# AJ on a flyrod



## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

I should be flogged for taking so long to post this, but a couple weeks ago I went out with Cliphord and Wyld3man. Cliff wanted to catch an AJ on a fly rod. While he wasn't technically fly fishing, he still hooked, fought, and landed an AJ on a flyrod. I'm not sure what the lightest line was on his setup, but it was pretty light. Hopefully he'll chime in and let us know. He hooked it away from structure, but it almost spooled him running. We cleared the other lines and drove the boat after it. Congrats Cliff, I think it was quite a feat.:thumbup:


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Did he cast a fly out, work it back, hook, fight and land the AJ? Then he caught it fly fishing. 

Congrats on his first fly caught AJ


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

That's awesome!! I can honestly say that I never thought of trying to catch one of them on the fly. I've tried for mahi, snapper, etc., but never thought about AJ. Congrats again!


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

Chris V said:


> Did he cast a fly out, work it back, hook, fight and land the AJ? Then he caught it fly fishing.
> 
> Congrats on his first fly caught AJ


It was a jig that he cast out and started working, not a fly, but with all the break offs with huge gear, it was cool to see the fish get landed on something so light.


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

MrFish said:


> That's awesome!! I can honestly say that I never thought of trying to catch one of them on the fly. I've tried for mahi, snapper, etc., but never thought about AJ. Congrats again!


I saw a show where a guy fishing in Alaska caught a halibut on a fly rod. He was using a hand tied fly with a large rod and heavy sinking line. He managed to get one. I'm thinking the same thing could be done for AJ.


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

How far from shore were y'all? Nice video, very well done.


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

aroundthehorn said:


> How far from shore were y'all? Nice video, very well done.


Thanks. I'm not sure, I think its around 10 or 12 miles.


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

Trophyhusband said:


> Thanks. I'm not sure, I think its around 10 or 12 miles.


Cool beans. BTW, I consider that catching the fish on a fly...lots of people cast jigs. 

Are you using a GoPro for that? Mounted on a windshield or something to that effect?


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## swhiting (Oct 4, 2007)

Gotta love the hand drag system. Great job!

Now about the video & editing.... I was hoping to be able to hear the line peel off. Can we assume the music was to eliminate usual and customary boat banter/bashing???? 

Maybe we can guess at some of the conversation... remember the MONGO COBE man?


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

A jig!!!??? Yeah, I will say 99% of flyfishers will not consider that fly fishing but who cares.

I've caught quite a few on a fast sinking line with large, bright flies like I would use for cobia. They are a challenge to keep out of structure but a quality rod and reel will get it done.


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

Chris V said:


> A jig!!!??? Yeah, I will say 99% of flyfishers will not consider that fly fishing but who cares.
> 
> I've caught quite a few on a fast sinking line with large, bright flies like I would use for cobia. They are a challenge to keep out of structure but a quality rod and reel will get it done.


What is the difference between that and casting a weighted fly that you didn't tie yourself, say a fly made out of synthetics (the kind that someone as esteemed as Borski uses)? BTW, the cast doesn't matter, either. Just my opinion.

Nice edit.


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

aroundthehorn said:


> Cool beans. BTW, I consider that catching the fish on a fly...lots of people cast jigs.
> 
> Are you using a GoPro for that? Mounted on a windshield or something to that effect?


Yes, I used the suction cup mount and put it on the side window. That mount makes it really easy to move from one side or the other to get the action.


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

swhiting said:


> Gotta love the hand drag system. Great job!
> 
> Now about the video & editing.... I was hoping to be able to hear the line peel off. Can we assume the music was to eliminate usual and customary boat banter/bashing????
> 
> Maybe we can guess at some of the conversation... remember the MONGO COBE man?


With the waterproof housing there really isn't any good audio. There is a skeleton housing, but the audio pickup still isn't that great. I have a Sony camcorder as well that does pick up decent audio but my computer turns the HD video into SD, so I don't use it that much.


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

aroundthehorn said:


> What is the difference between that and casting a weighted fly that you didn't tie yourself, say a fly made out of synthetics (the kind that someone as esteemed as Borski uses)? BTW, the cast doesn't matter, either. Just my opinion.



I haven't done much fly fishing, but the cast and presentation is a huge part of the allure for most fly fishermen. With the jig used in this instance, it had to be cast like a regular fishing rod and not like a fly rod. For most of us it's probably splitting hairs, but I can see why the purists wouldn't consider it flyfishing. It was a conscience decision to post this here and not the fly fishing forum.




> Nice edit.


Thanks, I'm new at this and don't really know what I'm doing.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

A weighted fly and a jig are completely different. Flyfishing revolves around using the line to deliver your bait, not the weight of the lure. Its about getting your timing honed to perfection and delivering that perfect loop that unrolls just right and puts that little hair/feather creation in the right spot. Its also about stealth. A 3 oz jig has about as much grace hitting the water as a cinder block. You can slip a fly just in front of a tailing redfish or trout on a flat and he'll hardly notice. For offshore fish like AJs, letting a sinking line out and just dredging is still fly fishing too, but its still a completely different presentation. I don't really care who tied the fly either, whether it was the angler or someone else.

I wasn't stating that most would not consider it flyfishing to belittle the catch. As I stated, who cares. If I offended him with that remark then I'm sorry but that is certainly not how I meant it. I still say congrats to any catch on light tackle, including this one.


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

Yeah, I have been flyfishing for a long time. Not a purist per se. I actually agree with Chris up to a point (it's a very valid point, too), but there is no shame in the game.

