Skip to main content

Fly Fishing Around Structure

Street-fight tactics for taking down the heavyweights.

Caught between a snook and a hard place, something's gonna give. Hint: It's not that concrete piling.


When you hook a big fish on a grassflat, you just let it run. When you hook a big fish under a dock or around pilings you can't do that, unless you want to lose your expensive fly line as well as the fish.

It's very sad when a fisherman loses a good fish to a dock and says, "There was nothing I could do!" Of course there was!

I'm a big fan of light tackle, but fishing around structure is not the place for it. Go sufficiently geared up rod-wise. Think of what you'd ordinarily use for the size fish you're after and go up at least one rod size, or better yet, two.

The same holds true for your leader. Sharp-eyed snook require a tippet of no more than 20-pound-test fluorocarbon. But that's plenty! Use a two-piece leader with a 30-pound butt and a 20-pound tippet, or even a straight piece of 20-pound right off the fly line.

Jeff Weakley, editor of this magazine, offers this interesting bit of advice: "My own take on this, having fished docks a lot for snook, is to use a hook light enough that it will straighten before the $120 flyline gets shredded over the pilings."

Okay. You found a dock with fish. You presented your fly. A 15-pound behemoth takes it.

Most anglers are going to lift the rod and try to pull the fish out. After all, this is what we've been trained to do.

Sorry. Most of the time that won't work here. Once that fish spreads its pectoral fins, water pressure is going to keep you from moving it.

What you need to do is to plunge the rodtip deep into the water and pull as hard as you dare. What you are trying to do is roll the fish over. If you can disorient the beast you might be able to pull it away from the structure before it recovers enough to get back in there.

Much better to open a light wire hook than to snap a $700 rod.


And the fish will recover and it will try to get back in there. Don't let it. Lock up the line and dare that fish to make it back to the dock.

If the boat is not anchored, the boat man should help you by moving the boat away from the structure. Quickly.

Sometimes the fish will cut or break your leader or straighten the hook, or simply out-muscle you. Hey, you're not going to win every time.

But, hopefully it's obvious that if you let the fish do what it wants you're going to lose almost every time.

It has happened to me with cobia on buoys that, after the hookup, we used gentle pressure to "walk" the fish away from the structure with the boat. Once we were far enough away that no surge would get the fish back there, then we came tight and started the battle. They were cooperative fish, though.

With tarpon around bridges you must follow it in and out of the pilings. You're not going to out-muscle a green tarpon with any kind of tackle. Try to get it out into open water. Use these techniques and see if you don't get more victories in your close quarters combat. FS

First published Florida Sportsman April 2015




GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Recommended Articles

Recent Videos

Long-range binoculars are a great asset on a fishing boat, but the view gets shaky quick. Fujinon has a great solution w...
Videos

Cover Up With Sun-Protective Clothing

Long-range binoculars are a great asset on a fishing boat, but the view gets shaky quick. Fujinon has a great solution w...
Videos

Inflation We Can Live With! Mustang Convertible PFD

Long-range binoculars are a great asset on a fishing boat, but the view gets shaky quick. Fujinon has a great solution w...
Videos

Converting and Re-Arming Mustang Inflatable A/M PFD

Long-range binoculars are a great asset on a fishing boat, but the view gets shaky quick. Fujinon has a great solution w...
Videos

YakAttack Rod Management Systems Set the Bar for Kayak Anglers

Long-range binoculars are a great asset on a fishing boat, but the view gets shaky quick. Fujinon has a great solution w...
Videos

YakAttack Kayak Carts Will Get You There

Long-range binoculars are a great asset on a fishing boat, but the view gets shaky quick. Fujinon has a great solution w...
Videos

YakAttack Tackle Storage Just Got WAY BETTER

Long-range binoculars are a great asset on a fishing boat, but the view gets shaky quick. Fujinon has a great solution w...
Videos

Take Gear and Tackle Storage to NEW HEIGHTS with Outdoor Crates

Long-range binoculars are a great asset on a fishing boat, but the view gets shaky quick. Fujinon has a great solution w...
Gear

‘Magnetic Tethered' Kayak Rods

Long-range binoculars are a great asset on a fishing boat, but the view gets shaky quick. Fujinon has a great solution w...
Gear

Plano Soft Sided Tackle Bags

Long-range binoculars are a great asset on a fishing boat, but the view gets shaky quick. Fujinon has a great solution w...
Gear

NuCanoe Unlimited U10

Long-range binoculars are a great asset on a fishing boat, but the view gets shaky quick. Fujinon has a great solution w...
Gear

What's New in Fly Reels: Hardy

Long-range binoculars are a great asset on a fishing boat, but the view gets shaky quick. Fujinon has a great solution w...
Gear

Fujinon's Ultimate Offshore Fishing Binoculars

Florida Sportsman Magazine Covers Print and Tablet Versions

GET THE MAGAZINE Subscribe & Save

Digital Now Included!

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Give a Gift   |   Subscriber Services

Preview This Month's Issue

Buy Digital Single Issues

Magazine App Logo

Don't miss an issue.
Buy single digital issue for your phone or tablet.

Get the Florida Sportsman App apple store google play store

Other Magazines

See All Other Magazines

Special Interest Magazines

See All Special Interest Magazines

GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Get the top Florida Sportsman stories delivered right to your inbox.

Phone Icon

Get Digital Access.

All Florida Sportsman subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets.

To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine.

Get Digital Access

Not a Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Enjoying What You're Reading?

Get a Full Year
of Guns & Ammo
& Digital Access.

Offer only for new subscribers.

Subscribe Now

Never Miss a Thing.

Get the Newsletter

Get the top Florida Sportsman stories delivered right to your inbox.

By signing up, I acknowledge that my email address is valid, and have read and accept the Terms of Use