Fly fishing for lingcod

wow that's pretty cool. I thought salt fly fishing was more of a surface bite.

My ocean setup for lings is mainly an okuma 10wt., echo ion 10/12, int. running line, 26ft T20 and big ass clouser or one of my rubber leg creations. I'd fish a bigger rod if I had it to keep the big ones off the rocks.

I mentally note which wind conditions will fish well for a fly rod on most of my marks. If it's windy I just feed line and drift away paddling upwind to control the speed. Gotta be willing to lose flies fishing like that but clousers are easy ties. They don't need to be pretty, just durable.

wow that's pretty cool. I thought salt fly fishing was more of a surface bite.

That's what everyone thinks. They have no idea we can fish deep with flies.

loop to loop, running line side, triple nail knot small loop on t20 (not a fan of braided loops), small dab of aqua seal or uv knot sense to protect/smooth the transition. albright a piece of 40lb. mono on the other end to your loop of choice, I use triple surgeon. Basically same way I do sink tips for my spey rods.

That said I have been letting the fly shop weld a loop where I would have the triple nail knot on my sink tips. No issues so far and sweet going through the guides. The Airflo T stuff (braided core) welds much better than Rio (mono core) if you ever want to try welding your own, it's not that difficult.

I'll probably hit the 4bay tomorrow too.

So are you using 6 feet of 40lbs for leader, or are you using a 6' tapered leader (say 16lbs or so) with a short 40lbs tippet tied with blood or triple surgeons  for toothy critters? Or would you go with straight 6' of 20 or 30lbs maxima (or similar)? I've 30 is about the limit for breaking off on my kayak without sketchiness, and even that's right on the edge. I was thinking of going to 25lbs top shot on my conventional gear for the salmon season for that reason.

I use about a 5' piece of 25lb. fluro. for leader, that's  what I do, there are other ways. My setup for fishing targetting RF in the column or on the surface could be different.

I don't worry so much about teeth when fishing RF as I worry about abrasion on leader and head. Gotta pay attention, one bad drift fishing up hill can destroy a nice piece of T20 in an instant. Checking leader and head is important. 

Gotta pay attention, one bad drift fishing up hill can destroy a nice piece of T20 in an instant. Checking leader and head is important.

Where are you sourcing your T20?  My fly shop only had T14.  Do you make your own heads?

— TIA, Bradley


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't remember where I got it, if the Cal Fly shop didn't have any I probably got it at The Fly Shop in Redding or the Ashland Fly Shop.

Airflo makes T18 and Rio makes T20. I only make level heads for the heaviest ocean stuff now, most of my T8 to T14 heads have been chopped into sink tips for my steelhead/spey stuff. I've gone to integrated for stripes which is most of my stillwater sinking line stuff.

My ocean setup for lings is mainly an okuma 10wt., echo ion 10/12, int. running line, 26ft T20 and big ass clouser or one of my rubber leg creations. I'd fish a bigger rod if I had it to keep the big ones off the rocks.

I mentally note which wind conditions will fish well for a fly rod on most of my marks. If it's windy I just feed line and drift away paddling upwind to control the speed. Gotta be willing to lose flies fishing like that but clousers are easy ties. They don't need to be pretty, just durable.

Nice stringer!

I tried my hand at the fly setup at SMC, fishing at 50', and I caught a Blackie in the column, but my 14T integrated line was just too much trouble to get to the bottom. At 9" per second, my countdowns were just too long, and those depths kill the scope of the line on retrieves really fast.

It seems that the fly is limited to pretty shallow water. Thoughts?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I couldn't really disagree more than flies are for shallow water only. I typically use T14 also. One thing I often use in the ocean: I cut a piece of T14 6' long, then double it over so it's 3' in length, with a loop on each end. I then loop-to-loop connect to the business end of my 28' T14 head, which is looped to Airflow Ridge intermediate running line. Then loop on 6' of 20 lb flouro (I use 20 lb because I want the leader to break in case of a snag, not the fly line).

The doubled-over piece of T14 pulls the fly line & fly deeper & faster. It also helps to keep a belly out of the line so if you get bit on the way down you know about it.

While kind of a heavy rig, I can cast it OK with either an 8 wt or 9 wt. But if you're fishing deep, you don't have to cast very far - just get most of the line out of the kayak & feed running line.

I regularly fish near the bottom (80-100') at SWS. At HMB, where the water is a lot shallower, I sometimes remove the 6' piece because it sinks too fast. I caught my PB ling at HMB that way.

BTW, SWS opens April 1, and HMB April 15.

Good luck out there.
Bill

I purchase my fly rod and reel set up last week at the Expo from Bill at Headwaters so I will be trying some fly fishing off my kayak this year.

it looks like fun.

I couldn't really disagree more than flies are for shallow water only. I typically use T14 also. One thing I often use in the ocean: I cut a piece of T14 6' long, then double it over so it's 3' in length, with a loop on each end. I then loop-to-loop connect to the business end of my 28' T14 head, which is looped to Airflow Ridge intermediate running line. Then loop on 6' of 20 lb flouro (I use 20 lb because I want the leader to break in case of a snag, not the fly line).

