When chumming in brisk current, give the fish 20 to 30 minutes at most to show before relocating. Or you might troll with spinning tackle and spoons or jigs in order to find the fish before re-anchoring and chumming. A left-handed and a right-handed fly fisher can fish side by side from the stern of a flats skiff, and even more fly fishers can do so from a bigger boat if everyone is careful. Without a doubt, you’ll want to cover up all possible fly line snaggers, such as cleats, center console and steering wheel, outboard motor and steering cables. A big wet towel will do it, as will a cast net.

Ideally, you’ll anchor where wind and tide run in the same direction. Wind at your back for casting, tide to carry the fly back in the chum, everything you could ask for. Otherwise, you just have to cast into the wind (easiest with a sinking line), which is far better then dealing with an “on-shoulder” breeze. But thankfully, you don’t have to cast far, or very often, to hook up. Actually, there’s little casting to do when the bite is hot. After making a 30- to 50-foot toss, I just feed my line and fly back into the current as far as I care to (be attentive to your line because a fish may eat your fly on the dead drift) and then start stripping. With chummed-up macks, you can strip the fly erratically or steadily, fast or slow. It usually matters little. However, I’ve caught lots of big mackerel on flies held still in the current, or on the dead drift. Once your fly is back there, strip it part way to the boat, then shake line out of the rodtip, let it drift back and repeat. You can fish a fly for 5 or 10 minutes this way, without picking up and recasting. Minimal casting also means less chance for that pile of stripped-in fly line tangling at your feet.

If limited to one rod, I’ll take an 8-weight rod with medium rate, full-sinking line, 4- to 5-foot, 12-pound-test level mono leader and an 18-inch piece of 50-pound-test mono or fluorocarbon. Or when I’m lazy, just a 4- or 5-foot piece of 50-pound. As far as flies go, there really isn’t much a mackerel won’t strike. If forced to fish one fly, it is the universal catch-all, a chartreuse-and-white Clouser Minnow. I fish mostly No. 1 and 2 versions, with copious flash, and carry a variety with everything from medium to large dumbbell lead eyes for various depths and current. Hot pink can be murderous, too. For macks, I don’t tie with bucktail. There are many, many brands of great synthetic winging materials to choose from. To lessen the chance of cutoffs, try this trick with your Clousers: Buy some 1X or 2X longshank hooks, then tie the lead eye atop the bend of the hook. Then finish the wing of the fly in the normal fashion.

Other than Clousers, I carry 3- to 4-inch Deceivers (tied with synthetics) because they seem to appeal to the really big macks. I usually fire the Deceivers way back in the chum, and simply hold them in the current, or strip them slowly. That has scored my biggest macks of all, plus a few cobia that came along. Poppers and standard glass minnow patterns round out my flies, and most importantly, I bring a bunch for obvious reasons.

There you have it. What could be easier? A great flyrod fish awaits you from now through spring and even beyond. Get out there—you’ll catch Spanish for sure.

FS