Salt Water Fly Fishing
Saltwater fly fishing usually uses heavy tackle (due to larger fish) and also uses wet flies, which resemble baitfish, although you can also use poppers much like the ones used for fresh water bass fishing. Most people, when saltwater fly fishing are looking to catch bonefish, tuna, mahi-mahi, sailfish, tarpon, striped bass, salmon and marlin. When you’re saltwater fly fishing you use a technique called chumming to attract fish to your fly, this usually is done using small baitfish.
For saltwater fly fishing you will need some alternative equipment to your usual freshwater fly fishing kit, the reason for this is that a lot of freshwater fly fishing techniques such as ‘palming’ will not work with the larger, far more powerful saltwater species of fish. Therefore you have to purchase a saltwater fly fishing reel, which is far more heavy duty with a stronger drag system. They are much larger, heavier, and corrosion-resistant (due to the saltwater), and cost upwards of $500. When purchasing a saltwater fly fishing reel ensure it is corrosion proof, remember that ‘you get what you pay for!’
Saltwater fishing can either be done by fishing from the shore, or you can fish from a boat, usually larger fish can be caught when fishing from a boat in comparison to fishing from the shore. It is common practice for fresh water fly fishermen to have to learn a new technique in order to catch salt-water fish with a fly rod. Salt water fish are far harder for a fly fisherman to catch than your usual trout, they’re much larger and therefore a lot stronger. A trout fisherman would need to use at least an 8 weight fly rod, and hone there technique to be able to cast the line at least 30-90 feet if they want to be able to access the areas that the fish frequent.
Hooks, like the reel, must be very sturdy and also corrosion resistant to be able to deal with the conditions that saltwater fly fishing present. Most saltwater hooks are made of stainless steel, but the strongest hooks are made of high-carbon steel, but they’re less corrosion resistant. Hooks vary in size from size 8-10 for smaller fish, to size 2-4 for larger fish caught from fly fishing on a boat.
