Sea bass fishing on the fly, the equipment needed for success

As with any technique, you need the right equipment to fish comfortably and efficiently. Fly-fishing for sea bass, which involves animating light lures between two waters, also requires special equipment.

Thierry Cendrier Published on April 30, 2024

Constraints

Fly fishing requires the use of a light and coherent outfit, whether in terms of rod, reel or braid. Indeed, casting and animating very light 4-5" lures, sometimes combined with a 5-7g lead head, cannot be done with a heavy, unwieldy outfit...

The reel and the braid

Fast animation, sometimes using the wrist, requires a small, lightweight reel. In addition, the use of small lures and therefore of a suitable rod requires the use of a fine braid, for the sake of consistency but also and above all to be able to cast your lures correctly and so that its descent into the water layer is slowed down as little as possible...

I recommend using a light reel (approx. 200-220gr) in size 2500 fitted with PE1 braid. Depending on the majority of lures used, you can choose either very light (5-7gr lead head) or rather heavy (15-20gr lead head) PE0.8 or PE1.2 braid combined with a 20 to 30/100 fluorocarbon leader.

You'll be using a fast rod and sometimes thin leaders, and bites can be violent, so I'd advise you to set your brake fairly soft, especially as you'll be fishing away from the bottom and obstacles!

The cane, what needs?

For efficient fly fishing and dry animation series, your rod should be fast-action and between 6.8 and 7.2 feet long (roughly 2.05 and 2.20 m).

As regards power, depending on the majority of lures used, you can opt for a 5/25g or a 10/35g.

Finally, although a resonant and sensitive rod can provide comfort in detecting bites and the bottom on the first run, it is not essential. However, a 7-foot-long fast-action rod can be an excellent tool for scratch fishing if it proves to be effectively resonant, so this may be an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone...

Which blank to mount?

In the same spirit of versatility, here is a series of blanks that allow you to fish efficiently on the fly, but are also very resonant, making them an excellent tool for scraping...