Surf Fly Fishing

This blog is discontinued.

2012-07-16T18:12:00.003-04:00

I have started a new blog (Going to the water). Please check it out.

Jamaica Bay

2012-04-22T18:50:00.000-04:00

Since I guess the early season striper crowding the Little Neck Bay is over,
I have started fishing in Jamaica Bay.
I'll go to Breezy Point this coming weekend to see what's happening.

Little Neck Bay （Ⅵ）

2012-04-08T21:46:00.001-04:00

My haiku:
Saturday strong north wind
Rough murky water
No fish, still fun

Last week I saw bunkers jumping in the Bay and I was not sure why.
So this week I tied some large 8-inch bunker imitation flies just in case stripers might be chasing them.
I could barely cast them out 25 yards in the side wind.
But when I casted them out in the same direction of the wind, these bulky flies could ride on the wind and go quite far away for their sizes.
I hope I'll have a chance to catch some large fishes with these large flies.
It will be very exciting.

Little Neck Bay （Ⅴ）

2012-04-03T19:20:00.002-04:00

On Sunday I started fishing at my usual spot in Little Neck Bay at 5:30am.
High tide came at 6:30am.
No one was there yet.
The water surface was like the glass of a mirror.
This morning was so quiet that I wondered if I would catch any fish.

But it turned out to be wonderful.
After the peak of high tide, I started catching stripers
and continued catching them until around 9 o'clock.
It was unusual for me to catch basses up to half way of the low tide at this spot.

When I was leaving, I saw many fishes jumping in the middle of the Bay.

In the evening I came back to fish on the other side of the Bay and saw the ones jumping were bunkers.
My fly even snagged a 10-inch bunker.
I don't know why they were jumping.
Was a big striper chasing them? It couldn't be.

I caught only two baby stripers this evening.

Little Neck Bay （Ⅳ）

2012-03-25T21:42:00.000-04:00

I fished in the Bay again today.
As the high tide came at 2:00 pm,
I started fishing around 12:30 pm.
The wind was blowing from the mouth of the bay toward the back.
When I took my usual fishing spot at the back of the bay, it was swollen with water because the wind had pushed the water there.
A shower seemed to be coming at any moment.
I thought these were favorable conditions and gave hints of fish presence.
In addition, only a few fishermen were around and it was the most important condition for good fishing.
In a short time I caught a few stripers.
When the shower began, I had to leave because my
hands got very cold.

These flies work well, I think because these flies with most of their weights on their heads make twitching movement better.

Little Neck Bay （Ⅲ）

2012-03-24T23:58:00.000-04:00

I finally got a striper today in Little Neck Bay.
The first one always means a lot to me after a long off season.

Little Neck Bay 2012 (Ⅱ)

2012-03-20T00:45:00.002-04:00

   I went to Little Neck Bay fishing early last Saturday morning.
   When I got there, a plug fisherman had already taken the fishing spot where I had many
   good times before.
   I fished a little away from him because I tried not to bother him with my long rod and line.
   He caught 5~6 striped bass one after the other.

Fishes were in the Bay!!

   But they were not on my side. I got nothing.

   The next day I woke up early again and  made sure I got that nice fishing spot no matte what.
   Guess what I saw when I got there; 7~8 fishermen had already crowded in that spot.
   The fisherman of yesterday probably told everyone, so they were here really early.
   Unfortunately nothing happened to anybody.
   Fishes were in the Bay, but they didn't come to the spot.
   Well, maybe too many fishermen scared the fishes away.
   Gradually everyone left and I was the only one who still kept trying.

Little Neck Bay 2012

2012-03-11T22:15:00.003-04:00

I have started my fishing season in Little Neck Bay today.
But fish seems not ready yet.

   I stopped by Jackson Hole Diner for lunch after fishing.
   The Diner's TV screen showed that NY Knicks lost again and it was the fifth in a row.
   That sounds like inshore fly fishing, doesn't it?

The 2012 Season Is Coming.

2012-03-10T10:27:00.001-05:00

I am ready for the new season!

Montauk 2011

2011-06-01T22:10:00.002-04:00

I fished at Montauk last Saturday.
It verifies to me that fishing around the Montauk point is not easy for fly fishers.
If someone recommend surf fly fishing there, I'd say he is not honest or doesn't know what he is talking about.
The chance of success there is slim and it requires a lot of luck.
Am I still going there? Yes!