The doubled-over piece of T14 pulls the fly line & fly deeper & faster. It also helps to keep a belly out of the line so if you get bit on the way down you know about it.

While kind of a heavy rig, I can cast it OK with either an 8 wt or 9 wt. But if you're fishing deep, you don't have to cast very far - just get most of the line out of the kayak & feed running line.

I regularly fish near the bottom (80-100') at SWS. At HMB, where the water is a lot shallower, I sometimes remove the 6' piece because it sinks too fast. I caught my PB ling at HMB that way.

BTW, SWS opens April 1, and HMB April 15.

Good luck out there.
Bill

Bill, how big are the flies you're using?

Also, I'm not clear on how the doubling of the line makes it sink faster. That whole 6' line is T14 (14"/second), whether it's a straight or doubled over section. Couldn't you add a couple of split shots to the leader and accomplish the same thing without the cost and headache of a looped section of line (after all, you're not going for quality casts)?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm typically  using standard Flashtail Clousers, basically striper flies. Roughly 4-5" long, including the flash tail. All kinds of colors - you never know what they're going to like.

What I like about the doubled line vs. split shot:
1. It lasts longer. Split shot come off after a while. And you have to keep squeezing them to keep them on. I rarely lose the doubled piece. Sometimes a loop frays & I have to make a new one, but T14 is pretty cheap when purchased in bulk & it's not hard at all to make up the piece. I always have at least one spare when I'm out on the ocean.
2. Loop-to-loop connections makes it quick & easy to remove the 3' doubled piece & reattach your looped leader to the shooting head.
3. Total length of T14 = 34' (28' head + 6' of doubled). This slight reduction in length makes casting a little easier.
4. The doubled piece makes the entire rig sink faster than it would without it, because you have this piece of concentrated weight at the "business end." Try it. It definitely works. I've used it in rivers as well, in place of a sink-tip, by looping the double piece to the end of a floating line.

Bill

I'm typically  using standard Flashtail Clousers, basically striper flies. Roughly 4-5" long, including the flash tail. All kinds of colors - you never know what they're going to like.

What I like about the doubled line vs. split shot:
1. It lasts longer. Split shot come off after a while. And you have to keep squeezing them to keep them on. I rarely lose the doubled piece. Sometimes a loop frays & I have to make a new one, but T14 is pretty cheap when purchased in bulk & it's not hard at all to make up the piece. I always have at least one spare when I'm out on the ocean.
2. Loop-to-loop connections makes it quick & easy to remove the 3' doubled piece & reattach your looped leader to the shooting head.
3. Total length of T14 = 34' (28' head + 6' of doubled). This slight reduction in length makes casting a little easier.
4. The doubled piece makes the entire rig sink faster than it would without it, because you have this piece of concentrated weight at the "business end." Try it. It definitely works. I've used it in rivers as well, in place of a sink-tip, by looping the double piece to the end of a floating line.

Bill

Bill, thx for the explaino. I'll try it out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I couldn't really disagree more than flies are for shallow water only. I typically use T14 also. One thing I often use in the ocean: I cut a piece of T14 6' long, then double it over so it's 3' in length, with a loop on each end. I then loop-to-loop connect to the business end of my 28' T14 head, which is looped to Airflow Ridge intermediate running line. Then loop on 6' of 20 lb flouro (I use 20 lb because I want the leader to break in case of a snag, not the fly line).

Bill, I get the concentrated weight part of how you rig the sink tips, but I'm not quite understanding the "doubled-over with a loop on each end" part.  How are you making the loops in a doubled-over piece of T-14?

Thanks for sharing the pictures and tips. You've motivated me enough to consider fly fishing for lings this year. Even if it is basically trolling with lead core line attached to a fly rod. 

I couldn't really disagree more than flies are for shallow water only. I typically use T14 also. One thing I often use in the ocean: I cut a piece of T14 6' long, then double it over so it's 3' in length, with a loop on each end. I then loop-to-loop connect to the business end of my 28' T14 head, which is looped to Airflow Ridge intermediate running line. Then loop on 6' of 20 lb flouro (I use 20 lb because I want the leader to break in case of a snag, not the fly line).

Bill, I get the concentrated weight part of how you rig the sink tips, but I'm not quite understanding the "doubled-over with a loop on each end" part.  How are you making the loops in a doubled-over piece of T-14?

I use a series of nail knots, which I usually tie with a fly tying bobbin & 15 lb mono. At the end with the fold, I simply tie a nail knot a couple inches from the loop formed by doubling the piece over. then at the other end I double over one cut end of the 6' piece & make a loop, using 2 nail knots about 1/2" apart, and capturing the other cut end in the 2nd knot. I then add 2 more nail knots, at 1' from each end, to keep the 2 halves together when I'm fishing.

Hope that all makes sense!
Bill