Here in Southern California, we are lucky enough to have such a diverse fishery in our backyard, from yellowtail and calico bass on the inshore scene, to halibut and spotties in the bays, and trout and world class largemouth bass in the local freshwater lakes and reservoirs. Most of these species are often sought after by anglers and can be extremely fun on the fly.
In most of the bays and lagoons along the California coastline, there are some very common fish species anglers can catch. These species range from spotted bay bass, sand bass, calico bass, halibut, stingrays, barracuda, and mackerel to name a few. However, there are also a few species that inhabit the bays that are a little more uncommon and difficult to target on fly fishing flies, such as bonefish, spotfin croaker, mullet and opaleye. In this blog, we’ll be discussing the gear and techniques to catch two of these species, mullet and opaleye.
If you’ve ever fished on the rocks inside the bays, chances are you’ve come across opaleye darting in and out of the rocks. These fish are typically small at around half a pound but can reach up to excess of 6 lbs. These fish typically eat marine algae, and small worms and crustaceans living around the rocks. Some call these fish “saltwater bluegill” as their body shape and fight very much resemble that of a bluegill. Typically, on conventional tackle, anglers will target these fish using light tackle.
The recommended gear for opaleye on conventional tackle:
- 5’ – 8’ spinning rods rated UL or L action 4-10lbs
- Size 1000- 2500 spinning reel with 4-6 lbs mono
- Size 8 Owner Mosquito hooks
- Small split shot or weight
- Small plastic or foam bobbers
- Frozen peas or small pieces of shrimp
On conventional tackle, the rig of choice is a bobber rig with a small split shot sitting about 2”-3” from the hook and the bobber sitting 3”- 9” from the hook. Hook one or two peas onto the mosquito hook and cast near the rocks and drift your bait along the rocks. These fish typically hold close to structure, so you do not need to cast far. On ultralight gear, these fish, especially the bigger ones, fight pretty hard and are relatively easy to catch, making it a good species to target for young children.
On fly fishing tackle, these fish are a little more difficult to catch on discount flies making it a fun challenge for beginners and experienced anglers alike. As fly fishing flies typically do not have scent to them, you must rely solely on presentation to catch opaleye. We typically target them using 3-5 wt rods with floating line and a three to six foot sections of 4x-7x tippet size or 2-6lbs fluorocarbon leaders. Effective dry flies for opaleye mimic their natural forage of algae and these include micro wooly buggers in olive and hares ear olive in sizes #12- #16. Another effective but simple moss fly fishing fly that can be tied for these fish requires a size 8 O’Shaughnessy hook, Chocklett’s Finesse Body Chenille Medium Olive, and 6/0 thread. The chenille is simple just wrapped down the shank of the hook (a small tungsten bead can be added if a faster sinker rate is desired). Due to the shallow water these fish live in, they can typically be sightfished. These fly fishing flies can be drifted under the fish without an indicator or with an indicator to keep the fly at a specific depth. You will often get a lot of looks from these fish, but you will also get curious enough passersbys that are willing to eat the fly. Recommended fly fishing tackle for opaleye:
- 3-5wt outfits with floating fly line
- 4-7x tippet or 2- 6lbs fluorocarbon
- Indicators (Airlock and Driftrite
- indicators recommended)
- Olive micro woolybuggers, olive Hare’s ear #12- #16
These fish are extremely hard fighting on the lighter fly fishing outfits (3-4wt) and pose quite the challenge to catch on the fly.
Another not typically targeted species in they bays in California is the striped mullet. These fish are extremely common in the bays and can often be seen jumping out of the water. Striped mullet range from less than half a pound to over ten pounds and are extremely powerful fish. The diet of these fish typically consists of algae and microorganisms that live with the sand and mud. Many anglers will see these fish but they are extremely difficult to catch on conventional tackle, let alone fly fishing tackle due to their diet. Mullet can be found in the surf as well as the bays, but they tend to be in higher concentrations within the bay. Anglers who are successful in catching them on conventional tackle typically use light spinning tackle with light line, extremely small hooks, and oats or small balls of bread as bait. Targeting them on the fly fishing fly requires a lot more time and patience to figure out where you can catch them as well as what they are eating. These fish are very tide dependent, and we’ve had the most luck catching them on shallow areas that fill in with water as soon as the tide rises. They can be found in both Mission Bay and San Diego Bay.
Most of these fish are eating algae off the bottom, but they are also eating the micro shrimp that reside in the bays. Recommended fly fishing tackle for striped mullet:
- 4-7wt outfits with floating line (Rio outbound short floating line recommended)
- 8 -12 lbs fluorocarbon leader
- White woolybuggers size #12-16, various scud patterns in white, olive, pink #10-18
- Indicators (Airlock or Drift Rite Recommended)
Striped mullet can be caught blind casting to areas where they surface or sightfished in shallow waters where they congregate to feed. For sight fishing, streamers or scuds can be stripped in front of them or drifted under an indicator to them. With the indicator, the depth of the fly should be level with the depth of the fish, which is typically anywhere between 1-3 ft when sightfishing them.
