Fly Fishing for Rockfish

It gets better. Check the current issue of Northwest Sportsmam Magazine.  The Albacore are now being taken with fly rods.

It gets better. Check the current issue of Northwest Sportsmam Magazine.  The Albacore are now being taken with fly rods.

I may need to get a better drag on my fly reel before I add that to my efforts.

I'll be saving for a few years in order to be able to afford that gear... 12wt big game rod , large high capacity reel with 2 spare spools each w/a different line and depth capacity,  etc.

Researched the prices.... owwch... 🙄

Takes time to build your gear.  A piece here, next month a reel, etc..  Spreads that investment out over time (which doesn't hurt quite so much as a one time "package" buy).  I look at it as assembling my vacation and ultimately retirement toys....   My saltwater bug wand gear was spread out over 18 months.   

Ah, just read some stuff from the bug wand forum. I see this has all been hashed out in depth.

Yeah, we've debated it.  I've tried it and my bottom line assessment of using monofilament as a running line is "it's damned slippery when it and my fingers are wet".  Airflo and others, I presume, sell thin, level running lines targeted at spey-casting enthusiasts.  I use them, they cast great, doesn't coil on the reel, and the combination of a running-line and a length of heavy sink tip costs half of what a traditional fly line costs.  If I ever run into a top-water bite, I carry a floating shooting head and can exchange the sinking head for the floating head faster than the guy with whom I fish can swap reel spools.

It gets better. Check the current issue of Northwest Sportsmam Magazine.  The Albacore are now being taken with fly rods.

That's not new.  Folks have been doing that for years.  Jay Nicholas has a few videos on YouTube of his albacore fly-fishing escapades - and I'm not sure, but I think he used a 12wt Echo Prime one-piece rod.  But he had a Finatic reel attached to it.