fly fishing for rockfish

 I fished pc sunday and monday, picked-up couple underlings and a greenling but couldn't seem to get the blacks to bite. adding to my frustration i was fishing next to a dory that was tossing flies into the kelp beds and doing really well. i moved a little closer to maybe get a little intel from them but they were not very forthcoming with any info. i was wonder if anybody here had any idea what type of fly one would use, and the best place to shop.
 I have always been a jig and bait type of dude and have never fly fished before, but i gotta try this. i do have a rod but what type of line do i need? leader? i have searched a few threads but i don't really understand allot of the terminology being used. is there a specific thread that would help? i need it.

                                                   

I'd use a type 5 sinking line with a big heavily weighted clouser minnow, or crazy charie. Not too sure what colors. If I had to guess I'd say green and black, green and white, or black and white. A 7wt rod would be about ideal, but use what you've got as long as it's 6wt or heavier.

I've always wanted to try this!  It seems pretty simple to me, but I haven't done much fly fishing in my life.  If you're going to be doing your fishing at PC, than maybe an intermediate sinking line or a floating line if they're on the surface.  I imagine most streamers would work great.  I'm thinking the patterns they make for pike would be money.

I think you'd need a saltwater fly reel also? $$$

The freshwater gear would get messed up within a couple of trips out there.  

if your fishing the kelp beds do you want a sinking line? also what size fly would be best?

I've fished "freshwater" gear in the salt and as long as it was washed after lasted. Some guides may be a little greener than normal but all good. I use a sinking line all the time. If you want to keep your gear surface side all you need to do is strip line in fast. Rockies have no trouble chasing it. Then if you want to go deep you can just let it sink.

Z

Those same folks were banging them out where you and I chatted in 90-100ft of water, last week.  Appeared to be using sinking or sink tip lines. One rod had a foam handle so nothing fancy.  Casting out 50ft or so, letting it sink a little and slowly stripping it in. In fact the guy had his wife out and she couldn't cast so he did for her and handed it off.  Rarely did they get it back in without a fish.  They were using their depth finder and had found a school.  He even tossed out a weight with banana float marker to give them a reference point to focus on. They would drift over the float, catch fish, fire up the motor and reset for another pass.   I got a good look at them for some time as they weren't shy about horning right in (like 20yards ) on an area I had been fishing all morning.  The flies were nothing huge, couldn't tell what they were but they weren't big streamer patterns.

Previous discussion http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,2941.0.html

Years ago, in the spring, near Sekiu and Neah Bay, we'd find black rockfish in huge schools right on the surface. If you found a school, the fishing was great & it didn't really matter what fly you used. For example, I hooked a piece of white t-shirt to a bare hook & caught fish after fish.

I don't get up that way much anymore, and there probably aren't as many fish as there were 30-40 years ago. If you could find a rare calm day in the spring, this fishing would be a lot of fun in a kayak.

Tom