Saltwater Flyfishing part 4

Now that you know the area you want to fish, you must first find some fish.If the sport boats are catching quite a few bonito, follow one to the area they are fishing and anchor 75 to 100 yds. away from them.

Any closer and you will infringe on his space, not cool!! The ocean is huge and the schools of fish move around in the general area, start a steady stream of chum, ( throw one chunk every 10 to 15 seconds, and once a minute a live bait ) the chunks will bring the fish to the boat, where hopefully they see the live bait and chase it.

Using chunks mixed with a few live baits will make your live bait last longer. The bait, when alone, usually runs for the surface where the bonito run it down and blast it on the surface ( roof ). When you see splashes cast your fly to the area of the splash and strip it in fast. When fishing flys, I usually have one person in the right corner casting till they hookup, then the next person casts while the first person fights their fish.

When you see the first splashes someone needs to keep a steady stream of live chum going in the water, ( about 5 or 6 baits a minute, thrown one at a time. This will usually keep the school near until you have caught several. ) When they quit hitting go back to the mostly chunk chum.

I usually get about 3/4 of my scoop of live bait put in the bait tank, and put the rest in a bucket, where it can be cut into inch size chunks on the way to the fishing grounds. If there are no partyboats to follow in your area, the next best way is to look for "birdpiles", large numbers of seagulls and pelicans flying in circles and diving into the water, picking the baitfish from the surface the bones have chased there.

The best way to approach a birdpile is to cut your motor upwind and quietly drift downwind until you are close enough to make a cast. If you are lucky the school of bait will use your boat to hide from the predators. Now you have a whole school of bait for chum, the bones will circle around under the boat picking off stragglers and you don't have to chum. If you have a long handled bait net you can scoop up some more bait if you are running low.

Don't overload the baittank or most of the bait will die. I like to scoop up a small amount of baits and throw them to the outside of the school under the boat, the bones will immediately start crashing them, a fly thrown into the melee will be an instant hookup. When a bone hits your fly, no need for a monster hookset, just raise the rod tip and the "BONE IS ON!!!"

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Saltwater Flyfishing part 3

Bonito, just the name gets saltwater fly fisher men's hearts a'throbbing! They are the perfect fly rod fish. There are lots of them, they hit flys really well, and they are pound for pound one of the hardest fighters in the fish kingdom.

Sure, the tuna's, albacore, yellowfin, bluefin and skipjack get larger, but you have to have a larger boat equipped for offshore fishing, sometimes 100 miles out to sea. Most boats get 1 MPG ( miles per gallon ) that translates into about 250 gallons for a days fishing, ( at today's gas prices over $800 for fuel ) and there is no guarantee you will be successful at finding a school of tuna in the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean.

I have spent many days unsuccessfully looking for tuna, but that was back in the days of under a dollar gallon for gas. Now days I stay near shore looking for bonito, they are not as big as the other tuna's, but you save over $700 looking for them.

I'm usually on the water 4 to 6 days a week in the summer so I usually have a pretty good idea where the bonito are. If you want to catch bonito and you have your own boat, one necessary piece of equipment is a good working live bait system, one that holds at least one full scoop of live bait.

Here in So. California we are very fortunate to have many live bait businesses that usually have live bait for around $20 to $25 dollars a scoop for anchovies or sardines. Get anchovies if you can, they make the best chum bait for fly fishermen. Sardines are a fast swimming fish and they run away from the boat quickly. Anchovies stay near the boat longer and bring the bonita close to the boat and in the range of your flys.

If you don't know where to find the schools of bonito, call some of the local party boat's fish reports and see which one is catching bonito. Then start your search in that area, bonito can usually be found from 1/4 mile offshore, out to several miles offshore.

Tomorrow locating and catching bonito on the fly.

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Saltwater Flyfishing

Soon after moving to California from Georgia I got a job at the Golden Valley Gun Club, working on the trap and skeet ranges. This gave me the money I needed to upgrade my tackle to saltwater class, a fly reel with 200 yds. of backing and a larger spinning reel that held 250 yds of 12# test.

Every chance I had I was at the Santa Monica Pier in a rented rowboat, learning about saltwater fly fishing. I soon learned bonita didn't care about color as they were color blind, they just wanted the fly to go fast. They were very easy to catch when they were up and feeding on baitballs, but finding a baitball within reach of my rowboat was pretty tough.

