Surf Fly Fish Tutorial - Stripers, Sand Beach, Mending

[@SouthForkSalt]

I'm using a 9 weight rod and line. I'm running a floating WF (weight forward) line, to a slow sinking tip, to a 4-5 foot mono leader (30 pounds).There is a Tactical Anglers Clip tied to the mono, and a green/white clouser connected to it.

[@jaybartow8769]

I was going to ask what line !!!! Awesome video there’s a lot to learn when watching this video. Thanks for putting this one out there !

[@ATREZ0123]

So a sinking tip but with a mono leader? Doesnt the mono sort of defeat the purpose of a sinking tip? Do you use flourocarbon ever?

[@SouthForkSalt]

@@ATREZ0123 yeah I most often use fluoro. I think the mono is just what I had on hand here. You make a very good point though! Thanks for chiming in.

[@ATREZ0123]

@@SouthForkSalt I ask because it was clearly working well for you that day and I dont have much experience with sinkng or intermediate tips. I started surf fishing a couple yeara ago after flyfishing in freshwater for trout for over 20 years. This video was 1 of the 1st that I watched back then and I was immediatly hooked. I quickly switched to a spinning rod and reel after struggling with fly gear in the salt. I have a new love now and havent fished my flyrod in the surf since. Ofcourse I still use my fly rod for trout. But I still have a great desire to catch striped bass on the fly. Bluefish Im sure are great fun on the fly also. After catching some on my 7'3"med fluke rod this past weekend I am sure its quite similar. Anyway, after seeing you on the Striper Migration Report today it reminded me of all tour great videos! They have reignited my fire to surfcast with my 8wt Flyrod, so I am making a promise to myself to get back at it and not only use my Spinning gear. Thanks again for all the great content!

[@SouthForkSalt]

@@ATREZ0123nothin to it but to do it… Best of luck! Thanks for the kind words. I’ll make some more videos in the near future that will hopefully help even more.

[@billmoran935]

I just found your channel and subscribed. I have tried striper on a fly and failed. No clue on how to. This video is exactly what I needed. Concise explanation of how, where and why. Thank you very much. I can’t wait to try again this year!

[@SouthForkSalt]

Awesome Bill, good luck! It ain’t easy, but I hope these notes help you succeed!

[@thebluewoollybugger]

Something I'd like to try one day. Appreciate you explaining what you're doing and thanks for posting!

[@tedrzepski3789]

Superb saltwater fly fishing video. Only suggestion is in conditions like those in the film I try to cast up current almost parallel to the shore while standing in the wash. You are correct about no need to cast far and short leaders work better than longer ones. What you taught me is to not constantly relieve. The tactical angler clip is interesting. I have to try it. Thanks

[@JasonFJ40]

This is a VERY helpful video! Thank you!

[@SurfSkagit]

I watching it all over again…this one is a gooood one !!

[@SouthForkSalt]

excellent, glad you enjoyed it Mag, thanks!

[@jimwilliams-wb9um]

New to surf fishing. This is an excellent introduction to striper tactics.

[@PeterRanieriII]

Great video man, you really have a knack for this style of fishing. The few times I've tried this, I got very frustrated with the wave breaks messing up the floating line as they crashed, you do a very good job of avoiding them. It's uncanny how similar snook feed in the lip just like stripers

[@SouthForkSalt]

Thanks Peter! A bit of your line getting caught in a breaking wave is the same as a section of your line catching a faster current in a river. Fast -moving water is pulling on your line, which is moving your fly. That's drag, and you can mend to to prevent it. You have to get your line over the whitewater of the breaking wave. The closer you are to the wave, the easier it is to do, so I do what I call "the break dance" when I need to mend over a crashing wave. I have a video on it. It's not a great video, but it is a great tactic. I reference it in this video. Don't give up! You'll feel like a G when you get some. One day I'll do some casting for snook, and i can't wait until I do. That's awesome they work the beach lip, I've only seen videos of guys getting em under docks and stuff. Not so much sand beaches. I'm even more intrigued now. Tight lines dude!

[@alexredhat3476]

Awesome video. Incredible scenery. Hope I can catch that fish one day too.

