Today I had the opportunity to catch up with an old friend and go fly fishing for striped bass from the surf. We fished the same body of water that we fly fished a few years back; but on the other side of the “pond”. This was my first time at this spot. My goal for this trip was to field test color patterns and hooks. It was a cool and overcast day with a constant wind. The local crab and clam populations proved to be a good omen.
After reading the water, I decided to fish a point. I worked the point with several flies. The first fish eat an olive-over-white Lefty Deceiver. The feeling of setting the hook by pulling the line is one the things that I love about fly fishing!
The wind picked up and started to reduce my cast by 50%. I moved to a bowl and waded between some boats that were tied to moorings. I used the boats to shelter me from the wind while I worked my line to propel my flies. The second fish eat a yellow-over-white Lefty Deceiver.
The wind got stronger and started to move the boats. Without protection, my trip was cut short. But! I now have confidence in yellow-over-white and olive-over-white Lefty Deceivers! Overall, the hooks worked well. But, the hook that performed best was the Owner Aki hook. The hook is available from 1/0 to 8/0. For striped bass flies, I like the 4/0 size.
