[Cod_Fisher_Cc]

Has anyone ever fly fished for mackrel? i've been meaning to give it a go for ages but never got around to it... Me ant Towelie are definately going to give it a go this year. We fish at a sort of estury where you get alot of mullet, sea trout etc and the water is crystal clear. In the summer when the sprat are here the place is jumping every couple of minutes the mackrel will launch an attack on the sprat right in front of us its such an amazing sight so i was wondering if fly fishing for the mackrel there will be any good? and if anyone has any tips it would be great

 

[Fly Caster]

Has anyone ever fly fished for mackrel? i've been meaning to give it a go for ages but never got around to it... Me ant Towelie are definately going to give it a go this year. We fish at a sort of estury where you get alot of mullet, sea trout etc and the water is crystal clear. In the summer when the sprat are here the place is jumping every couple of minutes the mackrel will launch an attack on the sprat right in front of us its such an amazing sight so i was wondering if fly fishing for the mackrel there will be any good? and if anyone has any tips it would be great

Hi mate fishing for mackeral with fly gear is awseome you will have never experienec any such fight from a mackeral before they really strip your line and its the most fantastic fun.Have you had any previous fly fishing experience or any freshwater tackle if you tell me this i can give you more relavent information.

 

[Towelie]

hes had exp he knows how to cast and has caught a few rainbow trout, brown trout etc. hes quite gd at casting nd stuff unlike me :| he has the standard fly fishing gear 2 reals one floating line one with sinking he prefers his sinking em im not very exp just caught a rainbow and am pretty rubbish at casting. would we need new reels. i think ive asked this b4 and pretty sure the answer was yes. but using our normal rods would be ok wouldnt it?

 

[Rajabatis]

hes had exp he knows how to cast and has caught a few rainbow trout, brown trout etc. hes quite gd at casting nd stuff unlike me :| he has the standard fly fishing gear 2 reals one floating line one with sinking he prefers his sinking em im not very exp just caught a rainbow and am pretty rubbish at casting. would we need new reels. i think ive asked this b4 and pretty sure the answer was yes. but using our normal rods would be ok wouldnt it?

Anything will do if you wash it all well afterwards. A 9.5 ft rod for a 7 or 8 weight forward sinking line. Any reel wil do but wash it as I said or if it's alluminium it will just corrode.

 

[Towelie]

cheers m8 i cant wait to try it.

 

[Rajabatis]

cheers m8 i cant wait to try it.

Don't spend a lot of money on your gear at first. Most inexpensive flyrods of the length and line rating suggested will do the job. Buy mill end cheap lines or the less expensive of the makers ranges. They will work fine. A composite plastic/carbon non metal reel is a good idea. They don't corrode! Okuma make a good large arbour one if you don't have a reel yet.

 

[Towelie]

ive got all my gear m8 everthin including flys cost me £100 only used it twice since i got it

 

[Rajabatis]

ive got all my gear m8 everthin including flys cost me £100 only used it twice since i got it

Good. Have fun! Did you get lines with different sink rates? You might need a faster sinker if the fish are deep. It's handy to have that on a spare spool.

 

[steve w]

I've used my 3 weight outfit for mackerel absolutely brilliant sport!

 

[Rajabatis]

I've used my 3 weight outfit for mackerel absolutely brilliant sport!

Yep that would be fun!

 

[xcrisx]

i have an intermediate line and a floating line, can I add a few split shot to the leader instead of buying a fast sinking line?

 

[Rajabatis]

i have an intermediate line and a floating line, can I add a few split shot to the leader instead of buying a fast sinking line?

Yes I suppose so.. I do do put that on the leader above the fly when I do a certain kind of river nymphing. It mimics the action of a hatching caddis fly when used up stream and swung round in front of you and drawn to the surface.

It won't get you deep enough though for mackeral a lot of times. Okay if they are right on the surface but if they are deeper and you don't see surface action. You are limited.
A fish finder if you are on a boat is the easy way to locate them if they are any depth down, or if you don't have one another good way to find them is to feather with a normal boat rod setup. Mark the line were you contact them. That gives you an idea were the fish are and the depth. Or try boatcasting with an uptide type rod and featheres. Chuck it out and retreive it. Do it again and count to 5 then retrieve and so on in an arc. You will soon locate them if they are there. Or just good old fashioned spinning, doing the same thing. Once you locate fish It may be too deep for fly fishing. The line won't get down no matter what hi speed sinking line you put on.

Watch for bird activity, any fry that are being harried near the surface soon attract the Gulls. Sometimes you will see the fry jumping before the birds get wise. An intermediate or slow sink lines will work well in that situation. I would still get hold of a fast sink WF line though or use a shooting head fast sinker that will get to the fish's depth even quicker.

Fly fishing for mackeral from the shore is a bit more of a challenge. I have never got that one down with any guaranteed success. That's a real opportunists game. Just being there at the right time at the right venue with fish close enough is very difficult to get. Spinning lets you cover water quickly and at various depths/distances that the fly rod won't.

 

[xcrisx]

ok, cheers.

 

[STAN M]

I`ve fished saltwater fly often for pollack and some other stuff and sometimes had to get deep, on every occasion a shooting head with fast sinking tip has worked just fine for me rather than the full sinker .

 

[Cod_Fisher_Cc]

The water is very shallow at the place where ill be fishing probably no deeper than about 15ft

 

[Rajabatis]

The water is very shallow at the place where ill be fishing probably no deeper than about 15ft

Hi 15ft is still deep for a fly line to get down to.
Current and wind will all affect the sink rate quite a bit. The reason StanM and I use a shooting head is you are only using 30ft of line belly (approx) and that is attached to a thinner shooting line which also helps it sink better.

Do a google for shooting heads you will come up with the setup.

 

[Goosey]

Agree with Rajabatis, a spinning rod is a great back-up if you want to go further/deeper. Being armed with both a fly rod and a spinning rod is hard to beat if one style isn't working.

 

[Cod_Fisher_Cc]

Hi 15ft is still deep for a fly line to get down to.
Current and wind will all affect the sink rate quite a bit. The reason StanM and I use a shooting head is you are only using 30ft of line belly (approx) and that is attached to a thinner shooting line which also helps it sink better.

Do a google for shooting heads you will come up with the setup.

thanks