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PostPosted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 12:31 am • # 1 
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Joined: 02/07/14
Posts: 382
Location: The southern tip o' Texas
I use my 2 weight a lot in salt water, and I frequently get asked about flies. I thought I'd share what I use; maybe it will help some of you who are looking for a saltwater start. My 2 weight is an 8' TFO Pro II; I'm told by the techies that it's more of a 3 weight, and with an old Orvis WF2F line it didn't perform very well. I was throwing flies at white bass tied on #10 hooks with small beadchain eyes, and the setup wouldn't have been able to cast any more weight than that. Let me interject here that I'm an average caster. I taught myself to cast, and I've been diligently reinforcing bad habits for over 50 years. If I'm still doing this 50 years from now, I may break down and spring for some lessons. But for now I'm a cheapskate.........

Anyway, I bought a SA WF2F line that I was told was actually a 2 1/2 weight line. Naturally, I got it on sale. Voila! The rod really came to life with that line. Now it'll throw those sinking flies a whole lot better.

My big dilemna in salt water was tying flies on viable saltwater hooks that I could cast with that rig. With the SA line that became easier, but I still needed to keep the fly's weight as low as possible. Most of the flies I throw in salt water (I mostly chase reds) with the 5, 6, 7, & 8 weights are tied on #4 & 6 hooks. The #4 Gamakatsu SC15s are about the size of other brand 6s, but much lighter. I use the #4 SC15s with a 5/32" brass beadhead and a small tuft of marabou, Krystal Flash, or very thin sliced rabbit strip. I use a couple of wraps of chenille on the bodies of some of them, but mostly I just wrap a tapered body (I tie with .004" or .005" monofilament) up to the bead and coat it with some cheap Walmart nail polish containing fine flecks of glitter.

Now, there are many patterns that one could tie that would work, but these catch fish and are quick & easy to tie. I have caught a ton of specks on them, as well as small reds, puppy drum, sand trout, flounder, ladyfish, catfish, lizardfish, grunts, snappers, jacks, and a strawberry grouper (in the Keys). The SC15 has a small barb that crushes easily. When catching a lot of specks I go from a 4 lb. tippet to an 8 lb. tippet (teeth); even horsing the fish with an 8 lb. tippet the SC15s hold up. I was initially concerned about that; the hooks look pretty fragile. Anyway, these flies are light enough that I can throw 50 and 60 foot casts with a 10' leader on the 2 weight, and they work well on the fish. The best color I've found for specks has been white or pink marabou and ice chenille or a clear glitter polish. The thin-sliced white rabbit fur has done well too. So well that some of the specks in Rockport have captured and kept some of the ones I tied.

I hope this is some help to you if you are looking for a way to break into ultralight saltwater fishing.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 9:28 am • # 2 
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Joined: 01/01/15
Posts: 32
Location: Williamsburg, Virginia
I like to fish saltwater myself. The only fish I have ever caught on my 3 wt was a croaker. He put up a nice fight on such a light rod. I caught it on a small chart. clouser minnow.

If you could post a picture or even send one to my email it would be much appreciated.

Email address: ibboone2004@aol.com


Dan


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 10:10 am • # 3 
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Location: The southern tip o' Texas
Hey Dan, I'll try to get the wife to post a photo or two. I've never been able to get my computer to do that. Computers hate me, but it's a reciprocal arrangement. Years ago, I tried to post some photographs on a site I frequent. I printed out the instructions, downloaded the photos to Photobucket, and went to work. By the end of the day I didn't know if I needed a frontal lobotomy or a bottle in front of me, but no photographs were posted. The wife, who thinks that computers are absolutely the most wonderful invention in history, and incapable of failing -- ever, for any reason -- spent three days trying to post them on my computer. It never happened. She posts photos daily on hers.

If they won't post I'll email them. It may be a couple of days; I have to get up early and drive to San Antonio and I'll be back late, so I won't get a chance to do it until later this week.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 12:49 pm • # 4 
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HipShot,
I've got a buddy who has one of those Pros, and it works real well with WF3 - especially throwing a heavier fly. I bet under the lights with some bead chain eyed Clousers, that rod will be a blast - small specs or ladyfish will bend that rod.

