General Flyfishing Guidance for Our Area
Jim White is our club’s Director of Instruction. Here is his general guidance for anyone wishing to fly fish in our area.
An 8-wt is the traditional “saltwater rod” for general inshore and nearshore use. On windy days, you may wish you had a 9-wt. If you hook a monster you will wish you had a 10-wt. For croakers and other smaller fish, a 7-wt. would be a lot of fun. But for general use, the 8-wt. is the way to go.
I use weight forward floating line 99% of the time, though real experts claim using Intermediate line works better for surf fishing or on windy days. Since it sinks slowly it gets the line just under the waves so the wave action has less impact on the fly. Being heavier than floating line, it has more heft to beat the wind. Floating line will work for reds and speckled trout.
Our webmaster uses a furled leader then adds a couple of feet of mono as a tippet (simply the lightest part of the line). The advantage is that he has a 6’ (more or less) part of his leader system that will not need to be replaced for months or years (decades, perhaps) of fishing. I have several and may get more in the future when my supply of monofilament wears out that I use to build my own leaders. Buying tapered leaders can get pricey. For the cost of two or three tapered leaders you can get a furled leader (also tapered). So furled leaders make sense from an economic point of view.
As for tippet (lightest part of the line) weight/strength, it depends upon the fish you are after. For big reds, I’ll use 20 lb test or lighter down to 12 lb test. 12 lb test is usually as low as I will go when fishing in saltwater, usually.
The idea is to get a leader that will let the fly turn over in a beautiful presentation that doesn’t crash or otherwise cause a commotion. A heavier fly will take a heavier tippet to be able to roll out properly. That’s the good thing about fly fishing. It will show you if something isn’t working properly. If your fly isn’t presenting itself well you may need to change the leader or lighten up on your casting- a major problem in all casting is trying too hard.
Reds will eat just about anything. So shrimp, crabs, worms, bugs, poppers etc. will work. I tie a fly that is purple and black that doesn’t look like anything in nature but the reds go crazy over it. I’ll give you a few to try. I call them Toads.
A boat is very helpful to get to the shallow water reds like. On high high tides, they venture way up into the marsh to feed on the crabs and other critters that live in marsh that doesn’t get flooded except at very high tides. Usually this is in short marsh and the ground underneath is fairly firm. But you need a boat to get to these areas. A kayak or a canoe will work. I have a 16’ jon boat I use. We are beginning to get new members with boats and many of our anglers with boats love to take non-boat owners fishing. Kayaks and canoes will get you to the high marsh and you can get our and wade, though most of us do this only during warm weather. If you want to surf fish, waders can be used- just don’t wade out too far- the currents can be deadly.
During winter months, reds tend to school up. Some schools can have several hundred fish! Then oyster beds and mud flats are magnets for them since the mud exposed to the sun gets warm and reds can avoid bottlenose dolphin in the shallow water and feed at the same time. A lot of red fishing is sight fishing. You are casting to a fish you can see, adding to the thrill. Find a nice oyster bed or mud flat, anchor up and wait for the fish to show up. Or go up a creek into the very shallow water and find a school of feeding reds. Most of the local guides like to fish’s the low tides better than the higher tides.
One word about guides. We have some good guides in our area: Seth Vernon of Double Haul Charters, Allen Cain or SightFishingNC Charters (he is usually in Louisiana for 2-3 months this time or year and Jud Brock of MuddyFlyCharters, to name a few. All of these guys are friends of the club and they specialize in fly fishing. Though they are expensive, in the long run, they will put you on fish and they may wind up being cheaper than buying and maintaining a boat. I think our website lists some of the local guides our members have used and recommend.
Ordinarily, I would urge you to come down to my home on the Big Davis Canal on Oak Island to do some casting, fishing and conversing about fly fishing. But my wife fell and broke her hip right after Thanksgiving and then popped her new hip out yesterday and is recovering from the procedure of having the hip popped back into place. So I am not quite in a position to be away from her for more than a few minutes at a time. Soon, she will be far more independent. But right now she has a knee brace that keeps her left leg straight and stiff.
I, too, use Great Outdoor Provision Company next to the K & W cafeteria in the Hanover Center across Oleander from Independence Mall and Sportsman Warehouse on teh Extension of New Centre Drive. We’re beginning to get some fly fishing stuff in the new Mad Kingz Bait and Tackle next to Lowe’s Food in the Southport Crossing tag the intersection of NC 211 and Long Beach Road Extension. But I buy a lot of my stuff from Mud Hole, Feather Craft or one of the many other fly shops you can find on line.