Migration to Dropshot

[Andre]

His name is Andre.

*hides*

Heh heh.... if it was anywhere else I would probably agree, but no, sorry...never been to Blakes. Can't fish with a city behind me, it kind of screws the back cast a bit...

[Pierre]

It is effective but you can put much more life in a fly and it can look like the real thing.

If you work a drop shot right it is FAR more realistic than a fly. I still choose to FF in the salt. I love being out on the reefs and casting a fly, I don't want to change that, for nothing.

Ja the wind can make things difficult. Just compensate. Have you seen how far you can cast a fly with a nice SE behind you

Andre , don't worry about the back cast, come with me, open country, only be ready for a swim

[ZorG]

I am flying down to Umhlanga tomorrow and staying until Sunday. I'm only taking hand luggage so I had to choose between my drop shot and fly rods and as I look at my bag now I see a nice clean Stealth GT staring back at me.

I think both styles have their place, especially if it is windy, but this is not a fishing trip as such so if I do get a chance I'd like to catch something nice on fly.

[ed herbst]

I have read this thread with great interest, not least because I now live in Hermanus and would like to explore marine angling - preferably with a fly rod.

My sole exposure so far to salt water fly fishing occurred about a decade ago when I picked up Bricky Branfield's Orvis 9-weight Boron fly rod. A few years later I had to have a double hernia op.

As I am in my mid sixties, built like a jockey, and suffer from arthritic fingers and tennis elbow, I would be stupid to try to cast poppers into the wind for leervis.

About 25 years ago, I was potentially given the answer.

After my first few fly fishing trips for trout on the Smalblaar stream for trout, I decided to expand my horizons and try stillwater trout.

I bought a sinking line and was taken to Idas Valley Dam near Stellenbosh by a friend who, in addition to being a keen flyfisher, was an excellent all-round angler, having earned his provincial colours in both rock and surf and freshwater bait fishing competitions.

We were casting off the very high wall of the dam and after an hour of casting my sinking line probably not much more than ten metres, waiting for it to sink and then slowly inching the fly back, I was nearly demented with boredom.

My friend had the answer: "I'll show you something that is fly fishing but not really fly fishing - but you must not tell anyone," he said, glancing nervously around to see whether we had company.

As there was nobody else around, he hauled two spinning rods from the boot of his car, attached a ball sinker about the szie of my little finger nail to a dropper about a metre from the point to which he attached a large Alexandra streamer.

With a flick of his wrist, he lofted the fly into the far distance, waited a few seconds and started retrieving.

Within seconds his rod bent and within a minute I was following his example - with the same result.

In no time, we had half a dozen twelve to fourteen inch trout on the bank.

This was not surprising. We were covering far more water, the sinker was getting the fly down and, on the retrieve, the fly was bobbing up and down in a way that the fish clearly found enticing.

What I find attractive about using a spinning rod with a fly is the fly tying potentail waiting to be explored.

I have long been intrigued about the potential of adding plastic lips to streamer flies with a lot of built-in movement like Jack Gartside's Soft Hackle Streamer.

There are two commercial possibilities. Marc Petitjean markets his Magic Head and, in the UK, Hopkins & Holloway market a plastic lip called the Fly Wobbler. Combine these with a weighted head and a soft marabou tail and you have the potential of a streamer with far more intrinsic movement than an articulated bass plug or spinner which will also land a lot more softly than metal or plastic lures.

As these components are quite expensive, you could experiment - as Roman Moser has done - with sequins to provide the side to side wobble that a plastic lip imparts.

[Andre]

Hi Ed, welcome and thanks for your contribution to the thread.
I have also tried a similar technique with my youngest son, with a fly, tied about a half meter above a small ball sinker. Mainly for the reason that he is unable to cast a fly rod, and therefore won't have much fun on a fishing trip, especially when dad and older brother are having all the fun. Yes it does work well, and I have no problem in using it as a technique for a youngster or anyone else. There are a few instances where I would have some issue, like at Lakensvlei, where it is specifically a fly fishing venue, where the incorrect perception could be created if a spinning rod is seen to be used, but generally, no problem with it. I for one, am not about to put my fly rods aside, in favour of the drop shot rig, even though it might mean fewer fish, but hey, any type of fishing, is better than no fishing at all.

[Niel Myburgh]

Welcome to the forum, and a post that makes you think.

[petercoetzee]

Hmmmm I dont think depth can be used as an excuse. Ive often put ball sinkers on piano wire (between haywire twists) when my line hasnt sunk fast enough...

Also with the variety of line products available you can service almost any depth, especially in fresh water.

thats my 10c

[Andre]

Hmmmm I dont think depth can be used as an excuse. Ive often put ball sinkers on piano wire (between haywire twists) when my line hasnt sunk fast enough...

Also with the variety of line products available you can service almost any depth, especially in fresh water.

thats my 10c

yes, but with a ball sinker, you are going to get to the depth about 1000 times quicker. You will also have a much further cast with a spinning rod, enabling much more coverage of water, and you will also be able to give the "fly" much more movement due to the added weight, and the vigorous jig action you can get from a spinning rod, which will probably break most flyrods.
A ball sinker the size of your little finger nail, will never ever be able to be cast with a fly rod. Don't care who is trying to cast it, just isn't possible, not even with a 12 weight.

[petercoetzee]

here you go... that ball sinker was about the size of my pointer finger nail....

Was fishing a 14wt casting a sinking shooting head. And you'll be happy to know it was a Sage and you could hardly feel it when the loop unwrapped on the back cast, although the fly did create a lot of wind resistance

[Andre]

here you go... that ball sinker was about the size of my pointer finger nail....

Was fishing a 14wt casting a sinking shooting head. And you'll be happy to know it was a Sage and you could hardly feel it when the loop unwrapped on the back cast, although the fly did create a lot of wind resistance

Wow, ok then...... flip, I would never have guessed that such a weight could be cast with a fly rod. Granted, never tried to cast a 14 wt, but now I know it can be done.