Fly Fishing the Surf

[THEGAME]

Does Any else fly fish in the surf?Down here it is somewhat popular for tarpon and jacks.Just wondering if anyone elsewhere does it.

[Buzz]

I am not very knowledgeable about surf fishing, but I have seen guys fishing the jettis and surf areas in California. More so than regular fishing is tends to really be hit or miss!

What type of surf fishing do you do and where??

[THEGAME]

I fish the surf at the very bottom end of Texas, South padre Island.There are a vast # of fish to be caught there.Tarpon, Reds, Speckled Trout, Whiting, Rays,Shark, Jacl Crevalle, black Drum, Spanish and King Macs and an occational tuna.I also fish the bays in this area.

[Megalops]

I fish the surf on my way to the Mansfield Jetties. Last year there were lots of Jacks in October. Have you had any sucsess lately?

[THEGAME]

Well i hooked but not landed 3 tarpon two weekends ago in the surf.Its been a couple months sense I caught any big Jacks in the surf.We caught a couple babiy jacks the other day. About palm sized.
Here is the latest Jack caught in the surf.

[Buzz]

That looks like a hog to be proud of. How was the fight?? What type of set-up were you using??

[Megalops]

Nice Jack!
I'll be down there next weekend and I hope the surf looks as pretty as it does in your picture.

[THEGAME]

Those Jacks are some of the toughest fish I have ever tangled with.But there is a method to fighting them . If they run left lay your rod to the right and pull and vise versa. Get as much preasure on then as your rig will stand. If you stop and rest they rest and the fight almost starts over again from scratch.
Megalops,Did you make it down here. If it was this past saturday I was there all day.The surf was great the first half the day then got just a little rough the last half. But not bad. I'll post the report and pics from that trip. Look for it.

[Jinz000]

Recently I thought about spending $600 on a light end casting gear but not fly, but thinking about it, have a few questions.

On the surf or a big resevour how far will i typically be able to cast a fly?
With a 10' GLX gloomis fly or 9' legened elite fly. Yeah distance is my problem and it doesn't seem like fly rods can take a fly or a light lure out there.

If fly rods can have the distance in the surf, lake or whatever i'm willing to learn how to use a cheap one then invest big in a croix LE or gloomis glx. It would be great to have 1 rod that I can use anywhere, not to mention the lifetime warranty on these rod/reels, pay only once.

As you can see I know nothing of fly fishing. Please give me some input.

[THEGAME]

OK, Here we go.There is no reason to spend 400+ bucks for a fly rod.Get a Temple Fork Outfitters rod.Its that simple. They seem to me to be about as good a rod as you can get.I have the cheapest one they make.89.00. It is a 10wt Series 1, 2 pc rod.They make some more expensive ones if you want to spend the money .They make a profesional series that is around 149.00 and a Ticr series that is around 199.00 to 249.00. And I feel like they are as good a fly rod as you can get.They have a life time guatantee. If it ever fails, send it back to the factory with 25.00 to offset the shipping and prosessing cost and you get a new one.
Now for the casting issue.
I am no expert on fly casting but i get better every day. Once you learn to cast pretty good you have to learn to haul and shoot your line.This takes a bit of practice.I am still learning to do this.I could cast around 50 to 60 feet just casting.Now that I am starting to get the hang of double hauling and shooting the line I have extended my range to around 80 feet.If you keep progressing you should some day be able to cast around 100 feet.
Now for the spinning reels. 100 foot casts are nothing but a flick of the wrist with a spinning reel and / or a good bait caster.Then if you get into the surf casting type equipment , with a little practice on the different methods of casting. You can cast a fairly heavy weighted lure of bait rig close to or more that 100 YARDS.
I hope this helps some.And I did not make your decision even more difficult.
Let me know what you decide to do .
Later

[Jinz000]

Thats some good distance, 50-60 feet is all i need. Actually I wasn't going to pay $400 on a LE fly croix. I can get it for about $180. Flyfishing is something i want to get into to. I'm not sure why fly gear would be able to outfish someone whois using bait casting/spinning, happens just about all the time.

Still difficult to imagine that its used for surf fishing. I'll take your word for it, til then once I get my fly gear I'll keep on practicing.

[THEGAME]

Down here in deep south texas we use them surf fishing for tarpon and jack Crevalle.I can't imagine why you could not catch any predator fish on a fly rod.If you have a rough surf. You will most likely want to use WF intermediate line. It is not effected by the waves and current as bad as floating line.And a stripper basket is a good idea. Although i don't have one yet.
If you are fishing for big fish like tarpon of super strong fish like jacks. I would not got below a 10wt.
And it does not matter what you are giving for your fly rod. I would still check out the Temple Fork Fly Rods. They are that good.

[Megalops]

The Game is absolutely correct! Fly gear is very productive on the surf. I always throw an intermediate line regardless of how calm the conditions. The reasons are that I always fish subsurface flies and intermediate line stays under the waves so it is much easier to manage. Hey Game do you do any Jetty fishing?

[THEGAME]

I fish the mansfield jetty some and the 27 miles of surf leading up to it. I fish all ways. Surf casting gear and fly. I am realatively new to the fly stuff but I have lucked out and caught a few on it.I have not fished the jetty with my fly rod because I think I would need a stripping basket to keep the line out of the rocks.It is usualy so crouded that I would probily hook someone on a back cast.But If i live long enough and the Lord is willing,,, I will try it some day.

[Megalops]

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