Saltwater Fresh Water Fly Fishing - Basics part 2

[Old Smoothound]

Originally Posted by Pross

No, for some reason signatures and avatars and other fancy bits and pieces don't show up on my work PC. It was only when looking at the site at home last weekend that I noticed they existed!

Hi Pross,

Go to WWW.shoot-and-fish.com via a search engine.

Cheers
Shaun

[audiracer]

old smoothy
great write up on saltwater fly fishing, are you related to JR Hartley?

[Old Smoothound]

Originally Posted by audiracer

old smoothy
great write up on saltwater fly fishing, are you related to JR Hartley?

Thanks Brett,

Actually funny you should mention that................ nope!

Cheers
Shaun

[Old Smoothound]

Well its only a few months more till the Bass season starts again.

I am currently working on Saltwater Fly Fishing Part 3.....is there anything specific that you guys would like me to cover?

Just post it up and I will add it to the piece and answer your questions and give advice.

Failing that... your gonna get it as it comes!!

[audiracer]

just a few things smoothy

how to:

cast properly
catch bass

roll on 2005

[Old Smoothound]

We will met up in 2005 mate and sort out your casting.

As for catching em .......you'll need to read my piece when its finished

Have a good un

[freddy]

I've just found the site and registered, so first post.
I have done a bit of Pollacking on the fly in Southern Ireland and it is great fun! I use a salt water reel with lead core line to get it down as fast as possible. I use an old conoflex fly rod which is a beast but i do not want to spend loads of money on kit which may be left for some time with salt water deposits causing corrosion. Its a holiday home.
You do not mention lead core line and i wondered why as over 20- 30 feet it takes too long for a fast sink to get down to the fish . Also does salt water affect the sinking rate ? - i assume it does?
As for flies i cut off the feather lures and use them. Fabulous sport.
Look forward to keeping tabs on the advice.

Regards

Freddy

[Old Smoothound]

Hi Freddy,

Welcome to the forum.

God I love Ireland if ever a place was made just for fishermen it was Ireland, I have been fishing there for nearly 30 years, Game, Coarse, Pike and Sea fishing, boat and shore. Oh and of course

A very interesting point that you have made on sinking lines. Firstly, I stopped using lead core lines a long time ago, in fact when they were overtaken by tungsten coated lines such as Di7 and Di8 and superfast - depthcharge lines.
I only use shooting heads with a running line for distance work. But you are right the sink rate of your line is affected by the salinity of the water.
My lines sink at such a rate that in 19 seconds I am fishing 20 feet plus so add on the "salinity" factor and in 25 seconds I'm at the same depth, that's fast enough for me. I always found lead core lines to be unwieldy and cumbersome as the rod has to be rated higher and I find that using a lighter outfit I can cast all day in comfort.

However, you do not need to purchase specific saltwater lines for use in cold waters in the UK. Saltwater lines are designed for warm water use and give no real benefit to us here.

Roll on summer, Bassing here we come!

I hope this clarifies some points for you.

[freddy]

Well i am obviously not up to date on the line technology! Yes the gear is a bit unwieldy but that is because i have my good stuff in the UK. I bought the line a couple of years ago but they never mentioned any alternatives.I would not fancy spending a whole day using it! It was an experiment to begin with.
I must look into those new lines and see if i can put together a package as a decent rod line package does make the sport far more enjoyable.

Thanks for the feedback.

Freddy

ps. The Guinness is different over there

[Miles]

I've tried a lead cored shooting head in the sea and it was, on the one time I used it, more effective than the intermediate saltwater line I'd been using before, but yes, you need the right rod for the weight of the head....... and duck !!!

With regard to what to cover next, what's your view (Old Smoothound) on fishing a couple of flies at a time ? (I'm guessing this is the stiff leader AND tapered leader bit). I wondered about this myself, using some stiff 35lb+ fluoro as a sort of 'boom' but have never tried it. One fly seems to be enough to get snagged up at the seaside I've found !

Great article though, on salty fly flinging. All I would add to others is don't be too discouraged if you can't double haul and get out much further than 15-20 yards, you might still catch if you're in the right place.