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This past Saturday night I was finally able to get out and put a new to me fly rod to use. It was my first time fly fishing in at least 20 years, so I tried not to set my expectations too high for the trip. I mostly just wanted to feel out how casting sitting from a kayak at night would feel. Although, I choose a spot behind OC that, as long as the current was moving, I shouldn't have any trouble catching schoolie bass.
I paddled out to the spot around 9pm after the family had settled in for the night. I could tell right away once I got out that I was going to have a very short window to catch fish before the bite shutdown because the current was beginning to slack. I made two quick casts with a paddle tail just to confirm that the fish were around and biting and caught fish on both casts. So I stored the spinning gear away and pulled out the fly rod.
The motion of casting came back pretty well and casting seated didn't seem anymore difficult than standing. I stored the line I stripped in my lap and, aside from one small tangle, that seemed to work well. I hooked a couple fish right away and that was enough to boost my confidence to stick with casting the fly rod. It was a fun change of pace and brought a new challenge to a fishery that can be pretty easy at times when using spinning gear. Occasionally, I did have trouble getting the fly to roll over properly, but I think I was trying to hard to punch the cast out instead of just letting it flow smoothly. Other than that, things went well - no real tangles, hangups, or snagging of the spare rod and Visipole I had stored behind me.
I wasn't out an hour before the current slacked and the bite shutdown. I called it a night as I didn't have the time to wait out the current switch. I finished with 6 schoolie bass on the fly up to 18". Had I timed it better with the current, I no doubt could have caught many more. I'll certainly be bringing the fly rod next time I go out at night and hopefully I'll have a longer window to catch some fish, and get a few larger
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I paddled out to the spot around 9pm after the family had settled in for the night. I could tell right away once I got out that I was going to have a very short window to catch fish before the bite shutdown because the current was beginning to slack. I made two quick casts with a paddle tail just to confirm that the fish were around and biting and caught fish on both casts. So I stored the spinning gear away and pulled out the fly rod.
The motion of casting came back pretty well and casting seated didn't seem anymore difficult than standing. I stored the line I stripped in my lap and, aside from one small tangle, that seemed to work well. I hooked a couple fish right away and that was enough to boost my confidence to stick with casting the fly rod. It was a fun change of pace and brought a new challenge to a fishery that can be pretty easy at times when using spinning gear. Occasionally, I did have trouble getting the fly to roll over properly, but I think I was trying to hard to punch the cast out instead of just letting it flow smoothly. Other than that, things went well - no real tangles, hangups, or snagging of the spare rod and Visipole I had stored behind me.
I wasn't out an hour before the current slacked and the bite shutdown. I called it a night as I didn't have the time to wait out the current switch. I finished with 6 schoolie bass on the fly up to 18". Had I timed it better with the current, I no doubt could have caught many more. I'll certainly be bringing the fly rod next time I go out at night and hopefully I'll have a longer window to catch some fish, and get a few larger
.IMG_0129.jpgIMG_0131.jpg
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