Jeff Breidenbach says: This is what I always say, people think rockfish are stupid and a forgone conclusion, but to target them on fly and then to come up with new ways to catch them and under specific conditions…therein lies the challenge that makes them an excellent game fish…so I give you, rockfish on top water fly. It takes about 20-30 minutes to “develop” the location into hitting top water, but once you dial it in, they will come. I love these guys! I do eat them…they’re amazing, but limit is 5/day and when you catch 30-40 per day you get to release quite a few! ••••••••••••••••• #kodiak #alaska #alaskalife #skifflife #flyfishing #flytying #tibor #tiborreels #grundens #sageflyfish #simmsfishing #vanstaal #rangerboats #saltwaterfly #saltwaterflyfishing #bass #topwater #catchandeat #catchandrelease
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robmcqueen_22
@kodiak_fly Could you describe how you “develop” the location into hitting top water? I’ve targeted them around shallow reefs with a fast sink line and heavy weighted streamers and they are a riot. I would be interested in trying out your method of bringing them to surface.
mikebarbzz
Great Job ⚡
kodiak_fly
Hey man, @robmcqueen_22 it’s just a matter of getting them into a frenzy. Depends on how you run your boat, but most guys on gear catch them trolling a spot or a blind drift. I fish from the bow with a trolling motor while watching the sonar on a full swinging tide. It makes for more complicated boat control…especially over a shallow pinnacle…but it allows me to find the stack of fish on the tide and then work just them. I work them with a T20 head that I make and an unweighted fly. Cast the fly through the school and get them pissed off and when you have fish chasing it up and snapping at your motor prop, it’s time for the topwater rod. Best tip: get a fish up, then stop your fly over the fish. Rockfish are lazy!
robmcqueen_22
@kodiak_fly So you’re using a sinking setup to get down to the school and draw them to surface. Then once they are at surface, is your topwater rod rigged with a floating line or just slow sink? And are you still using “wet” flies at this point?
kodiak_fly
@robmcqueen_22 , I normally carry several rods rigged for differing depths. I’ll get on scene, find the fish stack and cast a fly to them. As you start catching fish, they get frenzied. Once they’re upset, a fish will hit your fly from 40′ down. If you zoom in on the pic, you’ll see I had a foam head fly on but a deerhhair topwater or any shallow column fly will work once you find the biomass and get them lit up!
repyourcatch
Nice ?
fosterpacks
Brilliant