Realistic Silver Side Minnow

My saltwater fishing season is about to end.

I want to go to Sandy Hook as my last fishing trip,

but I have got a backache since the Fire Island Inlet fishing.

So maybe that is it.

What we, fly fishermen, can do in off season is to tie flies for the next season.

I'd like to talk about some of my previous season's flies which caught fishes or for whatever reason I like them.

The first one is "Realistic Silver Side Minnow".

Silver side is the most common bait fish in the northeastern coast.

I made many variations of "E.Z body" head ones,

then I thought why not using "E.Z body" for the entire body to make a realistic imitation.

(By the way, the same kind exists in the market. People thought about the same thing hundreds years ago.)









I know a realistic fly for the human eyes may not be for the fish eyes.
But at least I caught a fluke with this fly.













These are the materials.


















Make the fish body frame with a plastic sheet. I cut it from a clear plastic salad container.














Color the frame with marker and paste a piece of aluminum foil on both sides of the belly.














Tie the "E.Z body" on a hook and slide the frame into it.

Tie the marabou tail and paste the flashabou on both sides of the body.

Place the eyes and apply epoxy to the head.

Trim the marabou tail to complete the fly.

This is a natural one.

Fire Island Inlet

Last Sunday was the first time my wife and I fished in the Fire Island Inlet at Robert Moses State Park.

In the early morning, we went to Rockaway bay side fishing first, and then we drove to Fire Island. We drove through two islands (Long Beach and Jones Beach) and crossed three bridges to get there.

We enjoyed driving through those narrow barrier islands which form the Atlantic side of Long Island.

Robert Moses State Park looks primitive.

We fished in a nicely caved cove in the early afternoon, then we walked down farther to fish at the end corner of the rock built bulkhead which protects the western tip of Fire Island.

Though there was a strong rip, several people were fishing there. It must be a good spot.

We fished till sun down.

Whole day we didn't catch any fish.

I guess last Sunday was not our day.

Night Fishing in Jamaica Bay

I fished in the bay side of Rockaway last Sunday night.

Before going to the bay side, I checked out the ocean side. The wave on the ocean side was a little too high for night fishing.

I got to the bay side parking lot around 9 o'clock. It was empty.

The east wind blew steadily. When I faced the bay, the wind came from my right hand side.

I waded about 20- foot from the shoreline and casted in the direction between parallel to the shoreline and less than 45 degrees of the shoreline. It was easier to cast this way because I got the tail wind position and the fish was coming close to the shore at night.

I used a 25-foot short shooting head line which was easy to handle in the dark. I pulled out 15- yard of the running line which was also easy to handle and a good enough length to reach the fish at night.

I casted and felt quite a bit of shock. The rod tip nodded and this indicated the line stretching out very well by the tail wind. Because I could not see the line in the dark, these feeling and guessing were the alternatives of the sight.

The crescent moon was shining west of the sky. While fishing, I was always facing the moon.

When the moon was almost down to the horizon, I left the water.

I caught a school size bass with a saddle feather eel fly.

(Night eel flies)

Rockaway - Morning and Evening

In the last few days the gusty wind had blown very strongly. The coastal water in the ocean was very rough.

Finally the weather became nice last Sunday, so I went to Rockaway early morning. I walked along the bay side beach to Rockaway point, stopped and fished at good spots along the way.

I caught a few school size stripers.

Fishing on the jetty was impossible today because the huge wave kept washing up the jetty.

Because of the high tide both in the morning and evening, I planned to fish also in the afternoon till sunset again after lunch.

I went back to the parking lot after morning fishing, and wanted to drive somewhere for lunch.

The parking lot was overflown with cars. Cars were even waiting in line for parking spaces.

The reason for such a crowd was that those people who usually drive to the ocean side beach with their beach driving permits, could not drive to the beach because the big wave was surging in. They came to fish on the bay side instead.

(Night flies)
I figured that once I gave up my parking spot, it would be difficult to find another one after lunch, so I came to fish after dusk.

Like in the morning, I walked along the bay side beach, almost to the jetty, stopped and fished along the way. It was a quiet evening.

Fishing in the dark stirred me up to an isolated feeling.

My Tackle Assemble

Last weekend I fished in Rockaway. On the early Saturday morning, I caught a small striped bass on the bay side.

