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General Angling Topics => Saltwater Lure Angling => Topic started by: Nick A-S on January 10, 2017, 01:37:50 PM
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After not having flyfished in the sea for many years I recently started again. I got into spinning a few years ago and go on annual trips to Moz and Vidal, as well as other spots like Kosi and Bhanga Nek when I get the chance, mostly throwing small spoons in the surf, on a light setup, for kingies, shad, wave garrick, needlescale queenfish etc, and have usually been pretty successful. However, when I was at Milibangalala this November, two guys with flyrods were outfishing those of us with spinning gear most days, so I decided to get myself a saltwater flyfishing setup when I got home.
Based on info from mates and various websites, I tied a few smaller flies to try in the surf when I went to Sheffield Beach on the KZN North Coast over Christmas. I was amazed at how well they worked. I didn’t catch anything huge, but given that I was targeting smaller fish I was very happy with the results. Over 5/6 fishing sessions, normally only for a couple of hours at a time (but targeted at optimum tide times) I got close on 100 fish. Mostly moonies and flagtails, but I also got a nice garfish, and a couple of rainbow wrasse and smaller kingies. I caught with a few Clouser and Crazy Charlie type flies, but by far the most popular with the fish were woolly / salty / fritz bugger type flies. White and Chartreuse worked best but the orange ones also got some fish. Basically my same "go to" colours that I use for spoons!
I’ll be back at Vidal in April / May so will definitely take my flyrod with me up there. Sometimes the shad have started arriving in numbers by the time we are there, but if not there are always wave garrick and the other usual suspects around. I'll definitely still take my spinning rods and trusty iron candies, but looking forward to having another option when the spoons aren't producing!
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Awesome stuff, sounds like you had a lekker time! :+ cred: for the report
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Good skills! (clap)
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My son caught Black tip Kingies, Flagtails and Moonies in a short session at Ifafa while I was spinning, the fish were all small but the volume was quite surprising.
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Here's a trick from the USA where it is common practice:
Spoon with a trailer / dropper attached to the rear where you would normally attach your hook; tie a fly to the dropper.
US anglers do this often when fish are keyed in on small bait fish.
Sometimes even done behind plugs.
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Thanks for the report mate... Excellent stuff (clap)
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Very nice report! I fully agree, one needs a plan B when the spoons and plugs are not raising any bites. So I have recently chosen soft plastics as my plan B. This morning again I tried for snoek on spoons, but no bites. I then started throwing 5" jerk minnows and soon figured out the retrieve that excited the fish. Got smashed by a few small kingies. No hookups due to their small size, but the point is they were around and did not want to eat spoons!
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@Plugger - what I also found interesting was that when there were other locals fishing with bait they struggled to catch any of the moonies, flagtail or small kingies with bait, no matter what they tried, while a fly in the right spot was getting hit shot for shot. The local guys did catch the odd blacktail and karanteen, but couldn't tempt the others. Shows how agrressive some fairly docile looking smaller fish can actually be. The bay where I was flyfishing is a spot where I have caught lots of shad spinning in the winter months so eager to see how i go there with slightly bigger flies when the shad are around.
Attached are a pic of the ever present moonies as well as a few of the flies that seemed to do the trick.
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Great catches, Nick.
Here's a trick from the USA where it is common practice:
Spoon with a trailer / dropper attached to the rear where you would normally attach your hook; tie a fly to the dropper.
US anglers do this often when fish are keyed in on small bait fish.
Sometimes even done behind plugs.
I believe they call it the Pollock rig and have tried it before with no success. I think I'll give it a try again because I just can't seem to zero in on the fish.
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Teaser rig.
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Lovely Stuff! Always wondered about fly fishing in the sea. That's why i love the sport. So much to learn and keep you busy with.
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Nick A S the West was pumping during our session , Stuart had to reverse cast to get his fly out. The locals were very interested because they weren't getting anything with their baits but Stuart was getting a hit every other cast My sons have also caught small BigEye Kingies at the same spot on fly. I got squat on spoon but the West wind has never been kind to me. Nice set of flys. Those bigger ones will definitely tempt a Shad.
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w;k I personally think that this is the ULTIMATE when it comes to spinning in the sea especially from the shore......
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I have won a fly rod and reel combo a couple of years ago and have not fished with it yet. It is very light (will probably be good for freshwater) but I think I should give it a go in the surf. I am a total novice when it comes to fly fishing. Do you guys have any tips for me like retrieve etc.
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Nothing special just chuck it out and haul it back. A fast strip with a short pause seems to work. You don't need the finess required for Trout or Yellows in the salt you can thrash a bit.
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Thanks for the tips. I would probably pause more than I would like to by loosing the line while retrieving. :hehe:
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Excuse my ignorance but do you use the same equipment as for fly fishing for trout (fresh water). Great report and thanks for the info.
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Basically yes, larger flies and tippet for larger fish. Rod from 6 to 9 weight depending on what you are after . Sinking line.
