Pillar Point flyfishing 8/1

Pretty good day. Landed 15, kept 2, including the 4 lber in the photo below. Swells were very mild early, but built up a bit to around 12:30 when I headed in. Typical chart/white clouser on LC13, which you can see in the photo I took of the blue rockfish. There are some big rockfish in that area! That blue weighed nearly 2 lbs & was one of the largest blues I've caught this year. He went back in the water to make more little blues!

Fog even burnt off for part of the time. I didn't see any other kayak fisher folk, but did see quite a few kayakers out for a paddle.

Also kind of interesting that for a while I was fishing near a big ol' commercial fishing boat. Haven't been that close to one of those on the water. Lot of sea lions cruising around too, but none of them bothered me, like the harbor seals will at Stillwater.
Bill

Those are some hog blacks! And on the fly too. Thanks for the report+pics.

nice job ont he fly caught rockies, what size hook were the flies tied on, cameron

Alright!
 A Pillar Pt report!
 Hey. sounds like the closest and easiest launch can also produce!
Did you get out to the bouy? How far from the breakwater? Or at the tip of the breakwater?
You know theres more there then just big rockies but big blues are great to see for the big fillet they provide.
Ariel, Lino , Me and 3 others were in Big Sur yesterday and all we caught were rockfish. Lots of em. Makes me wish I woulda stayed home and went to HMB as theres nice rockfish there as well.
Steve

The flies that worked best were tied on #1 hooks. Jig hooks to be specific (EC413). I tried larger flies but got nothing. Even the larger fish preferred smaller flies.

I more or less fished my way out, but seemed to have best action well out from the breakwater - maybe a mile or so out. I was past the bouy that marks the south end of the near reef, but not as far out as the other 2 buoys.

I often fish Stillwater & yeah it sure was nice having some decent action a lot closer to home (SF). But not sure I'd go out there if swells were much bigger.
Bill

Bill, were you catching them on the surfae or were you using sinking flies?

pindo124

5 years or so back I talked to a saltwater fly fisherman and have been toying with the idea of putting my old shad rod to use that way

maybe I can get some pointers from you about a reel &tc?

Very nice! Fat blacks and from the yak' too! Congrats bro! The last picture is near francis beach? Correct me if I'm wrong. We took a little day trip to that beach and caught some sun and ate lunch and i watched 2-3 PB and then they left and it looked like a commercial boat came in pretty close to the beach and right where it curves by that point. I guess they were catching bait or something. Great catch!

hey, great report and great catch, Bill.    Nice fish too!   Cant beat catching those rockies on the fly. 

I need to get out to Pillar Point some time.   Its just over the hill from me, practically in my backyard.   Gotta have some good home waters for the quick fix.

Way to go, and keep the reports coming.

Bill, were you catching them on the surfae or were you using sinking flies?

I used LC13, which is a lead-core line. Supposedly sinks at 13 inches per second. I often use a doubled-over piece at the end as well, to sink the front end faster so I don't get a belly in the line.

Sometimes rockfish will go wild on the surface but they were mostly deep on Sat.

In terms of reels, bluekayak, you don't need anything special for these fish. I land nearly all of them by hand stripping the line in. But I must say I have a pretty good reel on this outfit because every once in a while I'll catch a big ling & then a good reel is very useful. But there are LOTS of them out there for not that much money. Get your shad outfit out & go for it! I'm sure it will work fine.
Bill

Nice fly fishin' report. Way to go on the fly.

I assume you are using a 9 weight rod. What are you using for running line? What do you use for a stripping container (if any). I find running line tangles are my biggest issue with kayak fly fishing--I made a stripping platform just for fly fishing from my kayak for Stripers (mostly in San Luis and the Forebay), but never seem to get around to it on a kayak in the ocean--done many times on boats out there though. See below for picture of my stripping platform made from scrap from Tap Plastics, a pool noodle, stainless steel screws and washers, and drip irrigation line taps cut to 3-inch lengths.

In terms of reels, bluekayak, you don't need anything special for these fish. I land nearly all of them by hand stripping the line in. But I must say I have a pretty good reel on this outfit because every once in a while I'll catch a big ling & then a good reel is very useful. But there are LOTS of them out there for not that much money. Get your shad outfit out & go for it! I'm sure it will work fine.
Bill

was wondering what's good for saltwater use

was wondering what's good for saltwater use

I could give you my personal views, but I think you'd be better served checking out Dan Blanton's board. Look at some of the articles and ask there--the people on that board exclusively fly fish, mostly in salt water, and mostly for big game fish.  I learned most of what I know from some of the guys on that board. A lot of them have moved on to the trop[ics (Permit, Roosters, Bonefish) but there is some useful info and they are pretty good with solid down-to-earth advice.

My one bit of personal advice is this: it doesn't have to be any more expensive than bait casting and spin gear for salt--really--but be careful because it can get very expensive and a lot of VPs and CEOs are into fly fishing hence the big price tags.

http://www.danblanton.com/
http://www.danblanton.com/bulletin.php

thanks

I tend to avoid big price tags for fishing Although I just spent $200 on a shimano spincast rod and can chaulk that one up to drugs

I may try casting flies with that just for something different to do

after so many years fishing rockies it just gets boring

I may try casting flies with that just for something different to do

There are a few of us on the board who fly fish and we have our own section but not much activity cuz there aren't many of us. I've caught Stripers on all kinds of tackle and they are the most exciting on the fly rod. Rockies are not as boring on a fly rod because the tackle is lighter and you really feel the fish--and if you get a hitchhiker you will think you hooked a tuna  .

I keep saying I need  bring my 5 weight out for the next time I hit a school of Macks--one of these days I'll do it and provide pics. The 5 wt is a trout rod and those little torpedoes will feel like a small Tuna.