[Str8-Six]

Anyone ever try this on their skiff?

 

[LowTideFly]

LET'S RIDE

 

[mightyrime]

i have a friend who went tarpon fishing somewhere off tampa. The tarpon fishing was slow but he told me the saw 2 sailfish over 3 days in shallow water and got shots at them. Nobody had ever seen them around the area they were in... sadly no eats.

 

[FlyBy]

I've thrown a fly to two of them here in NC. No luck. Another time I had one hit a fly I was casting at false albacore on a 6 wt. I didn't know what it was, just felt a thump. Then he followed the fly to the boat close enough that I saw him pop up his sail and lunge at it two more times, didn't hit it again. They come in close to shore this time of year and while I was fishing today I heard a charter boat captain that I know, who was within a half mile of me, say on the radio he had one in his prop wash that wouldn't eat. I keep a rigged 12 wt. on the boat all the time just in case.

 

[Str8-Six]

LET'S RIDE

Let’s try it man. You tie the flies and I’ll fly the skiff. We’ll try and net some bait to chum em up. Worst case scenario we catch some Bonito or even better dolphin.

 

[jmrodandgun]

This guy fishes

 

[lemaymiami]

I used to fish sails by myself in a 16' skiff (not on fly -I was trying to catch one on 6lb spin....) out of Key Biscayne... Yes, I hooked a bunch of them using live pilchards, no I never landed one... and being offshore in a small skiff isn't a very good idea at all - but I was a lot younger then (understatement).

Since I got my start on charterboats as a mate all those years ago, I've done a bunch of sailfishing (even took two guys who'd never seen a sailfish and I was the mate on the winning boat - the Lauderdale Billfish tournament in the fall of 1973 first out of 103 boats...).

That said, if you need to have a go, your best bet is during the winter season out of Palm Beach to Stuart with a skipper who knows the drill. To put it mildly sailfish on fly is a team effort if you're serious about it - and the angler is just part of the equation. You need to be where there's lots of sails (usually in rough weather) and be able to tease them up to within casting distance - then you need someone on the teasing rod to draw them into a frenzy - then you lay the fly on one... and hang on.

Are there better places than here to go after a sail on fly? You bet - but here in Florida what I've described is the only game in town...

 

[hipshot]

Several of is tried hard (to no avail) in the sixties, down in south Florida. We went about it all wrong. We were trying to cast at sails working bait. Today they tease them up to the transom and you slap them in the head with a fly. We never thought of doing it that way.

 

[Bruce J]

That guy above holding the sail caught it on Christian Yergen’s boat while tarpon fishing on the flats. There’s a good video on Christian’s site and many other places.

 

[msmith719]

I've seen lots of sails in 15-25 feet of water in the Keys when ballyhoo are schooling up over the patch reefs. They're usually fired up and going crazy on the bait so they'd probably whack a big fly if it appeared in front of them.

 

[lemaymiami]

Yes, you might get a shot at a sail showering bait up on the shallow reefs at the right time of year... You could also win the lottery... I once had a small blue marlin up next to the center console I was in down in Key West years ago but I was too busy reaching for my camera instead of a rod... That little fish (about eight feet long... ) made two circles around our drifting boat almost close enough to touch -and we just stood there - mouths open...

 

[Smackdaddy53]

My guide buddy I frequently fish with was fishing the outside if the jetties last summer with four clients and they saw a big shadow by the last rock. He had one if the guys thread a frozen sardine (snapper bait for the afternoon) on a 2/0 kahle hook and cast at it...second cast it ate and a 3 1/2 hour fight ensued. They got a few good photos of it as he fought the fish on a medium light inshore rod with a Penn Battle 3000 spinning reel spooled with 20 pound braid. They got it close to the boat and the hook popped out. Pretty much unheard of here on the middle coast of Texas.

 

[sidelock]

It is my understanding that Atlantic sails don't tease to the transom like their Pacific cousins commonly do.

 

[Cronced]

There is a guy named Fly Navarro who catches lots of billfish on flies every year, including sails in South florida if I remember correctly. I don't know if he guides. I just know it's a name that does what you're asking about. I'll let you do the homework. It's certainly doable.

 

[SomaliPirate]

I thought this thread was "sail cat on fly". Did that last fall on accident. I don't recommend it.

 

[eightwt]

I thought this thread was "sail cat on fly".

That's one of the reasons I use a stripping towel aboard. They pull ok though.

 

[msmith719]

It is my understanding that Atlantic sails don't tease to the transom like their Pacific cousins commonly do.

Someone lied to you! That's the common way of catching sails during the winter run around Palm Beach. They back up to a bait ball with sails working them over and throw live chum and fish with light gear. Sails are not large fish and 15-20 lb spinning tackle works just fine on them.

 

[sidelock]

Someone lied to you! That's the common way of catching sails during the winter run around Palm Beach. They back up to a bait ball with sails working them over and throw live chum and fish with light gear. Sails are not large fish and 15-20 lb spinning tackle works just fine on them.

Sorry but that's not what we are talking about here. The subject and OP is "sailfish on fly" where they are teased close to the transom trolling bait and/or hardware and then the switch is made when the fish is within fly casting distance from the transom, the teasers are pulled out of the water and the fly is cast to the fish. Complete different ball game !

 

[Str8-Six]

Nice to hear it’s doable. I think a sail on fly has to be right up there with Tarpon.