Flyfishing in the surf

[Ifishtoolittle]

Has anyone here ever caught a halibut in the surf cuz I know a guy who catches double digit ones on flies. He said his personal best wuz 38 pounds!!!!!!

[calico killer kevin]

HALIBUTS! IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA! BAHUMBUG!
LIES, HE TELLS LIES!

haha j/k I know nothing about flyfishing, but if you have any questions you should pm city dad.


Calico Killer Kevin

[G-Man]

All the time. Go to His and Hers Fly shop in Newport Beach for the best info. I like the green mackerel pattern Krocodile.

One of mine from '99...Nailed the Kroc in about 4" deep water, right by my feet...
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f109/Perchinator/1999Flatty.jpg

G. :wink:

[hbstriker]

I've caught a number of them, not too hard on the fly.
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b159/hbstriker/14.jpg

[JSAUCE818]

yep...on "pin chovies"

[Ifishtoolittle]

I didn't think you could flyfish for those guys in the surf thanks! :mrgreen:

[PUDD MASTER BAITER]

I PURCHASED AN 8WT, AND 10WT. I TRIED IT IN THE SURF. ALL I GOT TO TELL YOU HAVE A STRIPPING BASKET, FOR YOUR LINE ,OR ITS A PAIN IN THE @. I GOT FRUSTRATED AFTER ABOUT AN HOUR USING THE 10WT. SWITCHED TO MY 8WT. IT WAS MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE. I DIDNT GET ANY, THAT DAY BUT IVE CAUGHT SEVERAL AT BELMONT SHORES AND THE SEAL BEACH JETTY BY THE CAFE.. A STRIPPING BASKET IS A MUST. WHICH NOW I OWN, AND WILL BE USING IN THE SURF GET TOGETHER. THE GUY WHO KNOWS ALOT ABOUT FLY FISHING THE OCEAN, IS CITYDAD. GOOD LUCK ,AND GIVE IT A TRY. PEACE OUT MIKE THE PMB.....

[City Dad]

There used to be a guy here - was his screen name "flymaster?" - who seemed to catch everything with gills on his fly rod. I recall he was from Canada but had dual citizenship. He was down here in the service - was it the Marines? Anyhow, that guy caught corbina, halibut, you name it.

One thing you might try is picking the brains of guys who do well on hallibut with "traditional" gear. Find out what the halibut like to feed on, what sort of action imparted on a bait/plug works on these flat fish. They are there, so it stands to reason that they can be caught.

There are some really cool baitfish flies available. You could probably answer a lot of questions for yourself by picking a few up and testing them out on known holding areas.

Go with a sinking line - I prefer full sinking for surf. Biggest challenge for me has been detecting takes and a sinking line makes this easier.

Flyshops can be a help too. I'm familiar with The Fisherman's Spot in Van Nuys and Bob Marriot's in Fullerton. There are guys at both of these places who can provide some good tips on tactics, etc. (If you go to The Fisherman's Spot, ask for Dean - they don't come any more enthusiastic.)

I'm happy casting a 7/8 wt. rod right now. I started with my 5wt which was too puny to cast the 5/32 and heavier flies required to get into the zone. (But I did catch fish on that 5wt.) If your shopping around for your first salt rod, remeber; this is in all likely-hood merely the first of a number you will buy for this pursuit so, you don't necessarily have to blow the bank on it, if you know what I mean.

And as PMB said - REMEMBER A STRIPPING BASKET. You can buy specially made products or, if you are like me, you can spend five bucks on a medium-sized laundry basket to strap around your waist (I use an OFF promotional fanny-pack I picked up for free at Big Five to fasten on my "stripping basket.")

There are two major advantage to having a stripping basked as opposed to going without. First of all, you won't be tripping over your slack line. Secondly, your slack line, while still getting tangled in the basket, will not get nearly as tangled as it would washing around in the water. When you do stick that first, large halibut this could be the difference between a broken leader or a running battle. (As I've only caught perch, I haven't had to play out much line to running fish but I still think about it.) * Oh, and one more advantage if you go with the home-made setup; You look as though you could possibly be homless or crazy or both and folks will tend to give you more room... you know, to back-cast and stuff.

And oh, yeah; The first time you set the hook and your rod tip goes down into the foam and you can feel the throb, throb, throb of something alive down there, and then that something alive turns and runs with the out-going wave, well... that will make the wait for your next trip to the Sierras seem much, much shorter.

[hbstriker]

The rod above is my 5wt with WF floating, but normally use a 7wt. Depending on surf conditions and tide, I will use either the floating or a sink tip. I found I like the sink tip in higher tides and larger surf. I have lost many larger hali's on the 7wt since I like to use light tippets for better presentation. Largest I have had to hand was just shy of 19". I like using floating as much as I can though, with a 9-10 foot leader, since it allows my to minimize false casts when I spot a fish with my line out, and allows for the faster pickup to change the position in that situation. I always make sure i have minimal slack on the line to avoid missed takes, but with the floating there is a little more work involved in that. City Dad makes some awesome flies for the surf, which I have had good luck with when it comes to perch and croakers. But for the hali's I use your run of the mill clousers. I had 8 tied from a guy in Montana whom I sent a picture of a smelt, and the fish cannot be kept off of those.. The stripping basket is pretty important, you can make you own for a like 5 dollars using zip ties and a small basket tray thing with alotta drainage holes in it.