My favorite saltwater destination is South Padre Island, TX. Just a short plane trip from Houston lands you in the heart of the Laguna Madre and South Padre Island. The Laguna Madre contains miles and miles of seemingly endless shallow grass flats that provide the fly angler with great places to hunt for redfish and speckled sea trout. Another game fish, snook, are also frequently caught, and in the late summer and fall, the area around the jetties attracts tarpon in the 30- to 60-pound range. In fact, fly fishers can attempt the “Texas Grand Slam,” which entails catching a redfish, speckled trout, snook and tarpon all in the same day.
Fly fishers can access the jetty from a county park or try wading to the flats along the island. Be forewarned, however, that the jetty rocks are slippery and stingrays are sometimes encountered while wading, so both should be done with caution. When the flats fishing goes flat, then head to Padre Island Brewing Co., the island’s only brewpub. Here the beer is never “flat,” although I do understand that a shortage may occur during spring break.
Finally, for warm water fly fishing, my own backyard, the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, is my favorite place–mainly because there are plenty of accessible ponds and warm-water rivers and I don’t have to drive too far. One great place, the Eno River, is just five minutes from the house and offers plenty of action for largemouth bass, Roanoke bass and red-breasted sunfish. Several small creeks in the area provide sight casting for 5- to 10-pound carp that will take some of the same fly patterns used for trout. Large reservoirs such as the Harris, Falls and Jordan lakes provide great largemouth action. The Triangle also boasts some great brewpubs. Carolina Brewery and Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery are both located in Chapel Hill. In Raleigh, Greenshield’s Pub & Brewery, Southend Brewery, and Taps Billiard Brewpub provide warm-water fly fishers with cold-water brews.
What Else Do You Need to Know?
What else does a beer lover need to know about fly fishing? Well, if you are new to the sport, a little information about tackle is helpful.
In a nutshell, fly rods are classified by the “weight” of the line. Fly line weights are measured in grains for the first 30 feet of line. You don’t need to know how many grains a line weighs, just that fly lines range from 1 to 15, with 1-weight being the lightest. Fly rods are designed to cast a certain weight line and your rod, reel and fly line should always “balance” (just the way hop varieties, malt types and yeast selections combine to create a beer of a particular style).
For most freshwater situations, simple fly reels suffice, but for saltwater fish, disc drag reels made of high tech non-corrosive materials are essential. Flies are hand tied using various hooks and materials to imitate the foods fish eat. Flies may be tiny dry flies tied to imitate various aquatic insects, or they may be 6-inch-long streams tied to imitate bait fish eaten by large saltwater fish.
For the basic cold-water trout angler, a 5-weight, 8-foot-long rod is a great choice. Since trout fishing sometimes calls for delicate presentations using light leaders, rods that flex easily are preferred. For large western rivers that require long casts in the wind, you’ll need a rod with stiffer action.
Flies needed depend on the situation and typically “match the hatch” of insects at that point in time. Your local fly shop can provide information. If not, take them a six-pack or better yet a homebrew and I guarantee they will provide plenty of good information.
My favorite types of beer for trout fishing are amber and pale ales, or a good India pale ale. Like fly fishing for trout, these brews are traditional, delicate, and they remind me of the pristine waters trout inhabit.
For the warm-water enthusiast, a 6- to 8-weight rod, 8 to 9 feet, is your best bet. On large, windy lakes, a stiff, fast-action rod will help make longer casts, but a medium-action rod is more forgiving and helps turn over the bulky and often weighted flies. This type of fishing is usually not too delicate; rather, it’s sort of “blue collar” in nature. The water is often “off color” as opposed to crystal clear. Leaders are heavy, and typical flies consist of colorful popping bugs that make a commotion on the water when retrieved or larger streamers imitating wounded baitfish. To do justice to a big, brawling bass, fly fishers ought to drink a stout, or my personal favorite, a black and tan made from Guinness and–of course–Bass Ale.
Since saltwater fly fishing runs the gamut from spooky bonefish to big blue water billfish, fly rods used for saltwater fly fishing run from 6-weight all the way to 15-weight. For most salty fly anglers, an 8- or 9-weight rod, 9 feet long, will handle most situations. Stiff, fast action rods are the choice to boom long-distance casts. For flats fish, flies often imitate shrimp or small crabs, but the dominant fly type for saltwater fishing is streamers tied to imitate all manner of baitfish, tiny or large.
To complete your saltwater outfit, don’t forget a disc drag reel, preferably made from bar stock aluminum loaded with plenty of fly line backing since these fish often run and run and run. The newer, large arbor fly reels may be a good bet for saltwater anglers since they retrieve more line than traditional fly reels to help you catch up to the fish. Sometimes, though, you don’t catch up with the fish but the hot sun and salt air catch up to you. After a day on the salt, I prefer a dry, lighter beer such as a fine pilsner, suitably hopped, or a German-style wheat beer. Nothing seems to quench my thirst better.
Of course, any beer seems to quench my thirst after a long day on the water. And that’s all that a fly fisher needs to know about beer. At the end of the day, no matter whether you catch lots of big fish or have to sit at your computer writing an article while your buddies are downstairs trying to fix the boat, your fly fishing trip will be successful as long as can hook into your favorite beer.