I saw lots of them offshore, but they only stayed up for 5 minutes at best and before I could even get close they were gone. I solved the problem somewhat by chunking up frozen anchovies ( anchovies broken up into inch long pieces, then throwing a chunk in the water about every 10 seconds ).

This made a trail of chunks clear to the bottom, and when a school swam by they would follow the chunks to the boat. When I saw them flash in the chunks I would throw a hand full out and they would go nuts on the chum, a fly cast in the chum and just allowed to sink slowly like the chunks would usually bring an instant hit. These inshore "bones" ( bonita ) were usually under three pounds, but if there was baitballs around some of the jumbos would show up.

And when one of them hit I knew I was in for an incredible fight. They could easily run 50 to 60 yds. of line off my fly reel and take 15 minutes to land. My fly fishing charters continue to be some of my most popular charters. I also learned to catch calico bass, sand bass, halibut, yellowtail and the occasional white sea bass on the fly. Tuna are color blind and they don't care about color, but the other fish can see colors and color in the patterns for them sometimes is very important.

Usually you can't go wrong with white streamers with a red patch at the throat, but I found when I rode on the party boats that herring and tomcod ( brown bait ) usually caught the larger fish. So I started tying larger patterns with brown in them and started catching much larger calicos and sand bass. ( big bait, big fish )

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Saltwater Flyfishing

Although I grew up fly fishing in fresh water, as the nearest salt water was hundreds of miles away, ( kinda far to ride a bike ) When I moved to California I bought my first car for $25, a 1952 Plymouth. Gas was 18 cents a gallon, $2.00 would last for 200 miles. I could rent a rowboat at the Santa Monica Pier for $2.00 for 6 hours.

Back then Bonita were around most of the year. I saw people catching them from the pier with a splasher rig ( a clear float filled half with water to give casting distance, with a Bonita feather tied about 15 inches below the float). They caught lots of Bonita, so I figured I should be able to catch then on a fly rod. The next time down I brought my fly rod and a couple of freshwater bass flys ( white streamers ).

I was so excited as I rented the rowboat and rowed out beyond the area the pier casters could reach with their rigs. After about 10 minutes of unproductive casting, I came to the conclusion that the bubble rig the pier casters used worked because the Bonita were attracted to the plastic bubble splashing along on the surface, then hit the fly trailing along behind. While I was trying to figure out how to get the fish's attention without putting a splasher on the flyrod, I heard some loud squawking behind me, turning around I saw a couple hundred seagulls and pelicans

diving into the water.

There was also lots of big splashes ( boils as salt- water fishermen call them ) I knew a school of fish had chased a baitball to the surface and were actively feeding on them. I rowed as fast as I could towards the commotion, and when I was in casting range I cast the fly to the edge of the boils and started stripping line fast to match the speed of the fleeing baitfish. I was totally unprepared for what happened next!!

On about the second pull there was a big splash where my fly used to be, and the rod was nearly yanked out of my hand. My rod tip was pulled into the water and the line started running off the reel at warp 7. Three seconds later it was over, my leader, fly line, and twenty feet of backing that had worked so well in freshwater was gone. I sat there in stunned silence for a few moments wondering what I could have possibly have hooked, then I saw about a eight or ten pound Bonita come clear out of the water chasing a bait fish. Could these things really pull that hard and fast? I soon learned how hard they can pull when I cast out a silver spoon I had on a spinning reel with eight pound test mono on it.

Again the rod tip was pulled down to the water and the line peeled of the freshwater size spinning reel and in less time than it takes to type this my reel was empty, my spoon was gone, and I sat there with a blank stare on my face not believing what had happened, both rods had been stripped of their line, my lures were gone and I still had five and a half hours left on my rowboat rental and no line on my reels. BUT, BOY, WAS I EVER HOOKED ON SALTWATER FLY FISHING!!!!!

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Special Places part 5

Growing up in Georgia, one of my favorite places to fish was beaver ponds. They were everywhere, I lived in Columbus, an area of rolling hills, perfect for pond building, either by beavers or people. There were many beaver ponds near my home, and as I got into my teens I was allowed to ride my bike where ever I wanted as long as my chores were done and my grades were kept up in school.