Sandy Hook 2011 (Ⅲ)

2011-05-26T22:23:00.002-04:00

There was not much action in the Sandy Hook point last Saturday.
High tide came at noon.
I fished from around 11:00 o'clock to evening.

I felt the receding water from the bay was warm.
I guess many fishes have headed more to the north; I may too.

Sandy Hook 2011 (Ⅱ)

2011-05-16T23:00:00.012-04:00

I went to Sandy Hook again last Saturday and fished the receding tide from early morning till noon.
I tried Scientific Angler 750 grain fast sinking shooting head line for my 13-weight spey rod.
The line went well with the rod. It becomes my fastest sinking system.
I fished like wet fly fishing in the tidal current to make the fly swing like other fly fishermen in Sandy Hook Point.
I caught one school bass.

In the evening, I came back to fish for two hours each before and after high tide at 6:00 pm.
I got a few hickory shads only.
Two plug fishermen who looked experienced, were fishing a little away from me and caught a large striper each.
It seemed to them catching the keepers was not unusual.
They looked happy, but not like crazily joyful I was.
I was fishing at the corner of Sandy Hook Point and casting to the north while they were fishing 50-yard away from the corner and casting to the east.
I liked to fish near their spot, but I couldn't because the wind came from the south and on my right.
As I am a right-sided caster, it would be difficult for me to cast far distance.

I need to practice the left side casting.
For a right-sided caster, it supposes to be easier to learn left side casting with the two-handed rod than to learn left hand casting by the right hander with the single-handed rod.
Regardless, the two-handed rod demands a lot of work, but I am sure using the two-handed rod in the surf makes the surf fly fishing more effective.

Hey man, I still have a long way to go!

Sandy Hook 2011

2011-05-10T19:30:00.002-04:00

My saltwater fishing season started in Little Neck Bay., NY. Sandy Hook, NJ was next.

I fished in Sandy Hook point two previous Saturdays.

I saw about 10 fly fishermen on the first Saturday. It was unusual to see that many.
They didn't catch any fish, nor did I, except
one fly fisherman.
He caught one small striper and one large keeper.
He said to me, "30-foot deep here! Sink it! Sink it! Sink it!"
The way he fished was like nymph fishing.

After casting, he walked along the beach following his line drifted by the tidal current with his rod tip high up to sink the fly deep down.

To prepare the following Saturday's fishing, I made flies using lead wire to make them sink quickly.
I know Clouser minnow is a good deep sinker,
but it is not durable. I don't prefer it anymore.

Last Saturday, high tide came at 11:30 am.

I caught several fishes from early afternoon to evening.

I think the heavy weighted flies helped a lot.
I tried that guy's method, but I had no success with his way.

In this afternoon, sea birds were very busy too.

Shooting Spey Casting

2011-04-26T00:24:00.003-04:00

The over head casting of fly fishing needs back space,
especially with two-handed rod casting.
But it is not always possible.
In Little Neck Bay where I fished this early spring, the back space is limited.

To tackle this problem, I have been practicing the shooting spey casting which is the variation of the perry poke casting. The shooting spey casting requires special rods and lines and I have them.
The line can be shot quite far away easily.

My shooting spey casting has improved a bit.

Little Neck Bay 2011 ( Ⅱ )

2011-04-13T22:38:00.000-04:00

It was an usual weekday evening at Crocheron Park in Little Neck Bay.

But for fishing, it seemed the best day.
It was cloudy and the high tide came at sundown.

I got a keeper for the first time.

Little Neck Bay 2011

2011-03-27T00:07:00.003-04:00

The swan couple is here this season as usual.

First Fishing, First Catch!
The stripers have already started migrating to the Long Island Sound.
Little Neck Bay is the first place to go for them.

My newly designed flies work well.

Shad Fly

2010-12-01T23:09:00.001-05:00

I caught many shads with the sand eel flies two weeks ago.
Later when I came to think of what happened on that day, striped basses might be chasing small shads, not sand eels.

I assume that sand eels were eaten by shads and shads were eaten by striped basses.