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Even though I only got into saltwater flyfishing again fairly recently, I did quite a bit of asking and surfing around to get up to speed, and the advice and info i got, as well as some of my early experiences (as per my intial post above) will hopefully help others keen to get into it. Hence a few tips below for those who are interested...
Start off targetting smaller fish, that way you are likely to have more success early on rather than flogging the water endlessly without reward. Fishing off rocky ledges into working water, you are always likely to find moonies (aka kitefish) as well as flagtail, and with a bit of luck there might be the odd kingy,shad or other hungry fish that will also spot your fly. Fishing off the beach, wave garrick (aka largespot pompano) will likely be your initial target and you can often sea them swimming in the waves, particularly on the zululand and southern moz beaches. With all of these species you don't have to cast too far and if they are around are usually there in numbers and fairly easy to target. If shad are around and hungry, they are always good fun to catch on any light tackle, so am sure they must be fun to catch on flies too!
Use smaller flies. If you go into a shop and say you want to go saltwater flyfishing they are likely to sell you bigger clouser minnow and deceiver type flies. I would opt for smaller fritz / salty buggers and crazy charlies, white being the base colour, with chartreuse, orange and pink as the alternatives. If your shop doesn't stock smaller saltwater flies you can always look for white woolly buggers, white fritz's, white deaths etc in the trout section. These will do the job (hooks might not last forever if used in saltwater, but trout flies aren't too expensive so worth the cost). If you tie your own flies, even better, and you can then play around with what works for you. I would initially tie on sizes 6, 8 and 10. Once you want to target bigger fish you can just change approach accordingly.
If you have an old 5/6/7 weight trout rod that should work perfectly for targetting smaller saltwater fish. However, if you are going out to buy a new rod, I would suggest an 8/9 weight. The heavier rod and line makes it easier to cast in windier conditions which are always a factor at the coast. The bigger rod also gives you the option to target bigger fish when the time is right. An 8/9 rod still gives you plenty of fun catching smaller fish as well.
I use fluorocarbon tippets. (I have very rarely been bitten off on fluoro when spinning, and caught toothy critters like shad, great barracuda and garfish with fluoro, so never gone with wire when spinning or flyfishing). Start with a sinking line and sinking flies. Make or buy a stripping basket. Have a decent pair of shoes for the rocks. Have fun!
Hope that helps anyone who's keen to get into it. Early days for me still too, but the initial investment has already been worth it!
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Thanks for the info guys. I have a few old Sabiki rigs and want to use one of their "flies". Will it work?
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Nice catches, thanks for the report, think this is something I'll have to try. :tkx:
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Thanks for the info this sounds great!
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Will it work?
yes, and multiple flies too (just need to adjust your cast for tangle free fishing)
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I headed back to Sheffield Beach this long weekend and took my flyrod for a few hours of fun. On Sunday morning I had some joy catching moonies and flagtails with small white salty bugger type flies, casting off the rocks into the deeper channel where there was lots of working white water. I suddenly had a take from something that instantly felt a lot more solid. It took the fish a little while to realise it was hooked before it steamed off towards the deep blue sea. I had to try and "palm" my fly reel (like and old school scarborough reel) to slow the fish down before it stripped my reel. After 2 or 3 runs I started to get control of the fish and get it a bit closer, but I also realised i would not be able to lift it on to the rocks with the light mono leader I had on. I managed to clamber along the rocks to get on to the beach and then landed the fish with a shore break wave. However as I got the fish onto the beach with the wave, the line went slack and the little fly popped out. I dropped my rod and managed to scramble down the sand and grab the fish before the next wave came up. I didn't have a phone or camera with me, but luckily there was a kind lady on the beach who was happy to take a quick snap for me before I released the kingy back into the sea to fight another day. It was a fun morning out and a great surprise when I had been targetting small fish with small flies and a light setup to get a bigger pull out the blue. My flyrod is packed away now but will definitely come out when I hit Vidal in a few weeks time!
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Well done! What weight rod were you using?
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I was using an 8 weight rod with a sinking line and and a light mono leader. I use a slightly heavier fluoro tippet to provide a little bit of protection against any toothy critters that may bite. I was trying out a few salty bugger / woolly bugger type flies, tied with a zonker tail and lots of flash, instead of marabou, to try get a bit more action and they seemed to work - mostly on size 8 or 6 hooks. This fish took a plain white version, but pink and green variations also got some success.
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Awesome catch Nick, that's what keeps the blood pumping !!
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Thats so cool!
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Awesome catch! :cgrts:
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Is it a Blacktip?
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My initial thought was that it was a brassy kingfish, rather than a black tip? When I've caught blacktips before the black has been more distinct. I just had the one quick pic taken so that I could get the fish back into the water, and the fish was quite sandy so not that easy to see it closely. Happy to be corrected though if anyone can confirm???
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No I think that you are correct.
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:cgrts: Great catch :toppie:
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Awesome catches, well done.