Saltwater Fly Fishing on the UK South Coast | Fly Fishing for Bass and Mullet
Vložit
- čas přidán 10. 02. 2023
- In Summer 2022 I began my saltwater fly fishing journey. In this episode of The Reel I take you along for my first few sessions. I started a bit late in the year in August and continued to fish when I could around family and work. I tried some small lure and streamer patterns for the bass and some shrimp patterns, but caught all the fish in this video on a fly very similar to Colin McLeod's Spectra Shrimp. Having seen a lot of mullet in very shallow water, I will be trying another pattern of Colin's in 2023, the Ghostbuster.
I fished a mark not seen in this video in September 2022 which was probably the closest I got to decent sized bass. I was fishing towards where I could see what looked like bass smashing the surface with birds flying overhead. I didn't have any luck but a lure fisherman turned up about a hundred yards down from me and pulled out 2 fish so at least I was in the right place!
Hopefully in Summer 2023 I'll be able to land a decent sized mullet or bass. I'm going to be at the Orvis Saltwater Fly Fishing Festival in September so need to hone my skills. - Sport
amazing catches!
Loved this buddy, well done 👍 😎
Thanks mate, appreciate it! 😄
Good luck on your quest. 😊
Thank you 😊 I’ve definitely made some progress this year, hoping the next video will be out soon 👍
Nice video, really enjoyed watching, that last session catching those Gilthead looked great fun, caught lots of Bass over the years around Chicester harbour on the usual clouser minnow , but found Mullet difficult. Thanks for sharing, tight lines
Thanks 🙂 yeh they were a good blank saver, I could have probably caught as many again but it felt a bit like shooting fish in a barrel 😄 as they were shoaled up in a tiny creek off the main estuary. I think I need to explore further afield for the bass, I’ve made it as far as Hayling Island which was promising and I’ve got some marks in mind for this year round Chichester and Selsea. Cheers
@@thereel7071 might bump into you, tight lines
Great video. I'm just starting saltwater fly fishing, with an instructors weekend at Langstone (Orvis). I live in Warsash so once I get some advice on tactics and reading the water, will try it locally!
Awesome! Enjoy the festival! Hope to see you on the bank some time 👍
Great video great effort have caught hundreds of mullet over the years in estuaries etc nearly always caught them on a full floating line one of the best flies I regularly caught on was a standard size 10/12 Invicta it really did work incredibly well all the best mate.
Thanks, I’m really hoping to crack the code this year, I will have to add the Invicta to my mullet box 👍
@@thereel7071 don't be afraid to experiment with different patterns one thing for sure you definitely know you've hooked into a Mullet it's almost instantaneous as the fly hits the water good luck mate tight lines.
Very nice. Gilthead bream is a very strong fish and if you catch one about half a pound you will have an epic fight. Maybe I'll try this year in Dorset in where they used to be around.
I’ll have a to do some research on where to find them. I happened across the shoal in a flooded creek and expected them to be baby mullet or bass. I imagine the bigger ones would be further out to shore so might not be reachable with the fly rod.
@@thereel7071 The big one use to be far away from the shore line but it depends on the spot. It is very common to find them at Poole Harbour in some places and they could be targeting on the fly.
And I'm sure an imitation of a maddie or shrimp could work very well.
I’ve just subscribed 👍🏼
Thanks mate, appreciate it 🙏🏻 hopefully more videos coming soon as Spring starts to kick in
If I could find a mark like that I’d be in heaven absolutely amazing gilts on fly very nice I’m coming up to Weymouth in July for a LRF competition not sure how far your based but if you fancy trying to coach a newbie’s saltwater fly angler please do give me a shout
It is a beautiful place but don’t be fooled, it’s a hard venue to fly fish, or at least it has been in my experience. I’d love to catch a mature gilt on a fly but it will take some nifty thinking from the shore or wading.
I fish the Hampshire and West Sussex coast mainly so still a little way from Weymouth, not as far as Cornwall though 😄 In all honesty I’m still learning a lot of this stuff myself, it sounds simple but time on the water has been the thing that has given me the most progress.
