Dredging with a fly rod can be pretty rewarding. Dredging is the focus of a video from the Fly Fishing Nation.
From the Fly Fishing Nation:
“Traditionally speaking, dredging with the fly rod is not necessarily considered fly fishing in a classic sense. It’s a mere attempt to mimic conventional vertical jigging with equipment that was not designed for it. Sounds cumbersome… and it is, but so is vertical jigging to start with. If you are a purist, this video is not for you. If you like the idea of getting your arms pulled out of their sockets by an unseen force that is trying its best to take your line for a ride through every piece of coral it can find, this will be your drug of choice.
What you need to bring: – Bring a deep action rod that doesn’t explode into smithereens under a lot of vertical pressure. We have fished Swift’s Epic Boca Grande 12-weight glass rod here.
– Mount up: Go, heavy leader, big reel, and big drag – prepare yourself for a serious tug-of-war. You never know what is going to take your fly.
– Ugly but effective: Bring lead sinkers with you… just in case. We got reefed a million times and there are only so many heavy jigs in a normal Flatsfishing assortment. A lead sinker can turn any brushy into a jig.
– Go hard! Reef fish will try to reef you at any chance possible. Set hard and play hard.
– Stay connected. A lot of pelagic fish will attack the fly on the sink. Run the line through your fingers on the sink. Burn the fly in a couple of meters and drop it again. Wait for the pain.”
To check out more from the Fly Fishing Nation, please click here.