[@SurfSkagit]

Can’t stop watching lol Structure is same as my local spots, love swimming the fly but is also a hoping hunt,…, tight line is a more active hunting, we always in contact with anything that happens to the fly when connected to the rod tip. I like about 1 or 2 times rod length max of line out from rod tip when fish is on this feeding pattern. You are in 30’ and having great results, but if you go back, over the takes, most happen at the “hang” or when you are about to lift to water haul and recast, tight to the drop off, same as you did here, I also cast over them 20’ to far many times …🙃 The incoming wave pattern and how far the back wash is going up in the beach slope, look at that water and how the surf incoming wave meets at the drop, to me it shows how this guys wait and timing the set for that moment to have the upper hand for only few seconds to go for the kill, just fascinating, the best part, a 40”fish is feeding exactly the same as a schoolie. I’m just so happy you put this clip 🙏 Keep up the good work SFS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@SouthForkSalt]

The reason I do so much mending is because I have so much line out. I would prefer a max of 20 feet between my rod tip and fly (I don't trust the stretchiness of fly line). Most of my casts are 25 feet or less. Sometimes I can't help but take longer casts, to try searching, to enjoy fly casting, and to potentially get an unexpected bite. I also enjoy the challenge of fighting/playing the current with technique (mending). Optimal "tight line dredging" would require a longer rod and skinnier line, like the euronymphers use. You'd be a fish catching machine with those tools. You are correct, almost all these fish grab on the "hang," right up front. I find that when a small wave breaks on the bit of line that's literally "hanging," that imparts a little action on the fly, and right after that is when I get most of my hits from bass. I put this video up for people to observe my fishing the same way I'm able to. You've utilized it to the fullest, I think. Your observations are spot-on. You have a keen eye, and I've appreciated hearing your POV. Thank you for watching and commenting. Hopefully one of these days, it's a 50 inch fish waiting for my lazy fly. Thanks again Mag.

[@dwgoutdoors831]

I’m not a saltwater fly guy but this video was awesome. Very informative. Great video format and monologue.

[@SouthForkSalt]

Thanks for the feedback! I’m glad you enjoyed it.

[@NonsenseTube1]

Nice video. Good info on your technique. I can use some of these methods when flyfishing from the beach for snook where I live in Puerto Rico. Question: Are you able to see the fish and/or takes, or are you fishing totally blind?

[@macbarb12]

Man I was fishing one beach to the west of you that day. It was so epic!

[@jameskennedy400]

Very educational..another great one!

[@lj3630]

Hello great video I learned lots the angler clip can the fish see that?

[@thomasduffy2519]

So are you picturing a river/current passing buy behind the wave crests? Great video btw

[@SouthForkSalt]

there are pretty much always forward/backward currents caused by wave action, and sideways currents caused by wind/sweep and swell. They're why I mend so much. Every mend is intended to cancel out a current so that my fly stays still on the bottom.

[@mikel2438]

Can I ask so your on the east coast ? I’m from Australia and get to LA a bit for work. Is it similar conditions and flies ? Great video and explanations. One other thing is your not in the water much is that due to the fish close in ? I typed this too early and saw the fish was practically at your feet. Crikey. Awesome. As I normally when in the surf in Australia I’m in a bit to get out in the gutters which normally hold the fish. But that is here in Oz.

[@SouthForkSalt]

Super calm conditions mean I usually don’t need to get wet. Moon tides & big swells mean I’m def getting wet in the pursuit of keeping my fly still up front (on the beach lip). I dance with the breaking waves in order to do so, so I’m usually getting soaked in order to catch stripers. I’m on the east coast, in New York. West Coast (at least in the south) typically has bigger swells. If I fished there, I imagine I’d regularly get wet while trying to accomplish this approach. I would definitely use the same crab fly (Holy Moley, which is a mole crab imitation). Clouser minnow is pretty much a universal fly, so I’d definitely give that a go too. I reckon the beach lip baits are similar in most places in the USA: Crustaceans and small baitfish. Hope you catch em up in LA! Glad you enjoyed the video.

[@self-taught_angler]

In comparison with west coast, this surf looks like a lake. In west coast we use two handed rods and cast way longer. You cannot just let the fly hang out; the surface is too turbulent.

[@thomascorbey7612]

Beautiful never seen a fly rod in action before

[@glennplatvoet7111]

You're showing me how to make it work thanks 👍 i got to get down and working it that's the ticket hopefully it works out good luck to you leave me some

[@charlesleblanc6638]

That's interesting how close to the break they hit a fly. Would you fish the same basic way if it was calm and very light waves? Do you get more action at dusk / dark ?

[@SouthForkSalt]

yes, I'd likely fish the same way. I might use a crab fly instead. Time and place of action is dependent on a lot of factors. I like morning/midday mid-summer. Late summer/early fall I like sunrise and sunset. both day and night in the fall. I just fish whenever I can.

[@charlesleblanc6638]

@@SouthForkSalt Great stuff .. Thanks for the reply ..

[@Call_Frank_not_the_bank]

Excellent video and play by play…

[@SouthForkSalt]

thanks!

[@JettyDeath]

I was at smiths point yesterday. Tried salt water fly fishing for the first time. Bay Area was crowded so I went to the south shore. Also had a hard time finding current and structure. Lots of people catching blues though. What I saw though was really high water (high tide and storm aftermath). Almost like two separate beach lips and two separate drop offs. One preceding the other. People were taking fish in between the two. Is it safe to assume, no matter how windy, wavy, or the water level. That if you fish behind waves/lips like you are there will be fish? I’m fishing an 8wt (for now) with intermediate line, extra fast sink tip, 4-6ft 20lb mono to a clouser or deceiver.