My favorite was about 10 miles from my home, 8 miles on a road and two miles down a rail road track. I had my bicycle fixed up with baskets front and rear to carry my fishing tackle, food, water and anything else I may have needed. It wasn't a really large pond, most beaver ponds were 3 to 10 acres with the average being 5 acres.

It was a hassle to get to it and I never saw another person fishing in it, it was loaded with bass, catfish, and bluegill. They probably had never seen a fisherman before, as it was too hard to get

to, but that was the beauty of the place. I always had it to myself, I called it Roy's pond. As usual with bluegill, they liked any color as long as it was black, with a red tail. I caught them on just about any color, but black was the best 99% of the time. If the pond had a Catawba tree hanging over it, a long skinny green worm type imitation was magic. Catawba trees had green caterpillars on them that frequently fell in the water and many fish would hang under the tree waiting for the caterpillars to fall into the water, when I would cast my green worm fly under the tree it was met with an instant hookup, and usually from large fish as they kept the smaller ones

away from the best feeding areas. You never knew what you would hook as bass, bluegill, shellcrackers, ( redear sunfish ) catfish and even grennel, a prehistoric fish that looked like a catfish with scales and no whiskers, lived in the pond.

The grennel could weigh up to 15 lbs. and gave an amazing fight on a flyrod. It was almost always non stop action in my pond as there was an amazing amount of fish there as very few got taken out. I always released all the fish I caught, except a few kept for a shore lunch, as it was a long way home and I could catch enough for dinner anytime from the pond behind our house. Now you may ask, why would I ride my bike 8 miles on the road and push it 2 miles down a rail road track, when I had great fishing near my house? ADVENTURE!!!! My whole life has been about adventure, and fishing within sight of my house did not qualify as adventure.

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Special Places part 4

That first bluegill I caught on the fly started me on a life long journey to learn all I could about flyfishing. I cut neighbors lawns to earn money and subscribed to Outdoor Life, and Field and Stream magazines and read and reread all the fishing articles, especially the ones on fly fishing.

I fished the streams and ponds near my house, and when my family went fishing I always took the long rod. When my Dad saw how interested I was in fly fishing he bought me a fly tying kit. I made up all kinds of flys and fished with them all. Some were better than others. and when I found a pattern that worked, I tried many variations of it until I had the one that worked best.

Bluegills and other perches and sunfish will eat anything that looks like a bug and others that look like nothing on earth. There were some patterns that they would eat when nothing else would work, mostly ones that looked like nothing they had ever seen. I think they were just curious and bit it to see what it was. A lot of the fly fishermen tie look nothing like anything in the river or lake, but the fish hit them anyway.

Salmon flies are like that, gaudy creations but the Salmon eat them up. When fish are small they eat mostly plankton and zoo plankton and they come in all shapes, colors and sizes, maybe fish think our offerings are just plankton. I don't think fish are smart enough to realize that they are growing larger, Its just eat and don't get eaten. That's about all a fish's life is about until its time to spawn, then their species programing takes over and they follow their instincts. They don't realize they are now too big to see the plankton anymore, and eat anything that looks like what they have eaten before.

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Special Places part 3

After getting the fly rod for my 13th birthday, my father took me out to our pond and showed me how to use it. After about 15 min of instruction my dad tied on a fly and told me to cast it out, of course it ended up in the bushes behind me. Either there was too many bushes behind me or I just could not cast the fly rod, I just felt clumsy with it.

My dad suggested we go to the other side of the pond where there were no bushes to get in the way of my backcast, now after about 1/2 hr of casting, I was doing it pretty good. Now once again I tried casting out into the lake, the fly went twenty feet out into the lake, I looked at my dad to see if he was frowning, as I looked at my dad and a slight tap was felt on the fly, the rod bent down and I was fast to a hand size bluegill. He pulled very hard or his size and after I swung him from the water and pounced on him with glee, I became a fly rod devotee.

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Special Places part 2

We arrived in Georgia when I was 12. I soon found a small creek about 2 blocks from my house that was loaded with sunfish.

Although the sunnies were plentiful and bit freely, they just didn't measure up to the bass fishing I had enjoyed in Oklahoma. I decided to try the plastic eel that had caught so many bass for me in OK. This was a very small creek , that was not more than twenty five feet across and not more than knee deep anywhere except in a few places.

