Top - my stealth flies and Enrico Puglisi tie          Top Puglisi material high tie

Hi everyone we fished the narrow River on Thursday, 11/08 Friday, 11/09, and, Monday, 11/12, all on the outgoing tide. We fished Middle Bridge, Sprague Bridge, the mouth, and, the beach from the Dune’s Club back to the mouth. The bait has been very heavy being drawn out from the pulling tide and both shad and stripers have been waiting to receive them. Bunker and Silversides being the norm.

People are using both intermediate and full sinking fly lines and both are working well. The faster the intermediate line the better. With a faster mover tide I attach a three foot section of L-13 (Cortland Mini Gray Sink Tip Kits) sinking tip to the end of my two foot butt section coming off of my fly line. This three foot Cortland section has two 30lb. 4”long monofilament loops attached to both ends. I attach these mono loops with a nail knot and at the end of each, tie a perfection loop. These kits come supplied with white nylon loops that can also be used. I don’t like using them because I have experienced this type of connector to give way, break after a while in use. These Cortland sections give me just enough depth and addition sinking speed that I need in this situation.

With the water moving fast as it does in the first few hours of the tide I fish my flies (two, one a dropper) dead drift. I’d say, oh, about 60% of the time a fish will take the fly when fishing it this way. Boy, this is a great way to hook fish, dead drifting the fly. If I do not get a strike on the dead drift I start stripping in line just as the line starts to curve at the end of the drift. You need to try different speeds at this; I start with a fast retrieve and then slow it down if fast doesn’t work.

I have not taken any keepers mostly shad and schoolies. But I can tell you that the stripers are getting a little bigger and fatter. One of the many wonderful mystiques of fly fishing both fresh and salt is the constant anticipation of  of hooking into the “Big One”.

Best always, Ed  www.edlombardoflyfish.com