Cape Fear On The Fly – Redfish And Counting
Spring has definitely (and finally) made a grand entrance, and it seems that everything and everyone, including myself, was more than ready. After the long, cold winter we just had here on the Cape Fear coast, some temperatures near eighty degrees and sunny days were welcomed by all.
This “sneak peak” at summertime weather had most of us thinking about all of the exciting fishing opportunities that are waiting just around the corner, and it also got Gary Hurley (Publisher of Fisherman’s Post) and me talking about how we might create another article series focusing on fly fishing. Last year’s “Road to Redfish” series was a success (you can still read them online), and we wanted to create something different, but hopefully just as interesting, in 2011.
After some discussion, we decided to document the pursuit of the many different species that will become available to the local fly fisherman as the season progresses.
We plan to target species as they show up in our area on their annual migrations—such as bluefish, Atlantic bonito, albacore, and Spanish mackerel.
Gary and I will also challenge ourselves and chase species that will be much more difficult to catch with a fly, such as cobia, tarpon, tripletail, sheepshead, and even sailfish.
Our attempt will be to catch as many different species as we can—from inshore to nearshore to offshore—on the fly in a single season. In regards to scoring, I have standards, but Gary has already admitted that he has no problem with padding his total by counting anything, including lizardfish and oyster toads, caught on the fly.
There will be days that we will just fly fish for whatever may present itself and what the conditions will allow, and then there will be days that we target a specific species. We’ll be reporting on everything, including the outcomes (optimistically all successes) as well as all of the preparations, rigging, techniques, and general locations pertaining to each species.
Some locations could yield multiple species utilizing the same tackle and techniques, while some species, such as tarpon and sailfish, will require a serious commitment and will be extremely challenging to catch on the fly.
There will be a variety of fly rod weights used, from 7 weights on up to a 12 weight. Lines and flies will vary at least as much as the number of different species we will chase, and all of the specific rigging will be discussed in each article. We want to lead the way for more people to enter the fly fishing arena.
Helping our pursuit, there will be a 22 foot custom bay/center console joining the Circle H charter fleet this spring. This new boat, in addition to my 17 foot Maverick Master Angler, will greatly expand the areas we can fish and allow for many more angling possibilities.
North Carolina and the Cape Fear coast hold numerous fly fishing opportunities, and part of the purpose of this article series is to illustrate, in detail, as many fly caught saltwater species as we can in a season. Some of the species will be world-class fly fishing quarry, and others will not be quite as coveted by the fly fishing community, though almost any catch is a noteworthy accomplishment on fly tackle. And the fly angling practice that you can get by chasing bluefish or any other more common species can be invaluable to the advancement of your fly fishing skills.
I hope you will join Gary and me this year as we try to catch as much as we can on the fly rod and explore some new territory at the same time. It will be interesting to see what we can get into, and I am currently working out the details of a fall white marlin trip (and if the fishing is half as good as it was last season, it will be nothing short of amazing!).
When I’m not chasing red drum on the flats this summer, I can be found working at Intracoastal Angler. We have just expanded our saltwater fly fishing department to cover almost anything you might want to catch on the fly, locally or abroad. We offer lessons, a monthly Fly Fishing School, personal instruction, and, of course, professionally guided fishing trips.
Hope to see you at the shop or on the water, and stay tuned for our second installment of “Cape Fear on the Fly.”
Thanks and tight loops
Captain Jon Huff
Capt. Jon Huff is owner operator of Circle H Charters, an inshore fly and light tackle guide service based out of Wrightsville Beach. Jon splits his time between running inshore charters, fishing offshore tournaments, and co-managing Intracoastal Angler. (910) 617-2619, www.circlehcharters.com
