Jump to content
Fly Tying
Sign in to follow this  
Blueman89

What Gear For The Surf?

Recommended Posts

With my vacation to Ocean City,MD coming up in 2 months I figured I should start getting the gear I need to fish effectivly, mainly in the surf. I have a 10wt rod/reel and everything there. I also have a stripping basket. I am going after Stripers, Blues and whatever else may be there. Now for the questions. Do I need to have some sort of sinking line? Sink-tip or Full? Could I just get away with buying one of those add on sink tips to my Floating line? Are braided line to leader connections tough enough for these fish, or should I just use a normal knot connection? What should I use for tippit? I am going to get wire for the Blues, but will the Stripers still hit with the wire on? And does anyone have any good finger mullet patterns? I think that is everything that I need to know for now. If I think of anything else I will post it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hey Blue¬

I've never fished up there, but I did just get back from fishing the TX gulf coast....South Padre Island, Laguna Madre, etc. An 8 wt was pretty much the standard down there. As far as lines are concerned, I used my floating line with various sink tips attached. Other than being a total pain in the butt to cast, they did help me get my flies down deep (especially around the jetties). The sink tips also helped out combating the windy conditions when fishing the surf as well.

 

hope this helps a little¬

 

AFF

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I find the most useful line for fishing surf conditions is an intermediate. While it rides just under the surface, it is not so easily affected by waves as a floater and it does get down the the fish better. I use one of the saltwater tapered clear lines by Orvis, Cortland of Sci-Angler.

 

On all my saltwater rigging, I splice or tie(with fly tying thread) a small loop to the end of each fly line. Then, with a loop on the butt section of my leader, go loop to loop connection. In over 25 years fishing the salt, I've never had a break there.

 

On the subject of leaders; you will not need long leaders in surf fishing conditions. In fact, my average leader for such is about six feet and is simply a butt section of about 3 ft. of 30# or 40# test, loop-to-loop to a tippet of 15 lb. test.

If Bluefish are prevalent, I loop on a short (6")section of wire. American Leader and Cortland both make a very servicable tieable leader material around 15# test that does the trick. In surf conditions, Stripers are not leader-shy.

 

You're going to have wind on the ocean - sometimes horrendous wind. Best to practice shooting your fly line as opposed to false-casting. False casts in wind will just get you into trouble. Here is where the heavy weight-forward saltwater tapered lines earn their keep.

 

Lots of luck. Keep it simple as you can and you should be ok.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Everything Bill said is right on.

 

Just wanted to add a different bluefish solution...I keep a box of bluefish flies that I pre-tie on a 3-5" wire tippet...I find wire a bit difficult to deal with in the field especially in the dark or wind so I just do it at home then its as simple as tying on a fly if I need it or don't.

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great advice, Bill. Can't really add much to that.

 

The earlier suggestion of using an eight weight might be a bit light for surf conditions, especially if you'll be shooting line into the wind. I almost always use a ten weight in these conditions (read: Rhode Island), and find that I'm less fatigued after casting all day.

 

Have fun.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...