting and line tips.

 

Q. I did some casting over grass using beach rods a few years back in my match

fishing days. best to date is 233 yards so i understand the meaning of

loading the rod.

 

I still do a bit of beachcasting now and again. There is absolutely no

comparison to casting a fly-line, believe me. Indeed, for many it may well

be a disadvantage to have learned this first. Fly-rods and lines do not

behave like beachcasters and six-ounce leads.

 

 

It is quite easy to make your own flies for sea-fishing, and you then get exactly what you need and want. You don't need many. Half a dozen will suffice for practically any situation anywhere.

 

 

I would suggest the following flies.

 

A couple of Clouser minnows, up to 3/0. A few sandeel imitations, ( get the

size and colour appropriate for your area) a few Woolly buggers, in black,

brown and green, and a light orange or red/brown is also very good, from size 10 long shank to size 3/0 long shank, a few "red tags" ( as shown at the globalflyfisher site below), in sizes twelve to six,

and a few shrimp flies, in "clear", yellow, red, and brown. From size ten to size

four. This is more than enough to get you started. They will take fish

anywhere. Use flies tied on stainless steel hooks. ( Or at least nickel

plated etc). Keep used fleis separate from the flies in your box until they have been thoroughly washed in fresh water and dried.

 

You will find descriptions of the flies here: http://home.adelphia.net/~dmosthenes/ http://globalflyfisher.com/patterns/list.html#Salt

 

Searching this site will also provide you with tying info etc.

 

You will need leaders of at least nine feet. It is best to buy

ready made leaders. I would aim for leaders with a tippet size of 8 lbs. You

can modify these by tying in lighter tippets if required. I use "tippet

rings" for this. they can be obtained here: http://www.sportfish.co.uk/

 

This saves you having to cut leaders etc, and tie "line to line" knots.

 

You may also use a simple piece of ordinary nylon line attached to your fly-line, no particular finesse is requred for sea-fishing usually, and "turnover" ( used to describe the way in which a tapered leader unfurls placing the fly on the target), is not an issue usually.

 

The leader butts are usually supplied with loops already tied on. There are

numerous ways of attaching these to the fly-line, but I prefer a piece of

strong mono permanently "needle-knotted" to the fly-line. This allows a

quick and easy leader change etc. The leader is simply looped on to the

piece of mono.

 

You can find a description and instructions on the needle knot also at: http://globalflyfisher.com/

or http://www.flyshop.com/

 

for other knots etc: http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/knotlink.htm

 

It is worth having a very good look through both these sites. They contain a

great deal of relevant information.

 

The only UK site I know with any worthwhile info is this one: http://www.derek.moody.clara.net/saltfly/idolike.html

 

Even smaller sea fish will put up a very good fight on the appropriate fly-gear, and it really is tremedous fun, and very cheap, as you do not require licences etc ( in the UK at least). You just have to get to your venue. Expensive gear is usually no better for the purpose than cheapie stuff, and Mullarkeys for instance have some exellent gear at reasonable prices. I have dealt with them for years, and can thoroughly recommend them.

 

Regards and tight lines!

 

MIke Connor