Pollack on the Fly Part 2

After a enjoyable day alone I invited Steve a friend and Co worker at uksaltwaterflies to come out on the boat. Steve had not fly fished for 20 years. His casting was pretty good considering the lack of practice. High density lines while standing on a moving platform represent a reasonable challenge. It was a steamy boiling Hot day . Not best for the fishing , the larger Pollack were hiding and unwilling to play ball.

Steve managed to catch a Bass. His first on fly. It was a fun morning.

Please excuse Steve swearing when he hooks a Bass !!

Heres a link to the Video

Pollack Fly fishing trip May 11 Th. 2008

It’s still a week or 2 early for Bass here, the second set of springs will no doubt bring a tidal wave of giant Bass! Lets hope not as if that were ever to happen a greed y commercial fisherman would be more than happy to scoop them up with no regard for the future of his own fishery. Ok politics aside.

So in the absence of Bass I have turned my attention towards catching Pollack from Reefs and Pinnacles. Usually I regard Pollack as a by catch, such is my favouritism towards Bass fishing. This style of fishing is very basic in terms of technical fly fishing. Boat handling becomes the critical skill rather than fly casting. I did ponder too myself a couple of times. Is this saltwater fly fishing as I drifted over pinnacles watching the fish on my Fish finder and lining up my drift. Regardless of the ethics it’s still a very enjoyable way to fish, you certainly do hook into larger fish than you tend to when fishing my local Rocky shore marks. I think I will start to do more of this fishing this summer and see if I cant get a Double figure Pollack on the fly.
Method
Once you located the correct starting point and have set up your drift you cast the fly either ahead of the boat or at 90 Degrees to the boat. With a stiff Northerly today wind I fished with the stern facing the wind. Depths ranged from 20 - 60 feet. As the fly swings around the bites tend to start. You can let the fly swing fully astern and then jig and retrieve the fly. Sometimes retrieving a few meters and then paying the line out again. This certainly breaks the gentlemen’s rules but when handling a boat in chop on your own while fishing the fly it is useful.

Lines and flies
I have been fishing with 8 # and 10 # Rods both with Rio Outbound Di 8 Sinkers. 30 lb Seguar Fluorocarbon leaders and a variety of flies. With regard to flies I have now started to fish 1/0 Deep eels and other Long Mobile flies. If you fish small flies you will be plagued by Small Pollack. If you fish a large Saltwater fly they tend to tail nip the fly ,rather than swallow it, its rather like bait fishing . As you drift you can feel endless tugs and pulls from small fish nipping while you await a thump from the larger specimens . The 6 lb Fish today fell to a bright red Zonker on the Second cast .

So today I had well over 20 Fish , with several 4 pounders a Five pounder and one just under 6 lb. The little guys don’t really pull your string but the better fish really do stick a bend in the rod. as they dive for cover .

It may not be pure fly fishing but as a pre Bass fishing season distraction it was pure fun !

Pollack Fly fishing trip May 11 Th. 2008

It’s still a week or 2 early for Bass here, the second set of springs will no doubt bring a tidal wave of giant Bass! Lets hope not as if that were ever to happen a greed y commercial fisherman would be more than happy to scoop them up with no regard for the future of his own fishery. Ok politics aside.

So in the absence of Bass I have turned my attention towards catching Pollack from Reefs and Pinnacles. Usually I regard Pollack as a by catch, such is my favouritism towards Bass fishing. This style of fishing is very basic in terms of technical fly fishing. Boat handling becomes the critical skill rather than fly casting. I did ponder too myself a couple of times. Is this saltwater fly fishing as I drifted over pinnacles watching the fish on my Fish finder and lining up my drift. Regardless of the ethics it’s still a very enjoyable way to fish, you certainly do hook into larger fish than you tend to when fishing my local Rocky shore marks. I think I will start to do more of this fishing this summer and see if I cant get a Double figure Pollack on the fly.
Method
Once you located the correct starting point and have set up your drift you cast the fly either ahead of the boat or at 90 Degrees to the boat. With a stiff Northerly today wind I fished with the stern facing the wind. Depths ranged from 20 - 60 feet. As the fly swings around the bites tend to start. You can let the fly swing fully astern and then jig and retrieve the fly. Sometimes retrieving a few meters and then paying the line out again. This certainly breaks the gentlemen’s rules but when handling a boat in chop on your own while fishing the fly it is useful.

Lines and flies
I have been fishing with 8 # and 10 # Rods both with Rio Outbound Di 8 Sinkers. 30 lb Seguar Fluorocarbon leaders and a variety of flies. With regard to flies I have now started to fish 1/0 Deep eels and other Long Mobile flies. If you fish small flies you will be plagued by Small Pollack. If you fish a large Saltwater fly they tend to tail nip the fly ,rather than swallow it, its rather like bait fishing . As you drift you can feel endless tugs and pulls from small fish nipping while you await a thump from the larger specimens . The 6 lb Fish today fell to a bright red Zonker on the Second cast .

So today I had well over 20 Fish , with several 4 pounders a Five pounder and one just under 6 lb. The little guys don’t really pull your string but the better fish really do stick a bend in the rod. as they dive for cover .

It may not be pure fly fishing but as a pre Bass fishing season distraction it was pure fun !

Aprill Fools or brave souls?

