Fly fishing the surf

Any of you done it? Any tips?

I'm headed down to Destin the last week of this month. I'm always trying new things and this time I want to try fly fishing in the surf. My fly fishing skills are novice at best but I'm continuing to improve. I caught some nice bull reds last year surf fishing. That would be awesome, but I figured I could have my fly rod ready and when I see a ball of lady fish coming, I could just throw some sort of shiny fly at them. Sounded fun to me...what do ya think.

line management is going to be your biggest problem. Wave action will wrap any loose line around your body, severely hindering your ability to cast. I have used a stripping basket to control line as it is stripped in. Google it.

Otherwise it will work just fine. Lots of ladyfish(my first saltwater fly rod fish), hardtails. trout, redfish.

I bet a ladyfish would be mo'buncha fun on a fly rod, too! Be sure to let us know how you do!

I only have a 5/6wt, is that going to be fine for ladyfish?

5/6 will be enough for the fish, but it will make casting in the ever present wind a little tough. You will need a saltwater type taper, heavy front section, line. Either floating or sink tip. Ilike a sink tip. White or chartreuse clousers streamers will work good.

Cool, thanks for the info Fred. I was at Cabelas yesterday and they had a good sale on a saltwater combo, but I passed. I'm thinking hard about it now. I don't need to spend money, but maybe I can take it out of our vacation budget

Ladyfish have not shown up yet. (usually in May). There are plenty of Spanish mackerel and pompano near shore right now, but they are a little too far to reach with a fly rod.

Bummer. I'll probably bring it anyway and try.

I couldn't imagine with the wind.

wind is a constant with saltwater flyfishing. A lot of times one needs to use a bigger rod/heavier line to overcome winds and big flies.

I have an eleven weight Sage saltwater rod is use some for throwing BIG poppers for Jacks. It is a brute to cast for long BUT it will punch thru the wind and launch a line its full length.

Most of the time a 7 weight fast taper saltwater rod is my minimum, use a 9 weight a LOT. My favorite redfish rod is a 8/9 weight St Croix freshwater rod using an 8 weight saltwater line..it loads fast for short casts.

I know nothing of fly fishing beyond a 3 wt. and popping bugs.

add 4 er 5 to that 3 and you will be ok.

I would like to sling some bigger poppers for bass.

Does it have to be on the beach? What I bet it would be a little easier on the bay

You're probably right, but I'm going with my pregnant wife and staying in a high rise condo, so my fishing will pretty much be limited to right in front of the condo.

Make sure you take a bass rod and get you some plugs. If you get out in the morning you will stand better luck with the fly , but if you get frustrated you always have the backup.

Yup that'll work for lady fish for sure.

Yeah that's the plan! Figured I'll still be throwing some shrimp on pompano rigs too.

Just make sure you rinse your rod and reel with freshwater really well after fishing. Unless you have a saltwater reel or one with a sealed drag system, you want to keep it free of salt.

As for the fishing, I like to cast parallel to the bank when surf fishing. If you can wade out to a sandbar or some higher ground and fish all the troughs around it, that is pretty productive too.

Surf fishing is tough with a fly rod, but it can be done. Good luck!

Well....we are down here...and I completely forgot my fly rod. It worked out anyway though, it is WAY too windy. I'm having a tough time with my normal surf fishing stuff. Apparently they were catching some pompano pretty good yesterday, but said it wasn't worth trying today. Maybe the wind will die down a little tomorrow and I can catch something.

I have seen some big redfish caught in the surf lately \.

They are killing the pompano. Need to use about a 3 oz pyramid sinker to get some distance on it. Most of the pompano are out a bit. Best pompano year along the gulf coast I have seen in the past 45 years.

Need to listen to this man. He knows what he speaks of and has the fish pics to prove it.

I was using a 3oz today, but it would get swept halfway down the beach immediately. I have one of those sputnik sinkers I'm going to try tomorrow if it seems to be the same conditions. Hoping to get up early and get out there before the water gets rough. Might try fishing tonight too, I've caught most of my redfish at night in front of this condo.

Hooked into something this afternoon that fought reall good, but one of my knots failed came up in what seemed like a school of 200 fish, they were all pretty big. No idea what it was, mackerel maybe?


Caught 1 pompano this morning.

...pretty sure you and TexasHuntress are kin...

What’s the trick to catch a red in the surf? It’s on my bucket list.

Throw out a piece of cut mullet or a live croaker and hold on. It's not very hard.