[Alan o' Neill]

I started fly fishing for bass last year and enjoyed everything about it1
This year I would like to catch sea trout on the fly.Andy Elliot has kindly
tied me some flies.Now I NEED SOME INFO.Leader lenght and strenth,day
time ,night time,hey all tips appreciated.thank you !

 

[kevin white]

maybe some of the welsh lads could help you out better than me, even though i have fished for seatrout many times over in wales,

where are you thinking of targeting them ?

kev

 

[Bagpuss]

Alan

In my neck of the woods bright moonlit nights & daylight at the right state of the tide are good. Standard river flies are a good choice or bass sandeel pattern flies in a small hook size. Surface wake flies can produce also. 10lb leader 10' long or there abouts & fish somewhere near to weed cover as the sea trout prefer this safety from seals & cormorants. Sea trout can & often are only a foot or so from the shore on calmish days.

 

[Alan o' Neill]

hi. kEVIN
I am going to try for the sea trout in the tramore area,south coast of Ireland
In saying that I'm not going to stop there.I have been told of spots from wexford
all the way to kerry and intend flyfishing the lot for bass and sea trout!

 

[Keith White]

Based on the structure and current through there I'd recommend long
15-20 degree casts down current and rely on slipping the fly in and out of boils around
those damn weed stalks. The stone wing dam and the outlet/inlet itself MUST hold fish
close into the bank.

There are also those little pools that have set seam lines running along the points.
These are going to hold fish for sure.

Dead drift those if you are able from both a cross current position allowing the
line to tighten as you approach the end of a pool to get that inducing lift.

I certainly wouldn't rule out the use of an indicator and a big marabou tailed nymph
either on alot of the stretch.

 

[Retired]

Alan

In my neck of the woods bright moonlit nights & daylight at the right state of the tide are good. Standard river flies are a good choice or bass sandeel pattern flies in a small hook size. Surface wake flies can produce also. 10lb leader 10' long or there abouts & fish somewhere near to weed cover as the sea trout prefer this safety from seals & cormorants. Sea trout can & often are only a foot or so from the shore on calmish days.

I don't think I registered one word of that post I was too busy looking at the diversion posted in your signature!! :muttley:

 

[Iestyn Jones]

to be honest your best bet is to try and source some info from guides or locals on your stretch as waters vary massively as do tackle/techniques.

on my stretch of the Towy I fish with a 10foot 8# G.Loomis glx rod and waterworks reel.

fly line is a guideline shooting head with an airflo ridge running line (specially made by a guy called Richard Wothers at Airflo)

leader is 15lb minimum at night, I use use Riverge Grand Max.

fly is THE "jambo" a surface lure designed/adapted specifically for night fishing the Towy. (i rarely day fish)

pretty heavy beefed up tackle compared to some rivers, but with 3 20lb plus fish caught this season its needed!!!

the jambo is cast square across the river (mend the line as necessary) and then skate the fly by figure eighting (vary depending on flow) but you need to "work" this fly. the average size on the estate is fish in 4-6lb bracket but gear needs to be strong as double figure fish are regular (my best was 4 doubles over a weekend!!) this is my no.1 set-up throughout the season.

rarely though i will adopt for a slime line (intermediate with a 1.5in per sec sink rate) or a wetcel type 2 and fish tubes (plastic, aluminium or brass depending on how deep i need to fish them) a fly that was first tied for the towy and since modernised called a night-time killer still rules supreme when fishing a "sunk" line but there have been many variations on the original tying!!

leaders are always short 7-8 feet being the norm, on higher water levels or a dam release etc it is sometimes necessary to shorten the leader to 5 feet for punching flies into cover/far bank or other fish holding lies, it pays to do some legwork in daylight prior to night fishing to familiarise yourself with the beat and pick markers you can identify at night (so no sheep, cows etc that can walk away!!!) also check access points, gravel bars etc as it can be dangerous wading in the dark even if you know the stretch, winter floods can alter the bottom massively each season.

 

[Alan o' Neill]

A lot of info there.greatly appreciated.when i'm bass fishing I use a tapered leader.
Imake it 40-30-20-15lb.need Ido this for sea trout?

 

[Keith White]

A lot of info there.greatly appreciated.when i'm bass fishing I use a tapered leader.
Imake it 40-30-20-15lb.need Ido this for sea trout?

I would. If you have the ratio's right it will help fly turnover.
Not something you want to be worried about really especially at night.

Make the 15lb tippet fluorocarbon. Every chance of a huge Bass where you are fishing
too remember.

 

[Mike Cornelius]

I usually fish 10lb leader straight through at night, when using a single large fly, cause it's easier to check for wind knots. I usually end up going back to my favorite lure, which is a stoats tail variant, tied on a lightweight Waddington mount. This mount is home tied using a 2/0 Aberdeen hook as the mount with the bend cut off and a treble tied behind like a secret weapon. I only step down the breaking strain, at the point, when using two flies. What are you hoping tho do, fish for Sewin in the salt or the river? Again, as has been said, check for techniques in your locality, cause they vary quite a bit even from river to river in the same area.

 

[Alan o' Neill]

thank's Mike.
maybe I should have gave more info on my earlier post Mike.
my intention is to fish for sea trout in estuarys.I enjoyed bass on the
fly bigtime last year and intend to target them along with sea trout this year.
I never saw anybody swff for trout in my area.It might be a case of trial and error?
:bangin:

 

[Andy Elliott]

Alan

They will drive you insane especially on the fly , however when you do hook one it'll make it all worth while

Talk to Jim about the sea trout .. as soon as you mention the white ones he develops a twitch in his eye and starts to mumble :lol:


Andy

 

[Mike Cornelius]

Try any Saltwater Sandeel or Shrimp patterns. After all the Sewin are feeding on all marine life, feeding themselves up for their trip up river when they're fasting and not feeding much, if at all. Don't stick just to the estuary, try the surrounding area as well or you'll have to wait for the runs of fish to start heading for the rivers in April, or possibly earlier depending on the river. The Towy for example has early runs of fish, but the Tawe not far away has a much later run. I think you'd be better targeting bass on the fly, in the areas you might get a Seatrout and you'll end up catching Seatrout by default and find what works in your area.

 

[Ian Buckingham]

I've been reading this with great interest as I too am obsessed with these often un-coperative fish. I've done well on the rivers over the years such as Wear, Yorkshire Esk, Teifi, Wnion and so on but had a bit of a surprise two years ago when fishing an unweighted Clouser in the shallows of a rock mark/harbour and they started swirling at it as it skimmed the surface. I tried muddler/wake type patterns to no avail, tried heavier flies fished faster and streamers fished just sub surface until I looked in my fly box (admittedly at the end of my tether) when I noticed a 'Zulu' tied on a size 6 longshank. Bobbed over the waves with a figure of eight retrieve did the trick and within three casts I had two fish to 3lb. I had a few more swirls and boils behind it after that but failed to connect but it goes to show they really are a fish that can go against everything you know and would assume to work under those circumstances.

 

[Alan o' Neill]

Thank's to everybody who replied to my post!Today using lures we hit a sea trout.I always see sea trout where I fish.You name the month they are there.
My friend Pat Connolly caught his first of the year two weeks ago at the same place I'm talk'n about.Like Pat said to me and I agree.Where we fish is a haven!
The list is endless as regarding the fish in this area.I'm using lures at the first of the year but cannot wait,after all the advice to take out my fly rod and hope to
catch a variety of fish,not only the sea trout.Again Thank you ,all!