Based on this assumption, I tied some 7-inch yak hair shad flies which are almost the largest size my tackle can handle.

When I fished in Sandy Hook last weekend, I was ready to use these flies. I saw many fishermen caught small shads with the small lures and then they used the shads as live baits.
A fisherman near me landed two large striped basses in a row with the live shads which were the same sizes as my new shad flies, so I felt confident casting with them whole day. But I got no luck.

I found the yak hair always tangling on the hook bend. I have to make changes to these shad flies.
I think the roll cast flips the fly in the water and causes the yak hair tangling on the hook bend.

To prevent this tangling, I tie the yak hair closer to the bend. This leaves some spaces in the front of the hook shank, so I wind lead wire there for fast sinking.

The striper season will soon be over anytime when the weather turns really cold and the striper goes more down south.
I hope I have a chance to use this improved fly in the coming weekend.

Sandy Hook （Ⅱ）

2010-11-22T19:12:00.003-05:00

I started fishing in Sandy Hook last Saturday morning around 7 o'clock when the sun was rising and an hour after high tide.

I caught a hickory shad right away in my first casting, and continued catching the shads whole morning.
I felt the bite of the shad almost every time when I was stripping the line. Sometimes it was hooked and sometimes not.

Although a large number of the hickory shads was around the Hook point this morning, I didn't want to miss the chance of catching stripers.
I changed the small sand eel fly to the bunker fly because its large hook would be too big for the shad mouth, but it was not large enough. I still caught the shads.

Most of the fishermen around me also caught shads except one lucky guy who also caught two stripers.

Well, catching any kind of fish is better than none.

Surf Candy Fly

2010-11-17T23:22:00.000-05:00

I talked about my sand eel fly in the surf candy fly pattern last time.

I would like to talk in detail how to make this fly with the 5-minute epoxy and E-Z body material.

1) Place a piece of E-Z body over the tail material.

2) Apply the epoxy on the E-Z body.
Then set the fly on the rotary dryer to dry.

3) Place the eyes and apply the epoxy a second time. Set the fly on the rotary dryer again to dry.

To make the surf candy fly this way, I can make its body smooth and in good shape. I don't even need the special flash light and material usually used for making the surf candy fly.

Sand Eel Fly

2010-11-08T19:02:00.010-05:00

I fished in Sandy Hook and Rockaway last weekend.

The water was rough. The wind direction also gave me a hard time.

I had no luck.

I made sand eel flies with the surf candy pattern for Sandy Hook fishing because stripers took sand eels a week ago.

I used the 5-minute epoxy for the surf candy body, but it was difficult to make a smooth and even thickness body with the epoxy, so I put E-Z body material as an applying base for the epoxy. In doing so it would be like I put epoxy on the E-Z body fly. This worked well to make a good body shape.

When the epoxy seeped through the E-Z body, it made a solid body.

The E-Z body's light reflection quality like the fish scale unchanged inside the epoxy body.

To my surprise, the epoxy with the E-Z body base created an even more attractive body color than a simple epoxy body.

Sandy Hook

2010-10-31T19:03:00.035-04:00

I fished in Sandy Hook, NJ yesterday. The last time I was there was two years ago and fished there at least three times, but I caught nothing.

Because Sandy Hook is far away from my home, I did not even try last year even though I believed I got the most powerful and the best fit fly tackles for surf fishing. They are the 13 weight, 16-foot two-handed spey rod and a set of shooting heads for it.

It was time to go again with lots of hope.

I parked at the lot closest to the point of the Hook at 10:30am.

I started practicing the shooting spey casting for an hour until the good fishing tide started. The high tide was around 2 o'clock.

I moved to the point of the Hook after lunch and began fishing.

Nothing happened until the high tide around 2 o'clock.
A fly fisherman came over to me and praised my casting distance. He told me that there would be some actions after the tidal current started backward.

I would say I was casting 3 and even 4 times farther than he.

It seemed he would be the least likely person to catch a fish with his casting distance when it was compared with mine or other lure fishermen's.

I continued casting, but nothing happened.

Other fishermen experienced the same.

The current speeded up backward after 3 o'clock. Many fishermen lined up in the point of the Hook trying to get their first catch.

All of a sudden, the fly fisherman who talked to me earlier, caught a striper.