I was joined by Clive on Thursay April 11 th. So two brave souls headed out into the rain for an early season saltwater fly fishing session. The initial plan was to hit the same mark that provided me with a couple of Bass in Febuary. As soon as I managed to position the boat correctly and set up the right drift we were into fish, fishing in 25 foot of water with fast sinking lines on 8 and 9 # rods. The fly of choice was a size 2 Olive over Polar DNA frosty fish Fibre Clouser ( By way of a change !) We managed to land over 40 Pollack and coalfish, no bass were landed today . But it was still great fun to see a bend in the rod.

AG http://www.uksaltwaterflies.com/

First uksaltwaterflyfishing session in Cornwall 2008

Its not exactly monsters from the deep , but I managed to sneak out on Sunday 10 th of Febuary. The sun was out but the easterly wind still made me feel brave.


This was my first ''uk based '' saltwater fly fishing session of 2008. After the stunning weather on Saturday the change of wind direction to easterly and the drop in temperature came as rather a disappointment. Fearless and well wrapped up I hid behind the rather small consul on the Boston Whaler to keep warm. It was great to be out in the fresh air at last after what has been a hectic month work wise. I fished several of my favourite locations within the Estuary and drew a blank. Marks that always produce a fish 'In season' were lifeless, not a Tug and not a fish on the Fish finder. A change of location followed by a change of fly finally paid off. The Orange and Black clouser was switched for the well tested Frosty Fish Fibre 2 # clouser with red eyes. The first cast with new fly produced a Bass, Not a Monster, but regardless it was a Bass! It was a cold February afternoon, not the conditions associated with UK saltwater fly fishing. This fish suffered the indignity of the traditional kiss on the lips for the first Bass of the year before being released.

The second slightly larger fish fell to the same fly on the next drift across the edge of the reef the depth was around 17 feet. The flies were fished on the swing at depth with a slow double handed retrieve. The takes were gentle perhaps that indicates that the fish have slowed down with the drop in water temperature.

My Three ' Go To'' Flies for 2007

My Three ' Go To'' Flies for 2007

Hi

I thought I would post a picture of my favourite saltwater flies for 2007 . These have been the three flies I have Fished with almost exclusively this season , when fishing cold Atlantic saltwater that is.

The Tooty Fruity Bucktail Deciever with posh eyes has plenty of triggers, I love Chateruse and also I like pink. Im a fan of grey and im keen on Olive and white, so to hell . I use them all in one fly. This has fished well when the fish slow down and start to refuse the fly. Also dawn and dusk.

Hook Gamakatsu SC15 Size 1/0 - 2/0 Various bucktails as above. Holo Chromosome flash or Crystal flash etc Pearl
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The Deep Eel is a classic for Stripers but I have also found the fly useful for boatfishing deeper water on bright days this season,

Hook Tiemco 811s or Daiichi 2546 or Mustad S71 sss size 1 -1/0 Unique hair= Gold Over White or Olive over White. , Some Flash.
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Number 3 the Sparse DNA frosty Fish Fibre has been the killer this season . I take guys fishing and push them toward useing this fly. They catch a load of fish and then naturally want to use one of thier own creations, Sometime's that pays off but I dont know how many times this season they went back to the FFF Clouser and started catching again. Ive had 6 species in one day twice this season and both days they all fell to the same fly. Its getting boring fishing the same fly everyday.
Its great for Bright days. It has no flash to startle fish it shimmers rather than shines, if that makes any sense. It also is a very stable fly that wont hang up.

With these flies being synthetic you do need to carry a small comb and give them a groom from time to time.

Hook - Gamakatsu SC15 sz 1 -2 or TMC 811s sz 2 -4. FFF Olive over Polar or FFF Tan over Polar

Cheers and Happy Christmas

Austen Goldsmith

Recent Seychelles Trip

I have recently returned from what I would regard as a trip of a lifetime. People have been asking me ‘how was the trip’ My answer has been ‘Remarkable’ The 10 day Journey by Catamaran the seascapes and the marine life we encountered were unforgettable. I swam with whalesharks before we had even left the waters of Mahe the Main Island. That was a lifetime ambition achieved The fishing exceeded my expectations ,in terms the number of species and quantity of fish landed . The worst thing about a trip to the Seychelles is the number of Species that you will encounter and the number Rods and reels you may wish to pack. In hindsight you could make the Journey with two rods , a Nine weight for the Bones and Permit and the occasional fishing with sink lines over the reefs. The other would be a Twelve weight rod. This will handle the Yellow fin Tuna and GT and not break you balls in the process. Poppers were by far the most productive weapons. Streamers would often go un noticed. Just the splash of a 6/0 Popper landing on the surface would pull a few thugs out and up from the deep. We opted to fish for the big fellas rather than cast at bonefish all day everyday. The Bones were very user friendly . The 2 week trip with 10 days at sea costs between £ 1750 and £3500 depending on your willingness to share a cabin .For me that’s still a lot of money to some that’s small change. Im booked to go back next year!! Anyone interested in sharing the cost should get in touch asap I have several people very interested..

The species that fell to the fly were as follows GT - Yellowfin Tuna - Bonito - Job fish - Blufin Trevally - Bonefish ,various reef fish and Wahoo, a Sailfish swung across the stern to eat my fly but turned away so perhaps that will be next year?