Elf / Blue Fish

[Jason vL]

Good morning All

as a matter of interest has anyone ever tried targeting Elf / Blue fish with fly?

Usually fished with a bit of steal leader and a cork float on conventional fishing tackle. I have tried with my rock and surf and bass fishing setup and had great success but wondering if one can fly fish for them?

very ferocious fish and puts up one hellava fight. they normally take on either sardine or anchovy and those are relatively easy to replicate fly wise. I have even used the silver paper from my cigarette packet (danger: smoking can kill you) and had success.

they do destroy the paper in one take.

[Kevin James]

Hi mate,

One of the easiest fish to catch on fly.

They love a blue/white combination fly with a smattering of flash through it. Tie on a 1/0 and about 10cm overall.
Having said that, when they are on the chew they will eat anything.
Clousers, ALF's and general bait fish patterns.

We used to spoon for them so a lot of the early flies were based on a white buck tail and lots of flash and these were deadly.

I used to also use a wire bite trace - haywire twist - but to be honest, it killed the action of the fly a bit.
Go for a heavier bite tippet in mono.

You may lose the occasional one with a bite off, but you'll have a lot more hits too.

Freshly eaten, they are also some of the nicest fish going.

[Jason vL]

Hi mate,

One of the easiest fish to catch on fly.

They love a blue/white combination fly with a smattering of flash through it. Tie on a 1/0 and about 10cm overall.
Having said that, when they are on the chew they will eat anything.
Clousers, ALF's and general bait fish patterns.

We used to spoon for them so a lot of the early flies were based on a white buck tail and lots of flash and these were deadly.

I used to also use a wire bite trace - haywire twist - but to be honest, it killed the action of the fly a bit.
Go for a heavier bite tippet in mono.

You may lose the occasional one with a bite off, but you'll have a lot more hits too.

Freshly eaten, they are also some of the nicest fish going.

Thanks for the response Kevin James

I found a few vids on youtube of guys catching elf on fly. looks like really exciting stuff. thanks for all the information to. I would think that some steel would make the casting alot more difficult and affect the fly action negatively.

and yes some salt and pepper in a pan this fish does make for some of the best eating.

Jason

[Booger Rose]

I've taken some Elf while fishing for small Leeries in Klein Brak, Stilbaai and one time on the Breede as well. The biggest problem is their teeth!

When bait fishing for them, I've started using the extra long shank hooks in size 6/o. in this way I don't use steel anymore and it is also easy to tie on the pilchard without messing up the trace. The long shank hook work brilliantly and I've taken a lot of Elf like this.

Which brings me to my question: Are there any long shank hooks available to tie a fly for Elf? The shank on the bait hook is about 10cm, and that seems enough to keep their teeth away from the line.

[Booger Rose]

Oh, and a fresh Elf fillet is the best eating fish in the sea!

[Vlamgat]

I use the Mustad 34007 in size from 4 to 1. Tie the fly far as possible down the hook shank away from the eye.
No trace required.

[Jason vL]

one of the things I love about forums is the sharing of information...when I posted this I had no clue as where to start and now with a bit of info I have a much better understanding of what may be needed to catch these fish.

Gentlemen thank you.

Jason

[Niel Malan]

Agree, if the shad are there they are easy to catch. I have had them jumping right out of the water trying to smash a flipper fly.

Just caught a few small shad in the Keurbooms river at Plettenberg Bay while going for garrick. In December I got a nice one of 54 cm there.

You can get Mustard 34007 long shank hooks at Goodwood Sports in Cape Town. If you are specifically targeting shad you need to have a durable fly and can use a combination of supreme hair and flash tied on the back of a long-shank hook. I like dark green, lighter green over clear (most). Give it a nice eye. This fly looks very like the half beak small fish found in some estuaries. Recently picked up a 72 cm garrick on that fly at the Breede River.

Have fun!