Rockfish on the fly

I've cast a few flies for rockfish in my day and always had a good time. I was cruizing the net and found the record for a fly caught rockfish..
8# black! Man that's a bruiser.


Anyway, just seeing if there's anyone else out there who likes chucking bugz for rockies. If you haven't tried it, give it a shot. A whoooole lotta fun!

Z

Yup, I cast my 8wt a few times this past weekend. A little too much drift, a small target area and an inadequate line cut down on my attempts. We were hooking up from ~20' and down. Tough to achieve with an 8' sink tip.

Wow.. 18 lbs?!?  Given that the world record and maximum reported weight are both about 10.5 lbs, that's very impressive.

Actually, if you look at the URL to that picture you posted Zee you'll see that that fish is 8 lbs 0 oz and caught on a 12 lb tippet.
http://www.fishonalaska.net/wrightstuff/Men%27s12lbtippet8lb0oz_resize.jpg

We were hooking up from ~20' and down. Tough to achieve with an 8' sink tip.

I've really only done it when blacks were busting at the surface or really shallow. I'd love to give it a try this summer w/ some bass poppers. This Crease looks like it would hammer 'em!

Z

Actually, if you look at the URL to that picture you posted Zee you'll see that that fish is 8 lbs 0 oz and caught on a 12 lb tippet.

My bad. There's a typo on the pic: http://www.fishonalaska.net/worldrecords.html I should have known but it's always so hard to tell if it's real size or just Fish Snifferin'.

It's still a really nice black.

I really want to try that this summer at P.C.. I have some questions about it though.
If I have a 9 wt setup that's for fresh water, should I have a different line put on the reel to have it setup for the salt or should I just make sure I wash the line off really well when I'm rinsing off everything else?

It's still a really nice black.

No doubt. 5 oz. better than my best Vermillion!

I really want to try that this summer at P.C.. I have some questions about it though.
If I have a 9 wt setup that's for fresh water, should I have a different line put on the reel to have it setup for the salt or should I just make sure I wash the line off really well when I'm rinsing off everything else?

I'm guessing it would work fine. I use some freshwater gear when I fish SRC in the sound and haven't had any problems. My fav lines are the Airflo Forty Plus Cold saltwater intermediate and sinking. http://www.flylines.com/Flylines_AirfloFlylineRange_FortyPlus_Saltwater.cfm

Z

Looking at the Alaska records site, I'm either really impressed or really dissappointed in the typos.

For example.. no way this is a 12 lb greenling.

"Jay Wright 4 lb line class 12 pound kelp greenling "


Makes me wonder about the 4 lb line class lingcods (52 lbs for men, 42 lbs for women).  In this case I believe the weights but doubt the line class.

Brian

It might be that the numbers have been transposed?  Yet, I still doubt that's a 4# greenling.

I really want to try that this summer at P.C.. I have some questions about it though.
If I have a 9 wt setup that's for fresh water, should I have a different line put on the reel to have it setup for the salt or should I just make sure I wash the line off really well when I'm rinsing off everything else?

If it's freshwater equipment (reel), I'd be more worried about washing it, than the line. No special limes are needed unless you're fishing in the tropics, where a cold water line will wimp out.

In an old book I've had laying around "Salt-Water Fly Fishing"  George X. Sand (1970), wrote about Myron Gregory, a champion fly caster from the Oakland Casting Club. Gregory developed a technique to effectively fly fish for rockfish in up to 100' of water.

 He used a shooting head made from 25'-30' of lead core trolling line followed by 70' of 40lb Amnesia mono, and that was attached to the backing. He'd roll cast it out and count till it got to the bottom and note the count. Then on the next cast, count one less because actually touching the bottom usually meant getting hung. He said it was really effective and he liked the trolling line because it was cheap and you expected to go through a lot of them. He also fished from a drifting row boat and that sounds a lot like us (Actually, it sounds exactly like Pisco Sicko)

 I got the trolling line and found that it was really stretchy. Courtland LC13 is heck-of better, but waay more expensive. I finally found some Amnesia, but it's really stretchy too. The whole rig fished like a rubber band. It did however account for a few good rockfish in SoCal, and that was from some near shore reefs that got a lot of pressure.

 I finally got the LC13/Amnesia running line rig together and then moved to PDX That was 2001 and I did not see the salt again till 2007.
http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,365.msg2451.html#msg2451   
 I'm most definitely going to bring it along on my next trip to PC.

But then again, be careful of your counsel. George X Sands is the guy who introduced the world to the Bermuda Triangle in 1952.

I'm pretty sure there are lines out there that are capable of handling the job, and probably some newer materials than what was listed in 1970.

I've been thinking a spey rod with a sinking shooting line and a LC 13 tip would be the way to go. I've heard of guys adding small egg sinkers to the leader, but I'll need a hard-shell helmet before I try that. There are places where the rockies and other are shallow, say from 10-30' down. Next time, in that kind of situation, I may anchor so that I don't have to worry about drift.

My main problem is that I can't afford a line for every situation. It's especially hard to justify for 1 or 2 opportunities a year.

I've heard of guys adding small egg sinkers to the leader, but I'll need a hard-shell helmet before I try that.

An egg sinker!?!  Heresy!
Is that a lead shot in front of that fly in the 18# Black's mouth?
  

Another reason that i have not tried it for anything else is because I tried to pierce my ear twice the last time I fished it.

I'm pretty sure there are lines out there that are capable of handling the job, and probably some newer materials than what was listed in 1970.

My main problem is that I can't afford a line for every situation. It's especially hard to justify for 1 or 2 opportunities a year.

Fly tech has changed significantly since 1970, but if it works,,, and you sure can't argue with the price (even using LC13).

What I gleaned from the vintage gear that for throwing depth charges a sinking line in front of a sinking mono running line, as opposed to a shooting head in front of a conventional flyline (that usually floats), works if you want to get to a good depth in one fishing trip. 

 When I first ran into PowerPro I thought about using #120 for running line to eliminate the stretch. Then I thought about having the line wrap my finger and popping it off when I got hung on a rock (my finger, not the rock). I used the Amnesia instead. Any heavy mono would do fine though, the Amnesia just stretches out and holds its shape better. The idea is just having a running line big enough to handle relatively comfortably. Flourocarbon comes to mind.

BTW Gregory crunched the numbers and made his sinking line the same number of grains (wt) as a 9 wt line.

FFTW: What sort of fly will you take along when you try this?

I've cast a few flies for rockfish in my day and always had a good time. I was cruizing the net and found the record for a fly caught rockfish..
8# black! Man that's a bruiser.


Anyway, just seeing if there's anyone else out there who likes chucking bugz for rockies. If you haven't tried it, give it a shot. A whoooole lotta fun!

Z

Probably any streamer would work. I wonder how much weight he had on the line right above the fly?