Les


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 1:29 pm • # 5 
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Location: The southern tip o' Texas
Oh yeah, I've caught dozens of 18"-20" specks on that rod. You still considering fishing with us at Goose Island in June?


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 1:33 pm • # 6 
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My wife and I are looking at vacation times coming up in July for Colorado, so I am unsure. It sounds like fun, and I'll check again. I do like the looks of that area and I definitely want to wet a line with you sometime...

Les


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 04, 2015 8:43 pm • # 7 
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Location: The southern tip o' Texas
So, last night before I crept off to bed early I photographed a #6 Billy Pate hook next to a #4 SC15 to show the relative sizes. I'll ask the bride to post them once I get some shots of the flies themselves taken. I just got in from San Antonio (rained all the way there and back) and I dragged out the ole RCBS Powder Pro digital scale. I weighed 10 #4 SC15s; they totaled 13.4 grains (there are 7,000 grains in a pound, 437.5 in an ounce). That's an average of 1.34 grains each. I weighed 10 #6 Billy Pates; 34.8 grains (3.48 each). Another hook I use is the Mustad 34007. I weighed 7 of them (all I had left) in a #6; they weighed 18.7 grains for an average of 2.67 grains.

So, the #6 Billy Pates weigh about 2.6 times as much as the #4 SC15s. The #6 34007s weigh about twice what the #4 SC15s weigh. Now, I know some experts who will tell me that a 2 weight can't really cast anything heavier than a #10 fly. I haven't found that to be the case, but before one of them tells me I don't know what I'm talking about I'll just go ahead and admit that I'm just not smart enough to know the difference. Okay? You won..........

What I've found is that the weight difference really is noticeable. Those flies cast very well, thanks to the lighter weight, especially with the long leader. I'll try to get the shots of the flies tomorrow; gotta go now.


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PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 8:08 pm • # 8 
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Location: The southern tip o' Texas
Okay, the bride came through. The first photograph is a #4 SC15 next to a #6 Billy Pate. The Billy Pate is the longer, heavier hook. The second shot is a few of the flies on the SC15s, with a penny in the shot for perspective. They are large enough to attract the fish, light enough to cast easily with the light rod & line, and the hook is large enough to handle the fish I catch on them -- mostly specks and sand trout. The 5/32" bead head will sink that small fly quickly and deeply enough to get it to the fish without a long countdown.

Image

Image


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 11:05 pm • # 9 
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Joined: 08/15/15
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Location: Bonner Co. North Idaho
hipshot,
The two flies with the longer marabou tail, do you find any short strikes ?

Crunchy


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 10:30 am • # 10 
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Location: The southern tip o' Texas
No sir; the majority of the fish I catch on them are hooked well down inside the mouth. Those flies are probably no more than three inches long, and the 12" to 24" fish I generally catch on them are all capable of easily eating larger forage than that. That said, I occasionally have a fish fall off the hook before I can land it, and it's possible that it was poorly hooked due to a short strike.

Remember, I am targeting keeper specks and reds with those flies. In Texas that means 15" minimum on the specks and 20" on the reds. Last year when we went to the Keys I was catching grunts, snappers, jacks, and grouper on them that were as short as 6" to 8", and most of them were hooked inside the mouth.

For bream or white bass in fresh water I tie them a bit shorter, and usually on a #8 or #10 hook. The fly with the Krystal Flash tail, in a 2" length, is a killer on white bass when they run up the creeks to spawn in the spring. That's about the only time I fish fresh water any more.


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 11:10 pm • # 11 
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Joined: 08/15/15
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Location: Bonner Co. North Idaho
hipshot,

After you are home from fishing salt, do you take the rod and reel into the shower with you
to clean off the salt and wash them down

Crunchy ?


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:35 am • # 12 
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Joined: 02/07/14
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Location: The southern tip o' Texas
I live far enough from the coast that I am generally there for a few days in the RV. The gear gets a good rinse as soon as I get back to the RV; that's the first thing I do. On those rare day trips where I can't rinse the gear when I first get off the water, I generally give the rod a good rinse and set the reel in a bucket of fresh water for a few minutes as soon as I get home. Then I pull the spool and regrease the spindle. Most of my reels have sealed drags. I also carry a large (5") plastic pill vial filled with fresh water. Any flies I cut off go in there. When I return I rerinse and dry them before returning them to the box.


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