Saltwater Fly Fishing

One of the most common queries I get is around my approach to saltwater fly fishing. So here is a quick introduction.

I use 2 set-ups for most of my saltwater fly fishing. A 9ft 5wt with full floating line. This is my go-to kit when fishing over very shallow clean ground in clear water. One reason for this is the lighter outfit is less likely to spook fish. Another is that the flies I typically use here are small, similar to the size of most trout flies. Another plus is that this outfit doubles up as a mullet rod so I can target both species at the same time.

The other outfit I use is a 9ft 9wt. My personal favourite is the Mackenzie FX1 Salt rod. I have a few different lines that I use on this rod. Mostly I use a Rio Outbound Short coldwater line in intermediate and I also carry the full float in the same line (for surface flies). Another line I use is an OPST shooting head with various density tips. I find this line great for really big flies.

The majority of the time I am using the 9wt is for casting larger flies and or fishing over rougher ground. I also use it in estuaries in channels with a strong current.

2013 A Review – Part III

September

Normally reliable this past season fishing was tough due to high temperatures, drought conditions and algal blooms.  But we still managed to catch some nice fish!

Night fishing for seatrout

Night fishing for seatrout with Conor and the lads

Maury after landing a nice autumn fish on the Blackwater

Maury from Tyrone after landing a nice autumn fish on the Blackwater

Gurnard on soft plastics with Kuba

Gurnard on soft plastics with Kuba

Casting tuition on Lough Derg

Casting tuition on Lough Derg

October

In October the bass fishing picked up a bit!

Darren with his first ever sea bass.

Darren with his first ever sea bass.

And the water in the lakes started to clear up.

Tom "Doc" Sullivan from Galway with a cracking Knockaderry Bow

Tom “Doc” with a Knockaderry Bow

November

With the rivers closed it was more saltwater fishing and of course the Waterford lakes fished well.

A quality Vantry trout

A quality Vantry trout

And a trip to the Irish Fly Fair in Galway which was fantastic.  I really enjoyed giving a talk there on winter tactics for stillwater trout.

At the Irish Fly Fair in Galway

At the Irish Fly Fair in Galway

Denis O Toole with some of his templedog style salmon tubes

Denis O Toole with some of his templedog style salmon tubes

December

The year comes to a close.  And a chance to catch up on some fly tying.

Dabbler

Dabbler

But with all the mild weather there are still some seabass caught along the copper coast when conditions are good and the lakes continue to fish well.

Mick catches at Ardaire

Mick catches at Ardaire

A cracking Ardaire bow

A cracking Ardaire bow

With only a few days left in the year and with winds estimated at 150kph Shane and I managed to fit in one more days fishing.

A super Ardaire Bow

A super Ardaire Bow