Spoons and flies in the surf

[Nick A-S]

    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!

[WalkersKiller]

Awesome stuff, sounds like you had a lekker time!  for the report

[REEFMAN]

Good skills! 

[Plugger]

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.

[fishatic]

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.

[FishStyx]

Thanks for the report mate... Excellent stuff 

[Steenie]

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!

[Nick A-S]

@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.

[SAfish]

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.

[fishatic]

Teaser rig.

[4Freedom]

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.

[Plugger]

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.

[Kent]

  I personally think that this is the ULTIMATE when it comes to spinning in the sea especially from the shore......

[SAfish]

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.

[Plugger]

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.

[SAfish]

Thanks for the tips. I would probably pause more than I would like to by loosing the line while retrieving. 

[Willie]

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.

[Plugger]

Basically yes, larger flies and tippet for larger fish. Rod from 6 to 9 weight depending on what you are after . Sinking line.

[Nick A-S]

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!

[SAfish]

Thanks for the info guys. I have a few old Sabiki rigs and want to use one of their "flies". Will it work?