I am very interested in peoples thoughts about using burley off the rocks for salt water fly. Is using burley making it not 'true' salt water fly fishing? Does this change its definition for the purist? 

And if so how many people are successful in targeting any fish especially snapper without the use of burley? 

I have come from a basic rockfishing background of bait and burley and only recently started salt water fly fishing. Love it by the way but after 30 years I reckon I have only ever seen one snapper off the rocks without the use of burley.

Thoughts?

Andrew

 

The big difference is that with berley I can quickly entice more fish in. With no berley I find the hooked fish scares other fish away. I either have to wait a bit or move on to a new rock. 

Despite this 'pure fly' without berley is quite successful. It seems to produce a larger class of fish. And it lets you know whether your flies are truly appealing or not. 

But berleying while fly fishing is still a great way to fish and is just as successful as bait when done properly.

I'd say try both...

Thank you

Are there some real stand out flies for snapper or is it a good idea to just try different patterns? I have a draper fly and a variety of larger streamers for kingis. Bigger ones like piper flies. Different flies for sight casting verses sinking into holes etc?

Also any recommendation for the best sinking fly line for targeting snapper and what size leader do you use for snapper and kingfish? I got my first fly caught kingfish on an 80 pound leader worrying about getting busted off on the rocks then the next one on only 25 pound. I suppose with snapper was thinking around 30 pound again with the concern of getting bitten off.

Sorry for all the questions but loving the new challenge

Andrew

The fly-fishing I enjoy most is surface schools or sight fishing and it is often the most successful method in those situations. Anything deeper than 5m is a waste of time on fly in my opinion.

Re: leaders. Big snapper will bite you off occasionally, but they'll even bite through 30lb fluorocarbon when they get it in the right spot between their teeth. They're not a particularly dirty fighter though so I use 20lb tippet most of the time and 25lb if I'm targetting big fish. Bite-offs I just write-off as bad luck.

For kings I use a short tippet of 20 to 25lb backed up by a long heavy butt section. This is because I find the leader tends to bust further up when a king drags it through the rocks, even hard against the flyline connection.

However, the real secret to fishing kings on fly is to find fish over sand - hence the massive importance of the ray-rider kingfish fishery that has been discovered in recent years. 

Flies - search some of the threads on this forum. You'll find that everyone has different tastes, but most people still catch fish. Snapper are actually aggressive fly eaters. The secret is to present the fly in a way that the snapper is not suspicious. A non-spooked snapper that has been presented a fly by a very stealthy angler will eat just about anything.

The best sinking line suits the depth of water you regularly fish, but I like to fish "fly first". So I use a heavy fly on an intermediate line in eight metres of water because a heavier flyline will beat the fly to the bottom. In eighty metres of water when fishing for kings I use a heavy fly plus the heaviest fast sink shooting head line I can manage and work the top thirty metres of water. It can be a very successful way to fish, although sometimes it is a little hard to avoid the rats.

Hope this helps... all good questions.