I believe in casting however you want (there are dozens of casts) and using whatever you can (artificially) to catch fish. It's not like he was throwing a royal coachman or something, or would claim to have done that.

Not too long ago, all rod fishing was basically done on a fly-type reel. My grandfathers grew up with that and cane poles, but they never called it "fly fishing." To them, it was just fishing. And neither of them ever set foot in an Orvis store.

Anyhoo, no more about that. I think it was a fine catch and I congratulate Clifford on his ingenuity.


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

Chris V said:


> I wasn't stating that most would not consider it flyfishing to belittle the catch. As I stated, who cares. If I offended him with that remark then I'm sorry but that is certainly not how I meant it. I still say congrats to any catch on light tackle, including this one.


I certainly didn't take any of your remarks (or anyone elses) as offensive or belittling the catch. In fact, I think its a very valid discussion to have. Right after catching the fish, Cliff said he couldn't wait to tell his brother (who is also an avid fly fisherman). He said the first thing his brother would tell him is that it doesn't count because he wasn't actually "fly fishing", so we've already had this discussion and came to the same conclusion as you.


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

Trophyhusband said:


> I certainly didn't take any of your remarks (or anyone elses) as offensive or belittling the catch. In fact, I think its a very valid discussion to have. Right after catching the fish, Cliff said he couldn't wait to tell his brother (who is also an avid fly fisherman). He said the first thing his brother would tell him is that it doesn't count because he wasn't actually "fly fishing", so we've already had this discussion and came to the same conclusion as you.


Yeah, I don't think that anybody got that impression. Just normal PFF discussion about a great video, which is what I like about this place. Peace and a happy weekend to all.


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## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

All I can say is Awesome! That looked like so much fun that I am going to have to try it.


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## osborne311 (Aug 1, 2011)

That was friggin awesome! Fly fishing purist approved or not - you try landing one of those beasts on that outfit. I so want to do that now. Awesome post, awesome vid and awesome still at the end with the rod in your teeth! Thanks for sharing!

I may have missed it but hook up to net - how long was the fight?


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

Trophy that would be a hoot for sure, we tease them up and catch them just at legal on ultralight and that is a gas too.


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

osborne311 said:


> That was friggin awesome! Fly fishing purist approved or not - you try landing one of those beasts on that outfit. I so want to do that now. Awesome post, awesome vid and awesome still at the end with the rod in your teeth! Thanks for sharing!


Thanks for the compliments. Out of curiosity, what about the editing makes it a good video? I really have little idea what I'm doing here so some feedback on what I'm doing right will be very helpful so I can make my videos better.



> I may have missed it but hook up to net - how long was the fight?


We're guessing around 10 minutes. He had the fish on for a couple minutes before I got the camera on and there was about 9 minutes of raw video.


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

lobsterman said:


> Trophy that would be a hoot for sure, we tease them up and catch them just at legal on ultralight and that is a gas too.


How do you tease them up?


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## osborne311 (Aug 1, 2011)

Trophyhusband said:


> Thanks for the compliments. Out of curiosity, what about the editing makes it a good video? I really have little idea what I'm doing here so some feedback on what I'm doing right will be very helpful so I can make my videos better.
> 
> 
> 
> We're guessing around 10 minutes. He had the fish on for a couple minutes before I got the camera on and there was about 9 minutes of raw video.


Any vid where I do not have to watch the bottom of the boat as you run to the action or the sky as you try to tie something down with video in your teeth is a well edited piece in my book :thumbsup:

I liked the tunes and just liked the way the video flowed. Not sure why but that really got me pumped to try that so any movie, song or short video that grabs an emotion from me is considered uber in my book. Really glad you shared it.


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

Cool! I don't care for all the extraneous footage either. Maybe its ADD, but I usually won't watch a video that's more than about 3 minutes long unless it has a lot of action so I try to pare mine down as much as possible. A bonus is that once I make the video I can delete all the unused footage and save space on my hard drive

Glad you liked the music. I actually got written permission from the band to use it so I'll be using more of their music. Most of it doesn't fit too well with fishing videos, but at least I'm not violating copyrights.


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## 1pescadoloco (Dec 2, 2011)

Nice catch & awesome video. I'm surprised the rod held up


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

1pescadoloco said:


> Nice catch & awesome video. I'm surprised the rod held up


We kept waiting for it to snap too. I think it was a surprise to all of us that it held up.


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## GASeminole (Aug 15, 2011)

Bet that was fun!

I also tip my hat to the supervisor (eventual netter) who enjoyed his Bud Light while witnessing the fight. That's how you fish right there!


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## cliphord (Oct 28, 2011)

I would love to watch this video but unfortunately due to the current political climate we are not allowed to watch youtube or video chat in Afghanistan, thanks julian asang and wikileaks...go to hell. Sorry, I will never again post anything political on the forum but I think you should all know my frustration as I was the one who landed the AJ and hold some permission to rant. There, done. That was a great fight and I would like to thank Trophyhusband again and again. A big fish on my flyrod was #1 on my bucket list before we left. I would love to try some fast sinking line and some bright flies when we get back, until then...happy fishing my friends.


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## Trophyhusband (Nov 30, 2011)

Cliff- is there any other way to get this to you, like on a military website or something. If nothing else I can burn it to dvd and mail it to you.


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

Trophyhusband said:


> How do you tease them up?


 With live bait and keep pulling it away, they light up like a christmas tree. You have to go to a place you know they will be shallow to bring them up first.


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