So on the early Sunday morning, I went to Rockaway Point hoping for a bigger fish. I got there around 6 o'clock. Several spinning fishermen, lining up side by side on the beach, had already started casting their lures. I joined the line and started casting the fly with my two-handed fly rod.

Because of the tail wind, I could cast the fly quite far away. The casting distance did not look so bad as compared with spinning fishermen. After fishing there for an hour or so, no one caught any fish. So I moved on to the jetty and fished in the deeper water, but I did not catch any fish either. I had to hold out hope for next time as usual.

Because now is the climax of the striper season, I would like to talk about my tackle assemble which I have built up with trials and errors since I started using the two-handed fly rods.

RODS AND SHOOTING HEADS

I used Cabela 10 weight 15-foot rod with Rio scagit shooting head last season. Before this season started, in the early spring, I built a Sage TCR 10 weight 15-foot rod. I thought this one would be better than the Cabela one for long distance casting, but the Cabela one turns out to be better because its rod tip section is stiffer.

I still wanted a more powerful rod than the Cabela one. So I bought a 12 weight 16-foot rod and three shooting heads especially for this rod ( type Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ, all 740 grain and 39 foot) from Japan. It has become my main rod.

STRIPPING BASKET AND RUNNING LINE

The tangling of the running line used to be a big problem. I modified a dishpan to become a stripping basket with heavy duty cable ties as spikes inside. It works very well, more than I expect. The running line tangling problem has almost gone with this new basket. With the new basket, I am able to use Rio Slick Shooter running line now. This line has a narrow diameter which can cause line tangling easily, but narrow diameter and slickness are essintial for long distance casting. The original length of this line is 115-foot long. I extended this line to 170-foot by connecting it with the other half of a Slick Shooter line with blood knot.

TIPPET AND LEADER

I use the poly reader for better turn and 20lbs fluorocarbon tippet for strength. For blue fish, I use the Rio wire tippet because it is softer and less kink than other blands.

REEL AND BACKING LINE
My reel for two-handed rods is Pflueger Trion for #12 line. This one has good line capacity and light weight in this class. I set 300 yards of 30 lbs test gel spun backing on the reel.

These are my tackle assemble for surf fly fishing right now. I think I have a better one this season than last season.

Still the biggest problem is: Not many fish have been caught yet!

New Line and Stripping Basket

I had received a new shooting head line for my 12-13 weight two-handed rod.

It is a type 2 line and designed specifically for this rod. So both the rod and line match well.

I can throw a fly over 50 yards.
The description of this line in the catalog says it can be thrown over 70 yards.

Provably it means for expert fly casters.

I wish I could throw a fly that far when my casting gets better.

I used my new stripping basket, which I modified from a dishpan, this weekend first time.

Surprisingly it works very well.

A well designed stripping basket can make such a big difference.

I've used a LL Bean one since the beginning and line tangling occurs often.

Now with this new stripping basket I can say that the problem of tangling shooting line has nearly gone. Bingo!!

Fly Casting into Head Wind

In the last article I admitted I was disappointed at my casting distance.

I had been thinking to buy a larger rod and finally did.

I ordered a 12-13 weight 16 feet rod from Japan and received it.

But I am still waiting for the shooting line for this new rod.

I have tried the new rod with my 10 weight shooting lines and I can feel the power of the rod.

As we all know it is very difficult to fly cast against the wind no matter what kind of rod or line is used.

When this happens, I usually go to another place to avoid such situation.

Last Sunday I had no choice but to fly cast against the wind.

Let me tell you how I did it and made it little better.

I rolled cast the line forward, false casted backward , then false casted forward to stretch out the line on the water, false casted backward again, finally shot the line.

In this way I could load the rod a lot to increase the line speed.

But don't expect far distance. It just makes casting possible into the head wind.

Also the fast sinking line is the only choice for casting into the strong head wind.

I usually use the type Ⅴ, 700 grain, SA shooting head.

The small diameter and heavy weight line can help cutting through the head wind.

Montauk - Testing a new running line

I bought a new running line from Japan.

This is an intermediate line.

Previously I have bought a Timco running line which is good the first few times; but once it tangles, it kinks and the kinks become permanent.

As a result, the line tangles more frequently.

