coryphaena

Caloosa Bug - love those SSW hooks. Lite hooks with a nice wide gap. Caught many Mahi on those. Josephcsylvia - nice body and head.

Good point about stretching the line. Braided mono cores have a lot of memory. Out on the water before I start casting, I always grab a few feet of line between my hands and stretch it to eliminate the coils. Continue doing it until you have stretched the length that you think you will shoot.

Check out the Owner SSW hooks. I use these for big offshore flies. They may be the closest thing similar to the 600SP. They have a cutting point and sometimes I find them in the straight eye model. Most of the time I use the upturned eye hooks. They have an offset hook point but it is not an issue when using flies.

Capt Lemay - thanks for the tip. Unfortunately, my rod does not have a snake guide for the stripping guide. I have to use my line basket. It may have saved the line from getting twisted in the surf. I just can't get used to that basket thing. Another lesson I learned is to avoid excess line out of the reel - must keep it short and just the necessary amount. Li'lDave - Good idea about using a dark colored head. I have also imitated lure colors that have been successful at trolling offshore as well as inshore plugs and jerk baits.

Joseph, I overline my 8 wt rod with a 10 wt line. Are you interested in a Rio Tropical Intermediate 10 wt? I can sell it. Just contact me privately.

Keep your leader short. I use a 40# fluorocarbon butt section of about 30 inches + a 30# section under 2 feet. My fly line is entirely clear. The water clarity here has been awful compared to last year. My old fly line was getting worn out so I got a Rio tropical Intermediate that worked OK but then... I tried my old line again one day while switching reels. I could not believe the difference. I had adapted to the Rio but my old Scientific Angler line was thinner, textured, and shooting much better. That old line is even a cold water striped bass line that gets a bit soft in the warm water but I still prefer it. I think I wasted my money.

The backcast is an option but it will not go the same distance. The good thing is that Snook are not that far from the through. I guess I am lucky to be left handed and to be fishing the Atlantic coast. Our prevailing winds in the Summer are from the southeast to south so I am still able to cast straight out to the east. The wind may send my fly a bit north of due east but I can still put the fly in the "zone". By the way, when the current is running north I slow down my stripping and "walk" my fly north along the beach. This way I am able to keep the fly out there in the trough a bit longer before the current washes the fly back to shore. I fish an 8 wt but I overload the rod with an intermediate 10 wt line. Looks like wind will stay up this weekend on the southeast coast.

I lost my biggest Snook on the beach so far this Summer on a fly similar to this. I call it the green finger mullet. It is a bulky fly around 4 inches(10 cm) tied on a size 1 Mustad S71SZ hook. Body is made up of green Supreme hair tied all around the hook to add bulk. Lots of flash and finished with grey EP Minnow Head. The fish took it and I set the hook with a short strip. All of a sudden I see my line knotted up running against the strip guide in the rod. I stopped the fish with one hand while trying to loosen up the knot with the other. It did not work. The fish broke of the leader as it headed out to sea.

Do not give up on dark colors. My local inshore waters are very dark - like dark coffee - and my most successful flies for Redfish are all dark purple and black. My other fishing zone is the beach. There the silt turned the surf into a milky white tone. I noticed that my white colors were not easy to see. I started fishing with dark green, olive, and purple colored baitfish shaped flies and immediately got strikes. I think that bigger bulky flies that move a lot of water are more important when fishing in dark water. So far my instincts have proven correct.

This Summer I have kept my kayak in the garage and I am avoiding the rivers and the lagoon with all the nasty water. Snook on the beaches has been my main target. I use an intermediate line on an 8 Wt. I have not used Clousers in a long time. I like the Owner Flyliner hooks. That hook is a bit heavy so no need to add any more weight. The Flyliner also has a cutting point so you don't even have to set the hook. It is a strong hook that I can use offshore too. I like to experiment with all kinds of hooks and also caught a few fish on the Owner Mutu Light hooks. I had another fish take a fly tied on a Gamakatsu SL113H but spit the hook after a jump. The SL113H is a sharp hook so maybe I did not react quickly to set the hook. Keep tying and trying different hooks - it is part of the sport.