If Shute fishes alone, he often sets up in a place he knows holds fish and uses a Power Pole to hold the boat steady. It’s a good angle to see fish, but you need polarized sunglasses to see red drum in the water.” I usually pole while standing on the platform. “I’ve got a trolling motor, but I mostly use that to cruise marsh edges to look for fish. Best conditions are having the wind behind you because it’s hard to cast accurately into a stiff or cross wind. The goal is to put the fly in front of him. You’re looking down for reds in 1 to 2 feet of water. “Standing on a platform can make this a sight-fishing game, then it’s really fun. (My) boat only draws about 6 inches of water, so it can get into shallow water where red fish are in spartina grass, eating the little crabs, minnows and other critters. “The most effective way to hunt them in the marshes and creeks is to have one person poling from a platform (at the stern, above the outboard) and the other standing at the bow with the rod. “It really takes two people to fly fish for red drum,” he said. Once the fly settles on the surface, Shute strips line back in 1 1/2- to 2-foot lengths while standing at the front of his skiff. Shute prefers a black/gold Clouser fly, but some anglers like grey/white and black/orange in similar patterns. “You need forward-weighted line, which helps, but there’s no weight except the line, and that makes it susceptible to being blown around.” “You’re not casting heavy terminal tackle, like you would with a baitcaster or spinning rods, trying to drop a half-ounce barrel weight on the bottom, a weighted lure or throwing a popping cork toward the shoreline,” Shute said. Then, know you’ll have to accomplish that feat with wind blowing, trying to steer your fly well off-target. Casting a 3- to 3 1/2-inch fly that weighs as much as a piece of crumpled tissue paper and getting it to land inside a 2-foot circle from 40 to 50 feet is the test. Once an angler gains casting proficiency, initial trips with an expert will pay dividends in the long run.įor red drum, Shute suggests an 8- or 9-weight rod with 90-percent floating line as backing, with the last 30 feet tapered leader. If you don’t, you’ll get frustrated, and you may quit practicing as much as you should.” “Practice 15 or 20 minutes, then quit and come back to it two hours later. “The main thing is get someone to show you the basic elements of fly-casting,” Shute said. Shute, who says he’s self-taught as a fly-caster, cut the barbs off a fly and spent hours casting in his yard. “I learned a lot there actually are several ways to cast flies, including overhead and at 45-degree angles,” said Shute, who chose an off-the-shoulder approach because he believes overhand casts may spook red drum and side-arm casts limit a fly-rod angler’s movements. He practiced long and hard to apply what he’d absorbed. Shute learned fly-rod fundamentals by attending saltwater tackle shows and watching seminars by experts. “I fish Scott and Loomis reels, but those are just personal favorites.” “Good, medium-quality reels can cost from a low of $200 to $500,” he said. Equipment isn’t cheap, but that depends on individual anglers. Shute recommends anglers talk to an expert to find the right equipment, basically to match the type of fishing to rod, reel and line requirements for the species they’ll pursue and where they’ll fish.
FLY FISHING FOR REDFISH HOW TO
As a New York City cab driver once told a fare who asked how to get to Carnegie Hall, “Practice.”
Leaning to use a fly rod efficiently takes time. You have to be able to stalk them or sit for hours, waiting for one or two or a school.” But using a fly, well, that’s an entirely different deal. “Nearly anyone can catch a drum with live or cut bait or artificial lures. “Redfish in shallow water with a fly rod is a lot like bowhunting deer,” said Shute, who has been twice appointed to the N.C. Arguably, no one does it better than Joe Shute, 57, the owner of Atlantic Beach’s Cape Lookout Fly Shop, who spends most of his time tying flies for red drum, Spanish and king mackerel, albacore, amberjack, bluefish and cobia, and even builds huge trolling lures for tuna and marlin fishermen.Īlthough arthritis in his right shoulder limits the number of casts he makes these days - after making thousands of them for years - Shute still takes anglers to the marshes behind Morehead City and Beaufort in pursuit of red drum.
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