Salt water fly-fishing has become increasingly popular over the last few years, with both UK fishing, for bass in particular, and destination fishing for the likes of bonefish and tarpon now popular alternatives to fishing for trout and salmon. I first caught the bug over ten years ago, fishing for bonefish, snook and jacks on a holiday to Florida. The sheer power and speed of these fish is something else and the challenge of catching them on fly was something that attracted me instantly.

Over the last few summers I have concentrated my efforts on the Cape Cod area. Cape Cod is a saltwater fly fishers’ paradise. Fishing for striped bass starts with their spring migration in April and peaks around the end of May. The warmer water of summer forces them into the deeps, only for them to appear inshore once again in the autumn. At these times of year, fishing off the many public beaches can be truly excellent, and a pro beach Guide with a 4 x 4 is the best way for the newcomer to approach this exciting way of fishing.

Once you know the areas, it is possible to venture out yourselves to known hotspots such as Nauset beach on Cape Cod or the famous Lobsterville Beach on Martha’s Vineyard. A nine-weight rod plus clear intermediate and fast sinking lines are the best ways to approach these guys, with flies such as Lefty’s Deceiver, Clouser Minnows and Surf Candys in size 2 to 2/0 being the order of the day.

Bluefish appear around the same time and stick around all summer. Shoals as big as an acre can sometimes be seen smashing bait. You can often smell the oil from a previous ‘bust’ before the fish show at the surface again. Tactics and flies are similar to those for the stripers, although you need a short tippet of Tyger wire to prevent flies being bitten off by the vicious teeth that bluefish possess.

My holiday visits to the Cape are normally in August, which coincides with the summer run of tuna species. These ocean-going pelagics are amongst the fastest and most challenging fish you can catch on a fly rod. Dependent on the time of year, you may run into bonito, false albacore, skipjack tuna and school bluefin tuna. The latter represent the biggest challenge, with fish up to 90 lb possible: a challenging proposition on a fly rod!

The typical school-sized tuna, say up to 30 lb, can be handled on a 10 to 12-weight set-up. I did land a few up to 25 lb on a 9-weight, but this is not recommended, as these fish have such a well-developed cardiovascular system that they can run and run and it’s best to tire them out as quickly as possible. The lift at the end of the fight is unbelievably tough and you feel like you have gone 15 rounds with Mike Tyson once you land a fish!

The bigger fish need 13 and 14-weight rods and reels holding around 500 yards of 65 lb gelspun backing. Even a 5 or 6 lb bonito will strip your flyline and 50 yards plus of backing on its first run. Flies are typically not large, being tied to imitate either sandeels or peanut bunker (juvenile menhaden) but must be tied on ultra strong hooks such as Owner Aki.

One thing is for sure, these fish will test any weakness in your tackle. I have blown-up reels and broken rods dealing with these ocean speedsters and, for me, seeing your reel emptying of hundreds of yards of backing even against a drag pressure of 7 or 8 pounds is the most exciting thing I have ever encountered in fly-fishing.

When you consider that, for example, IGFA 30 lb class boat gear can put 28-30 lb of drag pressure on a large tuna and is obviously much more suited to the heavy lifting at the end of the fight, then you can appreciate the task of landing a 50 lb tuna on a fly rod. Even the smaller fish are fantastic sport on lighter gear and will test your tackle to the limit.

The technique for finding these true pelagic fish is to look for surface activity. These fish herd the bait-fish such as sandeels into a huge ball, driving them to the surface, where the feeding frenzy occurs. This can last for a few seconds, particularly when the fish feel pressured or nervous, for example when there are lots of boats around, to a few minutes when huge schools of bait-fish are driven to the surface.

Watching for sign of nervous water, or circling and hovering gulls, helps predict where the fish will blow up next. Different species behave in different ways and a good Guide seems to have a sixth sense for where they will next appear.

With the bigger tuna, the spouts of water driven up by the fish can be so strong that it looks like someone has dropped breeze blocks from a helicopter. The technique for them is to cast as long a line as possible into the melee and strip as fast as possible, with the overhand retrieve (roly-poly) working very well.

I found that the Leven strip worked well, the main thing being to move the flies fast and in a continuous motion. No worry about having to strip-strike these guys: they hit the flies fast, and soon your flyline is heading for the horizon.

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