@@thereel7071 plan to really get more experience this year I’ve been told I’m wasting my time with thick lip on the mullet but I’m determined to catch on fly or lure I’ve caught two with lure but no skill involved pure luck but I’ll keep plugging away great videos tight lines bud
Nice video. I've been wanting to try fly fishing in the salt for a while but I'm just not sure how to start and what terrain and conditions to fish in. Any tips would be appreciated. I've just signed up for a festival ticket for the Orvis event myself.
Thanks Steve 😊 I think the biggest barrier to getting started is actually starting if that makes sense? I put it off for a long time as I had no idea where to go and tides daunted me a little bit. I’m still very much at the start of the journey but if I were to offer some tips they would be:
1. Download a tide times app, some muddy estuary locations are too dangerous to fish at low tide as you could easily get stuck and you need to be aware of which direction the tide is going so you don’t get cut off if you wade out a fair bit.
2. I’d also recommend walking your local spots at low tide to examine the terrain, weed and cover are good for bass whereas I have found mullet in numbers in very shallow water over mud.
3. Use google maps to search out your nearest spots, you can sometimes see if an area of shoreline is likely to be muddy or gravel etc. and it gives you an idea of access and where to park etc. Also street view occasionally comes in handy to see it from the ground but not always.
4. Bass will take very small, size 12, shrimp flies or something like a flexi worm, so if you’ve got a 5 weight trout rod you can get out fishing without needing much in the way of extra kit. Just remember to clean your gear off after each session as saltwater will corrode hardware eventually no matter how resistant it is.
5. Last tip from me, get out and try it as soon as you can, I’ve learnt the most so far from being out and seeing fish activity or lack of in different spots and tide states so at least for mullet, I know now what locations and tide states will give me a decent opportunity to catch one, which I am still yet to do! 😅 I haven’t caught anything decent in the salt yet but just from the time I spent doing it last year I am more excited about getting back to it than any other fishing I do! Catching a nice fish will be the icing on the cake, being out by the sea, particularly early in the morning when no one else is around was equally as addictive as fishing!
I hope that’s of some help, I may well see you at the Orvis festival 😉 There will be plenty of people there much better placed than me to offer advice and it will be great to get on the water with them 👍 I will certainly be making the most of being able to talk to the guides!
Cheers
Great seeing you catch bream on the fly, one fish I still need to catch on the coast on a fly, what fly did you use for the sea bream?
It was inspired by a spectra shrimp but is basically an unweighted olive Czech nymph with plenty of UV fibres in the dubbing. I’d love to catch a bigger one but I think I’ll struggle without a boat 😄
Just came across your video and enjoyed it, is that a Greys XF2 salt, I have the #8 and hope to use down West Wales for bass this summer, I’m a bit nervous about it as I normally lure fish. Caught loads of bass and pollock lure fishing, but fly fishing is a different challenge.
Thank you 😊 the rod I’m using in this video is a 9ft Vision STIFU 6wt, it was what I had when I started out and was enough to chuck small streamers for the bass but I now use a 9ft 8wt that I built specifically for the bass and a 5wt fibreglass rod that I’ve built for mullet, although finding the mullet much more of a challenge. If you’ve caught on lures then I’d go back to your usual spots as you’ve got the experience of knowing where the fish will be which will give you a massive advantage, then it’s just a case of getting a fly in front of them which is a bit trickier than lure fishing. Best of luck with it! Tight lines!
Many thanks, we will have a crack at it, love to catch a bass on the fly, the ultimate in fishing in my opinion.
I fly fished for year on the Hamble estuary but rarely caught. Many a time a mullet would take and reject the fly before I could even react.
I’m hoping I can crack it this year, I’m going to try using an indicator as it’s been pretty successful from what I’ve seen for some other guys. Would like to get into some bass but I think I’m better off over Portsmouth/ Chichester way for them
@@thereel7071 I'm living in swanage now. Loads of mullet around the banjo pier but haven't managed to hook one. Loads of bass but I haven't tried them on the fly. I've just recently dusted of the fly gear and prepped for this summer to give it my best.
@@woodlandbiker those mullet might like a bread fly if all else fails, good luck with the bass, tight lines!