Ready to go to battle

[TheCream 0]

I leave Ohio on Friday for a vacation in SC. I'll be in the general vicinity of Murrells Inlet/Garden City. This will be my first time in the area in almost 10 years, and my first try at fly fishing the salt. I will be taking my kayak down and the general plan is to fish both the inlet area and the surf past the breakers. Reports from multiple reliable sources show good fishing right now, so I'm optimistic. To fulfill my main goal, a fly rod shark in my kayak, I will have to make a 15 minute drive south to Georgetown County where shark fishing is legal, but I intend to make it happen! Or at least give it a noble effort.

 

I started with a bunch of hooks and a couple of patern books from Amazon.com:

 

 

I took this last night:

 

 

Some crabs, Seaducers, and shrimp patterns:

 

 

Clouser box:

 

 

Topwaters and a few sand flea patterns:

 

 

Shark stuff:

 

 

Three color patterns in a 6/0 Murdich Minnow, hopefully for sharks:

 

 

Spoons, surf candies, bendbacks, and a few other patterns:

 

 

Not pictured are some EP streamers and Deceivers that are stuffed in my large streamer fly wallet with the terminal stuff, hard mono shock tippet, and single-strand wire leader. I'll be packing my vise and a few basic materials to replenish stock if I lose or destroy a bunch of flies by Day 3 of the 7 day trip!

[Stippled Popper 0]

A nice collection of flies. Hope you have fun and do well with the fishing.

[bluegill576 0]

Nice flies and good luck!

[Panama Red 0]

Damn good looking bullits for sure...you will do well.

[NJ All Day 0]

Not any of those patterns will work! I guess you'll just have to send them too me so I could put them to use.

 

Seriously those are some nice patterns, if they don't catch anything then I'll loose my faith in fishing. Remember to take many pictures!

[TheCream 0]

Not any of those patterns will work! I guess you'll just have to send them too me so I could put them to use.

 

Seriously those are some nice patterns, if they don't catch anything then I'll loose my faith in fishing. Remember to take many pictures!

 

Why take pictures when video is so much more fun?

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

Beautiful tied flies, good patterns too. Somebody taught you right about color selection. Great selection of flies with light, dark and medium tones.

Look forward to the video.

 

Kirk

[Guest rich mc]

you did your homework, tied great flies so go forth and conquer. be safe out there. rich mc

[Markbob 0]

When you get there, I recommend you stop by a local tackle shop and pick up a Top Spot Chart. They are "non-navigational" charts marked with depths of the water and they have been marked up by local guides to mark some good fishing. All of that information there is up to you as to whether or not it is worthy but what is really good about the charts is that they show all of the boat launches and such in the area including a list of what is available at the launch (bait shop, freshwater wash down, rest rooms, etc.) These charts are made for the coastal areas from somewhere in the mid atlantic at least all the way to the FL panhandle if not farther.

 

Tight Lines!

[agn54 0]

Great looking arsenal, you should slay them. When you get there try doing some scouting around at extreme low tide and remember what you see. That is the best way to get a feel for the contour of the bottom and a great way to locate holes, humps and structure during the higher tides

[iFly 0]

Wow. I wasnt expecting that. Looks like you tied up some of those Leslies' Special. Good luck!

 

btw, that orange and red shark fly looks like money!

 

 

[TheCream 0]

Wow. I wasnt expecting that. Looks like you tied up some of those Leslies' Special. Good luck!

 

btw, that orange and red shark fly looks like money!

 

Right now it's looking like the weather may be the biggest hurdle. The 10 day forecast is showing some rain, t-storm possibilities, and a few days with expected high wind. Unless it gets real nasty, I'll be trying to fish through about anything. I learned my lesson this summer around lightning, though. I hear the thunder rumbling or see some flashes, my butt is headed for cover!

[iFly 0]

The meterologists down here never get it right. You oughta be fine for minimum of a day.

 

 

[ditz2 0]

I hear the thunder rumbling or see some flashes, my butt is headed for cover!

 

 

I bet that is an interesting story.

[TheCream 0]

Well, after 1 full day of fishing I can say if the wind doesn't tone it down, fly fishing is going to be a complete nightmare. We had nasty winds here today, riptide warnings in the surf, and the fishing was rough. I got the kayak into the inlet for a few hours this evening and had huge wind issues. My anchor wasn't holding well and casting the 7wt with even a small Clouser was brutally difficult. 0 fish landed, I did have one strike. Sight fishing? Looking for tails? Forget it! Not in that wind. I did walk out on the pier and saw a couple of HUGE sharks. Huge to me, anyway, had to be pushing 6' or more. If I can get some chum material tomorrow in the throw net, I'll potentially be trying for sharks tomorrow afternoon.