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PSG-1

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Location
South Carolina (redneck riviera)
Here's a cool video I made this past week. One of those rare exceptional days on the water, for sure.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PohuJoHsY80

(Taken from aboard my 16 foot Triton with a 50 Merc)
 
That's awsome!!! Nothing like a fly rod in saltwater.

Not sure if you have seen some of my reports, but I'm a fly rod fanatic when there is room on the boat and weather permiting.

Where were you at?
 
Specknreds said:
That's awsome!!! Nothing like a fly rod in saltwater.

Not sure if you have seen some of my reports, but I'm a fly rod fanatic when there is room on the boat and weather permiting.

Where were you at?


I'm on the NE coast of South Carolina. Around here, the best season for fishing basically runs from September-December....then it's dead until about April, when the baitfish return to the estuary. There's some good fishing out here in the summer, as well, but I generally spend those warmer months doing watersports, such as jet skiing, waterskiing, swimming, surfing, etc.

You're right, though, there's nothing like a fly rod in saltwater, for adding a new level of challenge. I started with fly rods about 4 years ago, with one of those cheap Shakespeare fly rod kits from Wal-Mart, then once I started catching fish, I upgraded to an Orvis setup.

Now, I have to confess....I cheat a little bit. I've yet to catch a saltwater fish on an actual fly. In stocked mountain streams, I've used flies and caught rainbow trout. But out here, I use bait.

For instance, when I fish for sheepshead, I use a #6 light circle hook, baited with a fiddler crab, and a couple of small split shot to help it sink. For spot tail bass and trout, I'll use a #6 hook, with no weight, and I'll rig it with a live shrimp, casting up-current, mending the line, and letting it drift until something hits it. Yes, with live shrimp, at certain times of the year, I feed more pinfish than anything (that's why I fish in the fall, not in the summer)

I've also caught black drum, bluefish, ladyfish (a really good fight, but lousy as food) and tautog on a fly rod.

And then, as you noticed, I also use a 20 foot bream buster pole to do some fishing. But it's rigged a little different than a conventional bream buster. Instead of all 20 feet of line being regular fishing line, about 12-14 feet is floating fly line (the cheapest stuff available, like 20 dollars a spool), then a few feet of 20 lb fluorocarbon leader, and finally a short length of tippet made from some 14 lb test 'cajun line' On that outfit, I have caught nearly every saltwater gamefish, except for trout.

The advantage of using the floating fly line on a bream buster is that it is less likely to twist and knot up like regular line, especially when you boat a fish and it starts flopping around on the deck, or if it does get a knot or twist, it's very noticeable, and it's easier to fix. Also, the floating fly line stays suspended off the rocks and oyster beds, making it less likely to snag. And, because it floats on the surface, it also acts as a strike indicator, if a fish picks up the bait, you can see the end of the line make an abrupt shift, almost like using a bobber, but a little different.

And finally, the other advantage of the bream buster rigged the way I describe, is that its handling characteristics are similar to a fly rod, so it gives good practice for casting, learning how to "control the loop" of a fly rod....in fact, the people I have taught to fly fish, this is how I start them out with learning how to throw a fly rod. Because the trick to mastering either one is to remember that it is the weight of the LINE that you are throwing, not the weight of a lure, like with conventional tackle.


And then if you want to talk REALLY unconventional tackle....here's another piece of the arsenal I like to break out every once in a while...the "Green Hornet"

The Green Hornet Strikes Again.JPG
 

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