Potomac Striper on a fly

[Animal]

Hat’s to Dan D. for sticking with it this morning.  He did the same to the striper in this photograph on the last drift of the day. As you can see he was well armed and may have come up with the best method to target Rockfish on a fly I've seen yet.  The spinner you see was my weapon of choice.

[Scott Stankus]

Sweet! Nice catch, Dan! Well deserved!

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"There are 10 types of people in this world, those who know binary, and those who don't"

[Eric Y.]

Best method yet? Do tell, Dan...

[Bob Smith]

So what was his method?

[Danny Barrett]

I'm jealous.  I had one take top water Sunday night. and it broke me off so fast I couldn't even enjoy the fight.  so much for 15lb leaders.  nice fish.

Thanks,

Dan Barrett

 

On Mon, Apr 21, 2014 at 1:57 PM, Bob Smith <plane...@aol.com> wrote:

So what was his method?

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[Dan Davala - Founder/President]

Thanks Mike, and thanks for the replies guys!  First off, I want to say it was a privelege to share the water with Mike and Alex this morning.  These guys seriously know the River, and as we all know through TPFR, they love to share their knowlege and help others enjoy this incredible resource we have.  So thank you Mike and Alex for taking me out this morning.  

 

The goal today was simple, see if we can get a fly down and fishing with a similar action to what they are able to achieve with Alex's jigs.  From prevoius posts here, you all know they have been tearing it up by "vertical jigging" along the rocky bottom structure in anything from 12'-30'+.  12' we can cover with a standard full sink line, but 30'+ is a bit problematic for conventional fly tackle.  Even if you can count it down, keeping it in the "zone" is just as big of a challenge once you do.  So, the setup I put together to adress these issues is:

 

- 9' 11-weight rod

- BIG friggin' reel (less memory in the mono-running line, quicker line pickup when you need to clear the deck fast)

- 60' of 52# Fluorocarbon for a running line (.025" diameter) - this cuts through the water like a knife but is still round enough to handle, and strong!

- 20' shooting head of T-17 (340 grains)

- 4' 25# Fluorocarbon leader

- 9" long 6/0 articulated keel-weighted baitfish pattern - something I made up last night, I'll post pictures when I get a chance.

 

So, with the above rig, I tried every which way to duplicate the "verticle jigging" motion Alex and Mike have dialed in.  I'd cast up stream, let it sink until it was directly below us (or so we thought), then effectively strip or jig the rod to acheive the up/down motion.  Problem was, my fly and head would take twice as long to sink back down than their jigs after each jerk ( = less fishing time), and whenever I did hang up on the bottom, it was usually somewhere other than straight below us, meaning the line was bellying in the currents and a tight, straight line was nearly impossible to maintain (read - slack!). 

 

So, I started casting up and across current, letting the fly and head dig in deep, then once it was running along the bottom we'd drift at the speed of the current allowing me to keep the fly in the zone the whole time.  I'd give it one or two hard, sharp strips, then let the stripped in line pay back out and the fly sink again, usually about a three or four count.  So basically - strip, STRIP!!, 1,2,3, strip, STRIP!!, 1,2,3, strip, STRIP, 1,2,3..................... 

 

Besides the nice Striper pictured above, I inadvertantly foul-hooked two big cats, one of which was well over 30#.  They fight hard enough when fair-hooked, imagined wrestling one out of the deep when it's hooked in the back.  That thing kicked my butt, and I was glad I brought the 11-weight for the lifting power.  Good test of the knots and rigging too!  That I hung up quite a few times on the bottom as well indicated to us that the necessary depth was acheivable, and maintainable.  

 

Like Mike said, it was on my last drift of the day that I finally hooked the intended species, and I feel like things may have just been switching on when I had to head in to work.  Mike even called the exact moment he thought I'd hook up when I did, "alright Danny, you should be right in the zone now, get ready"....... and BAM!!!

 

This is definitely a technique that will work, and I look forward to trying it several more times this season and really dialing it in.  You absolutely need a motor to be most effective though, covering water is a huge part of it.  Thanks again to Mike and Alex for letting me ride along today, I learned a lot from you guys and had a blast in the process.

 

Dan Davala

 

Oh, and I can't take full credit for the setup, I read some time ago about similar rigging and techniques being deployed by Captain Brady Bounds in the Chesapeake Bay to target BIG sea run Stripers in up to 60 feet of water!!!  Once I read about his tactics, I realized deep water fly fishing is limited only by our imagination and willingness to experiment. 

 

On Monday, April 21, 2014 2:00:13 PM UTC-4, Danny Barrett wrote:

I'm jealous.  I had one take top water Sunday night. and it broke me off so fast I couldn't even enjoy the fight.  so much for 15lb leaders.  nice fish.

Thanks,

Dan Barrett

 

On Mon, Apr 21, 2014 at 1:57 PM, Bob Smith <plane...@aol.com> wrote:

So what was his method?

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[Bob Smith]

Good job Dan. 

I have a similar rig spooled up. Big reel, 30' of lead core with a braided running line big enough to grasp, though I wouldn't want a fish ripping line out if I wasn't wearing gloves. The lead core tends to tangle on the bottom unless I'm in really deep water. I'm going to cut it back 5' and see if that helps.