[@SouthForkSalt]

Nope. Fish aren’t always in the surf, least in the springtime. Perhaps if the fishery was more robust, they would be. But summer and fall typically have a more consistent beach bite, in my experience. Beach lip is just a piece of structure that stripers relate to. They like lines/dropoffs and currents. If there’s a better line/current near a sandbar/rip, the fish might stage there instead. Gotta find them. I’ll post another video very soon. The bite had little to do with structure- more important was the timing of my cast and retrieve style (mending + swinging). Same as here, there’s a strike zone and fish feeding in it. I just have to put my fly in the right place at the right time, and make sure it behaves appropriately. Also worth mentioning is the fact that bluefish and stripers are totally different animals. I’ve never caught a bluefish doing the short cast method in this video… yet. Your rig is good for deep water and intense current, perfect for the surf yesterday. In calmer surf or the bay, use the extra fast sink tip… but also try fishing without it, to diversify your presentation. Last night I was picking fish mid column on a dead drift. An extra fast sink tip would not have allowed me to catch last night, as I’d be on the bottom the whole time.

[@JettyDeath]

@@SouthForkSalt So much information, thanks a lot. You’re more helpful than most forums and stuff. I just spent 6 years of fly fishing up in Cuse and I just moved here for the summer so any way to shorten the learning curve is nice. As much as I like figuring it out, time is precious haha.

[@58landman]

I have fished this way on the Gulf beaches around Destin and Pensacola and if I'm able to get out before the waves begin to build and the clueless tourists being walking down the beaches, completely ignoring everything around them, I have had some great success with 9 and 10 wt rods and chartruese clousers on Pompano and Red Fish, Skipjacks and an occasional big something that breaks my line before I can get an eye on it. I have also used Spey and Switch rods when surf conditions don't prevent you from creating a good D loop but most of the time it's a tough proposition, at least it was for me. The waves alongs these beaches are very often large, strong and fast so it is difficult, more often than not, to be able to manage lines while fly fishing in that surf. I believe that the use of a Pyramid Lake style fishing ladder of 6-8' in height would be a the best way to fish the surf along the Gulf's beaches but I am an old man now with some health issues that positively prevent me from fishing the salt any longer.

[@johndonovan7334]

Great video and thanks for the tips. Can tell me the make of the rod and reel and also the line, Keep up the good work.

[@SouthForkSalt]

Thanks! I'm not sure about the reel, but the rod is a Rise Shearwater 9wt.

[@timhill3534]

R U N SOUTH FORK VA ?? WISH I WAS THERE 🐟🐟... EPIC VIDEO 👌👍

[@SouthForkSalt]

naah, South Fork of Long Island, New York. Thanks Tim! Great name, btw.

[@timhill3534]

@@SouthForkSalt COOL !!! I'M BOOK A LOAD UP THERE AN FIND A PLACE WHERE I CAN PARK MY SEMI AN JOIN U !!

[@jlvaughan69]

Are you using a stripping basket? Thanks!

[@SouthForkSalt]

Almost always 👍🏻

[@smokster0604]

That was a great sunset...But the clouser was just to much for the bass to resist ....Fish on

[@jasonlackey1960]

What brand rod is that?

[@SouthForkSalt]

Rise Fishing Co. The rod model is the “Shearwater”, 9 foot 9 weight.

[@Bobbybaitz]

Im surprised with your strike zone. I think the whole trough is the strike zone. So many bites right on that lip.

[@iklink]

Are you using weight forward floating?

[@SouthForkSalt]

Yes

[@maxdevenney3140]

Do you taper the leader or is it straight 30 lb mono?

[@SouthForkSalt]

Straight thirty pound, no taper.

[@jonterhaar2573]

Try fishing not so deep.

[@SouthForkSalt]

That would result in a lot of bycatch. My target is on the bottom, looking down.

[@joeswff]

Informative but, Please learn how to release fish

[@SouthForkSalt]

What a silly comment. They’re not 25 pounders riddled with lactic acid from a long fight. They’re not hot water trout. These are surf riding, saltwater, fall run rockfish. They’re used to breaching three feet from the water, which is well over the max height from which I toss them back into the drink. I fight them as fast as possible (by handlining), unhook and get them back in the water as fast as possible to keep them wet. Feel free to watch my diverse videos and see the variety of releases, all completely tailored to specific situations. It would be a good way to learn how to release fish. Enjoy.

[@joeswff]

@@SouthForkSalt understood but, caring about the fish we target is not silly. I guess you release like you do and I’ll do it my way. Granted in my many years of targeting strippers I have never seen a schoolie or slot breach 3 ft, but I guess you have. I do applaud you for landing and releasing quickly.