I soon found that in the places where it was four to five feet deep bass could be caught, not in the

numbers or sizes of my special place in Ok. but enough action to keep me interested and most especially, keep me learning! I soon learned that if I skipped the eel back under overhanging brush or trees bass could be caught in water as shallow as one foot.

I spent many happy days the first couple of months in Georgia wading down the little creek throwing the eel around brush and trees. I learned to always fish the outside of the brush first as the bass if hooked on the outside were less likely to get tangled in the tree, and less likely to tear my precious eels up. A pack- age was only 89 cents, but this was when gas was 15 cents a gallon and bread was 12 cents a loaf. I made my fishing money by cutting neighbors lawns, sometimes I had to push my lawnmower 3 miles to make my two bucks for two hours work, but it paid for my fishing tackle.

After 3 months we moved to a less expensive house on the outskirts of town, WHAT A DIFFERENCE! We had a small two acre pond on our property that was full of bass, not like the pond in Ok., but great fishing just the same. This was the time I started fly fishing, for my 13th birthday my dad gave me a cheap fly rod and an asst. of flys for pan fish.

Tomorrow: The next step in a boys fishing education

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Up in Alaska part 3

My brain was in warp drive, and I'm sure the bear's was too. Telling the story takes much longer than actual real time happenings, I imagine maybe 1/2 second elapsed from the time the bear stood up and woofed at me until I had my 44 magnum out of the holster and put 6 special Alaska bear loads in the bear. Now remembering that prudence was the better part of valor, I quickly scurried up the closest tree to reload my pistol. Bears are really hard to kill, especially with a handgun, the short barrel does not build up a lot of muzzle velocity. The long barrel of a rifle puts a lot more punch in the bullet. The bears skull is shaped much like a football, and bullets tend to glance off the thick skull bones, the only real place you have of stopping these giants with a pistol is aim for the heart / lung area and hope one or more of the slugs hit the area between the ribs and penetrates inside where enough damage will be done to stop him in his tracks ( the bears rib bones are very thick and a bullet hitting them dead on may not penetrate far enough to do anything more than piss him off ). He may die in a few hours or days but in the meantime he will do serious damage, probably fatal, to you!

Any time you enter an area inhabited by large predators, you must know enough about their habits to have a good idea about how they respond to different sets of circumstances and what your response should be in order to have the best chance of survival. In this case I had unknowingly snuck up on the bear and startled him / her, if it was a male it would attack me because I was intruding on his turf which he would defend from all intruders. If a female and she had cubs nearby, she would attack to protect the cubs, in either case I was going to be attacked. I had to shoot the bear in self defense, if I saw the bear 40 yds away, a shot fired in the air will usually frighten them away, farther than that, you just quietly go in the opposite direction.
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Up in Alaska part 2

This part of Alaska was open to bear hunting, and the bears were wary of humans, and usually ran away fast when a human was detected, either smelled or heard. I usually did not fish alone in bear country, but I had heard from some friends that the King salmon had arrived in force, but all of my friends had to work and could not get off to go fishing.

Imagine, putting work before fishing, how ridiculous is that?! What could be more important than fishing?

So here I was in bear country, where I had broken the two most basic rules: Don't go into bear country alone! Always make plenty of noise to warn bears you are here! Now I was in a dangerous situation, make the wrong decision, and I would fish no more.
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Up in Alaska part 1

It was a beautiful day in Alaska, the sun was out, it had finally quit raining after 4 days of drizzle. I was hiking up Sheep Creek for a day of salmon fishing. I was about a mile from the road, and had already caught three nice silver salmon on my fly rod. I released them knowing the deep hole just about a quarter mile upstream usually had some nice King Salmon up to 30 lbs holding in its deep water.

Anticipating the larger fish just up ahead I was in a hurry and forgot one of the cardinal rules of hiking in bear country, make lots of noise as you hike because the bears are here for a salmon dinner too.

I was hurrying through an alder thicket, trees about six feet tall that grow thickly in creek bottoms, when it happened. A very large bear that I had wakened from his snooze in the alders stood up not 20 feet in front of me. Had I been making noise the bear would have heard me and slipped away into the woods before I got there. Now I was in a very dangerous situation, nowhere to run before the bear would be on me.
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