June Scup on the Fly

 I've become very interested in catching saltwater bottom fish on the fly in recent years. Scup, fluke, black seabass, tautog... they're not frequently targeted by fly anglers but most of the time they're perfectly willing to take a well presented artificial fly. My methodology has evolved, or rather simplified, withing about the last year to using simple sinking and sink tip lines with a pair of flies and fishing on slow drifts. I'd spent a lot of time trying to use all sorts of drop shot rigs and other such things, most of which proved to be effective at times. They were mostly unnecessary though. What I do now is akin to a typical Great Lakes steelhead and salmon "nymphing" swing, but with a far heavier line and in much deeper water. It works well though. 

Not long ago Noah and I went out for some of the first scup and fluke of the season. He'd already been out a couple times, but this was my first run of the year. He fished primarily with a cheb rig, which is something knew to us and a methodology I intend to apply to tautog in the fall. I was using my 400 grain sink tip, 12 foot leader to 12lb tippet, and a Clouser and worm fly, one tipped with a thing called "fish bites". Fish bites are an artificial attractant Noah had been experimenting with, and being artificial I didn't particularly think it was cheating. Nor do I really care if you do. It wasn't necessary but I did catch more fish because of it.

The fish were averaging pretty large, and most were extremely hefty. We're pretty sure many were gravid females. Though fought pretty well, even on a 10wt. Both Noah and I were having a lot of brief fights though, and having a pretty hard time keeping fish pinned. Had we landed even half of the fish we dropped it would have been a really stellar day, and it wasn't bad to start with. We even tripled up at one point. 

We also got a few other species out there, including a couple sizable sea robins and one small fluke. It was a fun outing and a good start to a season of dredging flies for underrated fish. Most will go back to the depths but a few will end up in the pan.

 Until next time, 

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, C, Franky, Geof, Luke, and Noah for making Connecticut Fly Angler possible. If you want to support this blog, look for the Patreon link at the top of the right side-bar in web version.