This new running line pulls out from the reel and has no coil memory at all, is like a magic.

I went to Montauk last Saturday and tried the new running line.

The result was good. It tangled less and had no kinks. I could cast the fly 40 yards away.

It seems 40 yards are the limit for me and my tackle.

I fished near the light house in the morning and early afternoon. Then in the evening I went to Clark's Cove, one mile northwest of the light house.

A lure fisherman was also fishing there. He caught blue fish one after the other.

After he had left, I took over his place and caught a 20 inches fluke. ( It's the second fluke of the day, half inch less than a keeper. Well, I just missed a good sashimi dinner.)

The reason that I could not catch any blue is obvious.

The lure fisherman could cast his lure 100 yards or more and that was the place the fish struck.

I could cast 40 yards the most. This distance is not short for a fly rodder; but in many situations, it is not far enough for surf fising.

I feel discouraged a little bit.

Are there any ways to reach more distance, except buying a new boat?

Look closely for a fluke.

Sea Robin Rising

I fished in the bay side of Rockaway last Wednesday evening.

The water was very calm because the wind was blowing from land to sea.

I tested the new shooting line that I bought in Japan.

The line is thin and slick that I could easily cast the fly beyond 40 yards with fair wind.

I enjoyed the long distance casting.








I caught a small sea robin.









The interesting part of this evenig was that many sea birds (terns) were flying on the beach.

Some formed a group, then one bird after another dived into the water.

I also saw many fish rising and poking on the surface of the water by the shore.

Later I found out they were sea robins.

They were like trouts rising in the river.

Almost at the end of the video, a sea robin can be seen rising close to the center of the screen.

Rockaway Point

Last Saturday I went to Rockaway Point first time this season.

Rockaway is a narrow peninsular in Queens. One side faces Jamaica Bay and the other side faces the Atlantic Ocean. I can go from one side to the other easily. It all depends on the fishing conditions, especially the wind direction.

Rockaway Point is one of the best fishing spots around the city.







Last Saturday was a nice sunny day with light wind. But the ocean wave was stronger than expected. The big wave kept beating up the tip of the jetty where I wanted to fish.

For safety I had to leave that spot and fished on the jetty closer to the beach.



























I caught a small fluke and a sea robin with a Clouser minnow.

It shows small weighted flies are effective to catch these bottom feeding fish.

Even no striper or blue was caught, these two fishes gave me some fun.

I was looking for a suitable fly box for my new squid flies. My wife suggested an empty plastic jar. I doubted it at first, but it turned out to be a very good container for keeping bulky and fluffy shaped flies.

Rockaway Beach

I went to Rockaway Beach after work today and caught a 29-inch blue fish and a small fluke using EP body peanut bunker and EZ body silver side respectively.

I caught the blue around 6 pm, 2 hours after high tide.

The blue fish is actually my first caught with fly tackle this season.

I have surf fly fished many times this season already and finally got some.

I wish this is a good sign for the rest of the season.

Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

I stayed in Marth's Vineyard for 5 days last week as part of my 9 days vacation to New England with my wife.

Marth's Vineyard is an island off the coast of south Massachusetts and is famous of bluefish and striped bass fishing.

The first day morning We explored the island by car and stopped at each good fishing spot mentioned by books and webs to take a look .

The island's parking regulation is very strict.
Some parking lots of good fishing spots require resident or town parking permits. It is tough for visitors to find parking.

In the afternoon We visited Wasque Point which is supposed to be the most productive fishing spot in the island.

It is in the southeast corner of the island with very strong tidal rip which attracts fish.











Schools of bluefish happened to be coming to the shore when I was there. ( It happens at least once a day.) Everybody caught fish except me.

I could guess many reasons that I failed to catch any fish; but I could not pin point the exact one.

I was the only fly fisherman there for the next 3 days.






I couldn't even catch one fish the whole time there with the fly tackle.

Finally I used my wife's lure tackle on the fourth day's evening and caught a 30-inch blue.

We made good use of our motel kitchenette. Guess what I found in the fish stomach: squid + ink.












Dinner: Bulefish 3 ways

Sashimi, saute and soup.

Even though we had a very delicious and fresh bluefish dinner, I am disappointed at not being able to catch any fish with the fly tackle.