Gearing up for a bit SWFF

[Clan Ford]

My family are abandoning Islay for the south of France this summer and I've decided that I'm going to have a real go at a bit SWFF.  I've got one of the Neilson Powerflex 9ft 8 weight, ebay jobs and an intermediate line (was thinking about pike when the gear was purchased) and that will be my base out fit.  Target species is likely to be Bass and Mullet.  I'll tie up a selection of clousers and bread flies and try get hold of a cheap floating line.

If anyone has any suggestions or recommebdation for a line, fly patterns even types of hooks, I'd be happy to hear about them.

Norm

[scotty9]

Hi Norm,

Down at the Kelso fair there was a short speech about tropical fishing, they recommended tropical lines which are made with a stiffer plastic as our standard lines apparently can soften too much for casting. Something to bear in mind, I have no experience whether this is or isn't the case but I have no reason not to believe the guy that was talking.

[zeolite]

Last year I was gearing up for a move to Malaysia and it was then the issue of warm water affecting lines in a tropical climate. I doubt the Med would be warm enough to have a significant effect.
I would have a slow sinker or intermediate to cut through the waves although maybe a long polyleader would probably do the job. I haven't done much swffing but when i was chasing seatrout in Stonehaven Bay the waves would take the line all over the place.

[corsican dave]

don't bother with a tropical line for europe. they'll be way too stiff. you're better off getting a specialist cold water line. cheap option is the cheapest intermediate you can get, using the poly leaders as you suggest. posh option is the cortland 444sl classic 15' ghost tip. it's mint green with a clear tip. absolutely superb and quite a decent line for troots, too. should get change from ?40.

in addition to your clousers, try a range of gotchas or crazy charlies (basically the same tying) or even some seaducers (hackle flies). i quite like whistlers, too. i would do hook sizes from about a 6 to 1/0. don't go overboard. sea fish aren't that fussy and hit like express trains.

take a look at the ukswff forum: http://www.ukswff.co.uk/forum/index.php

lots of advice, far more experience than i have, and a similar brand of sarcasm (just to make you feel at home!) :wink:

[River Chatter]

The normal lines we use are designed for cold water and so they go really limp in tropical water.  Z's right about the Med.  I've fished for mullet there before and got on fine with an ordinary floating line.  Mullet are really difficult to fool with a fly in my experience.  I've even resorted to chucking out some bread before chucking my bread fly in amongst them and still struggled.  If you can find a spot holding bass that would be my choice.  As for flies, what Dave said.

[corsican dave]

yeah, the mullet are little buggers! quite irresistible though. we once spent over two hours flicking flies, bread flake and you name it at some monsters in lymington harbour. loads of mouthings, follows etc didn't hook a damned thing! :lol: and we missed last orders... now THAT's dedication for you :

don't know where you're heading, norm; but i remember watching some big shoals of bass & mullet cruising underneath me while we were climbing on the calanques, near marseille. nice spot for the family too... :wink:

[Clan Ford]

Thanks for the input guys,

As I mentioned I've already got the intermediate line.  I'll get a floater so I can try for the mullet.  I'm going to Banuyls Sur Mer right on the border with Spain on the Mediterranean coast.  My wife's french mate and family stay there.  I was beginning to sweat a little as it looked like we were on Ryan Air and the chances of getting any tackle on the flight were slim - but we got a really good deal from Eurostar.  So we leave Edinburgh Waverley at 7 in the morning and arrive Perpignan at 10 in the evening.  A long trip but not too many luggage restrictions   Whether I can get much fishing in is another question but I will try :twisted:

Anyone got any suggestions for a cheap floater?  I suppose I'm after a WF 8 or maybe a 9.  I've not really played with the Neilsen but it seems very stiff so I'm thinking of overlining it a touch.  I don't really do heavy lines?  Does line colour matter much in the sea?  I've seen a bright yellow line for ?10 but my trouty instincts find it a bit garish...

Norm

[scotty9]

Norm, interestingly I bought some mullarkey mill ends for practice at the casting club. I got a chance to give them a thorough testing yesterday. For ?3.99 they are pretty darn good! The have slight memory but it doesn't seem to show up when on the water, only when you pull it off the reel. They cast well, I don't know what the tapers are but I found them very pleasant casting, the downside is the coating has maybe one lump per line, they are seconds after all. I'd say definitely worth looking at, I don't think the slight coating issues would reduce the breaking strain much if any. I tried a DT5 and WF5, I can only presume the heavier ones are roughly the same. They definitely aren't as good as my more expensive rio, sa lines etc but at the price they perform way above what you'd expect. If you're after something cheap that's what I'd go for