Overview

Sooner or later every saltwater fly fisher wants to apply their sport to the range and mobility offered by fishing from a boat. Indeed, fly fishing from such a diverse platform does offer the chance for some great catches as well as memorable experiences.

While the complete subject of how to outfit a boat for fly fishing and how to fly fish from the boat could fill a book, it is the intent of this article to provide some insights and tips to help you prepare for your first experience fly fishing from a boat.

Types of Boats for fly Fishing

The most common style of boat thought of from fly fishing is the warm water flats style boat. This craft has a very shallow draft allowing it to be used over shallow flats. It typically has a large open flat deck to fly fish from as the angler stands on the bow.

However such a boat is best suited to sheltered waters. For more open water fishing a variety of boats are effective.

Probably the most commonly used boat is the center console. This style offers both a large open area for casting as well as greater control and safety in choppy water.

Cuddy, walk-around cuddy and of course large sportfisher style boats all can be used as fly fishing platforms for a particular situations. However the size of the deck structures (cabin, towers etc) all contribute to limiting the effectiveness of the craft as a fly fishing platform. That’s not to say these boats aren’t good for fly fishing (don’t try to run 50 miles offshore in 18 foot flats boat!) simply that larger boats or boats with more deck structures don’t offer the free movement of the fly angler that a flats or center console craft allow.

Outfitting the Boat

If you plan on regularly fly fishing from your boat there are some things your should prepare.

Foremost is to "snag-proof" as much as possible your casting area. While a stripping basket does help it is inevitable that line will fall or be blown onto the deck. The key is to minimize the number of fixed objects attached to the boat and deck that your fly line can get caught on. This includes items such as cleats, deck light covers, rod holders, anchor line guides and Bimini top hooks. Ideally these items should be the style that automatically retracts or recesses into the hull when not in use. However, if that is not an option a quick and simple method of temporarily snag-proofing these items is to cover them with a wide piece of duct tape. That will help prevent your line from wrapping around obstructions and yet be easy to remove when done fishing.

Similarly, the boat should have sufficient storage to hold tackle bags, tools etc. and keep them off the deck. This will also help reduce snags.

An other item to consider are a railing, especially around the bow of the boat which is the most common fly casting platform. The rail should be very sturdy and well anchored to the deck. It is inevitable you or a guest will lean on the rail to brace yourself when the boat rocks. For safety reasons it should be very secure.

As mentioned above a stripping basket with a basket insert can effectively be used on a boat just as you would from the surf. Alternatively, if a basket won’t work in a situation a 5-gallown bucket with one-third to one-half full of water can also be an effecting container to hold your fly line rather than letting it lay on the deck.

Finally, secure vertical rod holds for your fly rods is a great help instead of placing them in underside rod racks. The difficulty comes in finding good off-the-shelf rod holders for fly rods. Using PVC tubing and wide Velcro you can construct temporary rod holds that slide into the standard non-flyfishing rod holders common aboard most fishing boats. Also, you should position your fly rod holds to keep rods not in use as far away from the casting area as possible. This to help avoid snagging and perhaps breaking angler casts their line.

Fly Casting and Fishing Techniques

Fly cast from boat can often be different and more than a little frustrating for anglers who are use to fishing from the shore line. The following are some ideas for casting techniques and methods for working a fly from a boat:

• Try to position the boat parallel to where you want to cast. That way when someone fly casts the cast is perpendicular (i.e. across) the width of the boat. This will help prevent snagging the structures of the boat (antenna, rods in rod holds, tops and covers etc.) that could happen if the cast is made along the length of the boat.
   
• Typically one caster at a time works the fly rod from the bow area of the boat (assuming a center console or walk-around cuddy style boat). However, if one angler can cast with the opposite arm then two anglers, one from the bow and one from the stern can cast at the same time. For example, a right handed caster in the bow and a left handed caster in the stern.
    
• When you need to work flies deep to reach fish try casting up tide if anchored or up drift if drifting at approximately a 45 degree angle. This allows your fly and fly line (assuming a sinking fly and line) to sink more rapidly as the line swings past the boat.
  
  Also, it may be best to simply strip out and "free spool" line into the current rather than actually casting. Using this technique several fly casters can work their lines simultaneously without need to actually cast. Be sure to allow sufficient time for the line to completely straighten out. A lot of lineout probably has a "belly" that will take longer to straighten out than just the line you can see from the surface. If you don’t let the line fully straighten out you’ll be stripping in but your fly won’t actually be moving very much.
    
• If several fly fishers are on board to give all a chance to fish on each pass try using a casting rotation. Start with one angler in the bow. When he/she makes their cast they walk down the side the boat (clock wise) working their line. Immediately another fly fisher comes round from the other side to the bow to cast, and so on. As the caster works his/her line along the side of the boat and eventually retrieves it back in to the point of needing to cast again they should be near the stern of the boat. The angler simply lifts the fly and line from the water, goes around the other side of the boat and waits their turn for another casting rotation. Further, if the boat is large enough and the anglers skilled at casting the caster can get off a second cast from the stern before having to rotate back up to the bow. Using this technique I’ve seen as many as 6 anglers in center console boat work an area without any tangles or incidents. However, when that many hooks are flying though the air in such a confined space always exercise extreme caution!
    
• If one angler doesn’t mind using non-fly fishing tackle. It may be possible to have the fly caster cast off the bow or stern and another angler using non-fly fishing tackle fish from the opposite end of the boat. As with multiple casters described above extreme caution should be used.
  
• Often you don’t need to waste time fully stripping in the line to recast. This is especially true in fast moving and/or deep waters. Instead, make a number of strips (depending on the situation) then simply "free spool" you line back out into the current. When the line straightens out start stripping again. Be sure to allow sufficient time for the line to completely straighten out. A lot of lineout probably has a "belly" that will take longer to straighten out than just the line you can see from the surface. If you don’t let the line fully straighten out you’ll be stripping in but your fly won’t actually be moving very much.
    
• In fast or deeper water, instead of stripping in your line try using a jigging style similar to using a bucktail or other jig lure. A few twitches with the rod tip is all it takes to give life to a life in the current. As before, be sure to allow sufficient time between jigs to permit the fly line to fully straighten out again.

Conclusion

Fly fishing from a boat offers the saltwater fly fisher numerous opportunities beyond what is available from shore alone. Using good technique and common sense, you can find sport and pleasure in a well equipped and operated boat.

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