I'm going out tomorrow and plan to spend the morning fishing for stripers with that set up.

I gave up after an hour the last time out due to the rowing crews making casting impossible. I saw  Alex and Mike having a conversation with one of the chase boat captains that day. I hope that did some good towards getting them to respect the boats out fishing.

I watched Mark Binsted deal with a tail hooked Hshad a week ago, I can't imagine the PAIN of dealing with a foul hooked cat.

Bob Smith

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[Eric Y.]

Good work, Dan. Now if only I had a motor... Reminds me of an article in Eastern Fly Fishing from probably 2009 or 2010. Some kid is out on a jetty with a spey rod pulling in striper after striper and the author keeps coming up empty. Finally he goes to talk to the kid about how he was so productive only to find the kid had put a 4oz bucktail and 50lb braid on a 10wt spey rod. 

[Bob Smith]

"a 4oz bucktail and 50lb braid on a 10wt spey rod"

Believe me I've thought of doing something along those lines but I have a spinning outfit now so I don't have to desecrate a fly rod and shame myself.

Bob Smith

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On Apr 21, 2014, at 5:04 PM, "Eric Y." <theeri...@gmail.com> wrote:

Good work, Dan. Now if only I had a motor... Reminds me of an article in Eastern Fly Fishing from probably 2009 or 2010. Some kid is out on a jetty with a spey rod pulling in striper after striper and the author keeps coming up empty. Finally he goes to talk to the kid about how he was so productive only to find the kid had put a 4oz bucktail and 50lb braid on a 10wt spey rod. 

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[Trent Jones]

Dan that is freaking awesome!!! I was cautiously optimistic that your rig was going to get the job done. Very pleased by the result and to see a well thought out plan have success.

I am sure that kid on the jetty was pretty happy he threw convention to the wind as well, and spent a few dollars on braid and bucktails to haul in fish after fish….better than shaming himself by buying a spinning outfit.

Bob, I couldn’t find a font for playful banter, but trust me, I did look.

-Trent Jones

On Monday, April 21, 2014 5:10:44 PM UTC-4, Bob Smith wrote:

"a 4oz bucktail and 50lb braid on a 10wt spey rod"

Believe me I've thought of doing something along those lines but I have a spinning outfit now so I don't have to desecrate a fly rod and shame myself.

Bob Smith

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 21, 2014, at 5:04 PM, "Eric Y." <theeri...@gmail.com> wrote:

Good work, Dan. Now if only I had a motor... Reminds me of an article in Eastern Fly Fishing from probably 2009 or 2010. Some kid is out on a jetty with a spey rod pulling in striper after striper and the author keeps coming up empty. Finally he goes to talk to the kid about how he was so productive only to find the kid had put a 4oz bucktail and 50lb braid on a 10wt spey rod. 

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[Nate Gabig]

What a great story and even the pictures to prove the method works!  Wouldn't surprise me in the least if you could get a variation of that setup/story/success published in a fly fishing mag.

On Easter Sunday I met a real nice guy, Dennis, who was anchored in flats off FC in his port-a-boat and he must have caught 50+ perch in an hour or two, almost every cast was a double hookup.  I wonder if they are what the striper have chased upriver.

I've tried a few times now to drift through that same section of the VA side of the river with 4oz weighted Berkley Gulp eels...but only seem to get snagged on the bottom.  Not even the blue cats want to eat them so you know it's bad!     http://www.stripers247.com/phpBB2/showthread.php?t=17388


I'm taking a weekend off the river to head into the Shenandoah for some brookies - good luck guys!   Hope to have a good report on Jeremy's Run on Monday.
Nate

[Lane Smith]

How expensive is that setup Dan? Minus the rod? Could you ballpark it?

[Bob Smith]

Got an old 350 grain line and some monofilament or running line. If not get a length of lead core and go to Bass Pro For mono or running line. The whole set up should be cheap. I made my rig around 15 years from found materials so it was free.

Bob Smith


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On Apr 25, 2014, at 4:04 PM, Lane Smith <jlane...@gmail.com> wrote:

> How expensive is that setup Dan? Minus the rod? Could you ballpark it?
>

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[Alexander Vu]

Have anyone had any luck on landing stripers on a fly yet this season?  I am new to striped bass game.  Any recs on where I should go and types of flies to use and types of lines or techniques for stripers on the potomac?
thx
Alex

On Monday, April 21, 2014 at 5:10:44 PM UTC-4, Bob Smith wrote:

"a 4oz bucktail and 50lb braid on a 10wt spey rod"

Believe me I've thought of doing something along those lines but I have a spinning outfit now so I don't have to desecrate a fly rod and shame myself.

Bob Smith

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 21, 2014, at 5:04 PM, "Eric Y." <theeri...@gmail.com> wrote:

Good work, Dan. Now if only I had a motor... Reminds me of an article in Eastern Fly Fishing from probably 2009 or 2010. Some kid is out on a jetty with a spey rod pulling in striper after striper and the author keeps coming up empty. Finally he goes to talk to the kid about how he was so productive only to find the kid had put a 4oz bucktail and 50lb braid on a 10wt spey rod. 

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