Soon after he caught one more.

The other fly fishermen immediately moved to his sides and some of them caught stripers too.

Many lure fishermen also took positions close to him, but they caught nothing, neither did I.

So I went to the fly fisherman who caught the first fish and asked what he was using.

He was fishing with the sand eel fly and the sinking tip line.
I was using the sinking line too. I changed my fly to a surf candy fly which is similar to the sand eel fly to make things the same as his.

I continued casting until about 5:30pm when the day light almost ran out, I changed the line to a faster sinking one as my last hope.

After several castings, I felt a strong pull on my hand when I was stripping the line. Finally I caught a striper.
When darkness approached, I left the point of Sandy Hook about 6:30pm.

I saw no lure fishermen caught any striper or blue.

I guessed they could not match their lures with the small sand eel.

I was amazed that the lure fishermen around me couldn't catch any striper or blue while the fly fishermen could.

Usually the lure fishermen catch more fish than we, fly fishermen.

I learned a good lesson. The long distance casting has an advantage, but not always necessary. Matching the fly and the fly reaching to the right depth are very important too.

Rockaway Fishing Season Starts

2010-05-19T18:55:00.013-04:00

Since the early season stripers action in Little Neck Bay had died down, I started going to Rockaway.

I caught only one school bass at the bulkhead of Rockaway Point in the evening of May 15.

Just after that catch, a fly fisherman passed by and asked me any luck. Then he told me he caught 3 stripers and 2 blue fishes, and showed me his fly.
It was a thin fly with few material which was different from my bulky fly.
He seemed to believe this fly was the reason he got those fishes.

We cannot see exactly what happens under the water. But I think fish is not so picky most of the time. When I cannot catch any fish, I simply believe that there is no fish within my casting range at that time.
No fish, No catch !

Little Neck Bay 2010 (Ⅲ)

2010-04-25T11:20:00.034-04:00

This weekend in Little Neck Bay was great. I fished on Friday evening, Saturday morning and evening.

Friday evening was a fishing extravaganza. No fishermen were there when I started fishing at 6 o'clock. I caught a bass with either the first cast or second. More than 10 basses were caught one after the other, size range from 10 inches to 15 inches. The 10-inch one was the smallest bass I have ever caught.
I think these small basses like to group in a very tight circle and they swim and hunt together. So when I casted in an accurate direction and range, I could catch them one by one.

It might be the reason that last weekend the lure fishermen and I couldn't catch any fish but the fly fisherman in the boat and the bait fishermen could catch the fish.

I got a fat 16-inch bass on Saturday morning.

On Saturday evening the place where I always fish was crowded with at least 10 lure fishermen. There was no room for a spey rodder as he needs some space for safety. So I went farther to the back of the bay to fish. Anyway no one seemed to catch any fish.
That was a big contrast from the Friday evening. Even though the conditions: time, tide and weather, are similar to the day before, fish didn't come.

Little Neck Bay 2010 (Ⅱ)

2010-04-19T17:20:00.023-04:00

I fished in the Little Neck Bay last Saturday and Sunday. The high tide came at around 1:45 pm and 2:30 pm respectively, so I started fishing after lunch both days.

Saturday was cloudy. I caught a small bass around 4 o'clock.

Sunday was cloudy too, but once in a while the sun came out.

On this breezy day, the water was rough. The wave stirred up the mud in the bay bottom and the water became cloudy.

I saw only bait fishermen caught small basses. We, the fly and lure fishermen caught nothing.

I thought maybe the cloudy water limited a fish's sight, so it had to rely on smell.

However, a fly fisherman on a boat caught a few basses and was not far away from where I stood.

Then I cannot come up with an explanation why I and other lure fishermen could not catch any fish. The reason cannot be cloudy water or distance.

The only explanation I have maybe there are still some hidden factors that I have not yet known.

Little Neck Bay 2010

2010-04-13T21:31:00.016-04:00

The striper action has started in Little Neck Bay as early as the third week of March. I fished in the bay on March 26, my first outing, and saw a lure fisherman who was fishing next to me caught a keeper. Since then I have fished there five times already and caught a tiny one only. The new season begins with hope and frustration as usual.

My goals of this season are to achieve the overhead casting from my left side and the shooting spey casting more effectively.