What rod are you using?

[FishMoken]

So after a few years off from throwing a fly I’d love to get back into it. I’m not really big on trout...just not something I’ve ever been interested in going after.

I’m just wondering what kind of set up everyone is running. For this area I have a small 6’6” 4wt for the farm ponds here in Westminster, as well as a larger 9’ 5wt for larger lake pan fishing. My go to setup is a Blair Wiggins 9’ 7wt for anything from bass to carp.

Now I have a 10wt I plan to set up for larger saltwater fishing as well as musky on the upper Potomac.

Who chases larger game fish on the fly? I’m interested to learn on patterns you all recommend, as well as if you have a favorite fly line.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mark]

Most of my kayak fly fishing occurs with 5, 6, and 7 wt. 9 foot rods. I usually carry 2 to 3 fly fishing rods on outings.

I use the 5 wts. for pan fish in ponds and white perch in tidal creeks with floating weight forward lines and 8 to 9 foot tapered leaders. In ponds, I cast small poppers (size 6), foam insect imitations, size 4 crystal buggers, wooly buggers and Clousers. Also, I'll cast dropper rigs with bluegill bullies and other small wet flies in the ponds. In tidal waters, I use streamers (Clousers, crystal buggers) for white perch. The dropper rig that I use in ponds is also a good technique for white perch, by the way. Sometimes they want a tiny meal in lieu of a streamer.

I use 6s primarily to cast foam poppers with hooks between sizes 1 and 2/0 to pickerels and bass with weight forward floating line on 8 to 9 foot tapered leaders. If it's windy and I need more line power, I will take the 6 for white perch in tidal water which of course means I sometimes hit a striper with it.

I use the 7s for winter pickerels and summer and fall stripers. I have one strung with intermediate weight forward line. I use that for larger streamers like Joe Bruce's articulated bullethead or articulated crystal buggers. I shorten the leader to 5 or 6 feet. Both of those streamer flies are 4 inches or more long and they get heavy when they're wet. The 7 helps me get them on target. I also cast bendback minnow patterns with the 7 for picks -- although I can easily cast them on my 5 and 6 wts. Additionally I use use the 7 with intermediate weight forward line to target stripers in tidal water with larger 2/0 Clousers and crystal buggers

I have another 7 wt. with floating weight forward line that I use for winter pickerels in ponds and creeks with the same streamers I mentioned above. A floating line with an 8 to 9 foot leader will get the flies deep enough for winter pickerels in the ponds and also crappies and an occasional LM bass. Additionally. I'll cast poppers to stripers with the 7 and floating line. These poppers are larger and more wind resistant than the one I cast for LM bass and pickerels. If I know that wind is going to be a factor I will bring an 8 wt. with weight forward floating line to cast topwater to stripers. But on my kayak outings I can get by with a 7 on most trips. If it's blowing too hard I wouldn't be out in my kayak anyway.

I've caught every species I target with conventional tackle on the fly, including specks and red fish in FL and TX and some other warm water species. However, I have not caught a snakehead on the fly. I have teased a few with fly rod poppers, but I've yet to hook one securely enough to get it to the boat.

My thought is that I really don't need a rod a bigger than a 7 wt. to subdue any fish I would normally catch from a kayak. My need for the 7 is mainly to cast larger flies. I have a 9 wt. that has not been out of its tube for several years. I have used the 8 in my kayak but rarely.

Finally, I apologize FishMoken. I realize now after re-reading your post that you asked about large game fish on the fly. I have not done that other than catching legal bass and stripers locally and pike, specks and redfish outside of Maryland. But maybe my post will help others just getting started in their fly rod and fly selections for the fish we normally pursue locally in kayaks.

[bignose]

Back in my "Center Console" days (2009-2015) I tried to fish the Susky Flats with a 9 foot-9wt. and some rather large streamers, home tied.Leftiy's Deceivers, Clousers, and Half and Halfs. These flies were 5-6 inches long with a lot of saddle hackles. You can find these patterns online to get the idea. I also tried to fish the area around Fort McHenry with the same amount (or lack there of) of success.

When I down sized the flies to 3 inch streamers, I caught a couple of White Perch, but Perch on a 9 wt. was kinda overkill.

I went out a couple of times on the Flats with no success, and after an hour of casting what seemed like "1/2 of a chicken" flies my shoulder told me that this wasn't gonna be as easy as I was led to believe that it would be.

I used a 4 piece White River (Bass Pro) rod and a TFO.

It was quite a change from my pond and stream rods which were, much like Mark's, 5 and 6 wts.

I wrapped my own rods from blanks-Sage and the old Loomis IMX blanks that I bought from Joe Bruce back when he owned a fly fishing shop in Catonsville.
These were much more delicate tools then the 9 wt.

The 9 wt. is at the transition where you go from a "fly casting" tool to a "fish fighting" tool. Your 10 wt. will provide a lot of backbone and lifting capability, but will be a bear to cast all day. You could get by with a 7 or 8 wt. for most Chesapeake area fly fishing with the possible exception of early season spawners up on the Flats where the possibility of hooking a very large fish exists.

My lines were a Scientific Angler's Striper intermediate, a Wulff floating Triangle Taper, and a Rio fast sinking line.
I found that I did not care much for the sinking lines. They have to be retrieved most of the way to the boat to be able to cast them out again, where with a floating line, you can usually water haul it to lift it off of the surface, load the rod, and recast it.

And after shoulder surgery, my fly fishing has been reduced to the occasional foray to local ponds to wear out the local bluegill population.
I have considered taking a fly rod with me on a canoe Perch excursion on the Severn, but I don't like casting sitting down.

s-l400.jpg. maxresdefault.jpg.

[Mark]

Stu,

I fully concur with your comments about 9 weights. They're simply too much rod for my target species. Mine is a good St. Croix rod and I have excellent Scientific Anglers floating line on it. The actual casting just seems laborious after I've fished so much with lighter rods.

At the same time, I'm not one of those fly fishers who takes pride in landing fish on the lightest fly rods. I want my fly rod to cast the flies I need easily in the conditions of the day. Fly fishing turns quickly from a joy to a chore when your fly is too big for your rod. Again, I think it's the casting in the conditions of the day that dictates the size rod you need more than the size of the fish you catch.

I also agree with you about sinking lines. At some point, it is just easier to use conventional tackle to reach fish in deeper water. Casting a sinking line is more like slinging a rope. I don't find the process enjoyable at all. I feel different about Intermediate lines. They cast more like a floating line and sometimes the extra few inches of depth they offer is important.

[FishMoken]

Thanks for the input, hopefully this post will give others more information on good setups for fishing our area.

Mark, Like you my 10wt has never been used. I purchased it way back in 2012 and has just been sitting. So this year I plan to mount some fly rod holders to my crate and just take it as a “just in case rod”. Most of my fly fishing is with a 5wt. I just feel like it’s finally time to finally get some use out of that rod.

My true goal this year is to land a carp on the fly. I believe I can do this with my 7wt setup. I’ve herd the cicada hatch is the best time to go after them....so I’m going to give it a go. But that’s a topic that I could go on for awhile. Maybe we will leave that for another post.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk