Fly-Fishing for Kingfish and Cobia

EDITOR'S NOTE: To take the biggest fish of your life on fly tackle, fish with Captain Cliff Jones, one of only two fly-fishing guides in Orange Beach, Alabama. Or, if you want to catch speckled trout at night under the lights and experience an altogether different form of fly-fishing, head to Orange Beach now.

QUESTION: Often when you're fishing the rigs, you're catching kingfish as well as cobia. Tell me how you fly-fish for them.

ANSWER: I fill the chum line with a lot of live bait. The kingfish will come up behind the chum line, and I'll throw out a handful. I'll cast my fly, rip it as fast as I can and hold on tight.

QUESTION: How big are the kingfish you're taking?

ANSWER: I had a customer who caught a 47-pound kingfish on a 10-weight fly rod with 20-pound tippet.

QUESTION: In a day of fly-fishing, how many kingfish or cobia do you think you'll have a shot at?

ANSWER: Well, that number depends on the season. I've caught as many as 50 kingfish in a day and as many cobia in a day. Sometimes you may catch more of one or the other, or none of either. You'll catch something else. Later in the year, in the fall, I'll start chasing amberjack, kingfish and cobia with fly tackle behind the shrimp boats out of Fort Morgan. I'll get a lot more bigger fish then. That's pretty awesome.

QUESTION: What do you charge a day?

ANSWER: I charge $395 for a full day, which is 8 to 10 hours, and $275 for a half-day, which is 4 to 5 hours.

QUESTION: When people go with you, what do they need to bring?

ANSWER: Food and drinks, and their favorite tackle if they have some. If they don't have tackle, I'll provide all the tackle.

QUESTION: How much does a night-fishing trip cost?

ANSWER: I charge $275 a night. Depending on the tides, our night of fishing usually will start about 7 or 8 p.m. and end about 11:00 p.m. or midnight.

QUESTION: You clean the fish for your clients, don't you?

ANSWER: Yes, I do.

For more information on saltwater fly-fishing, contact Captain Cliff Jones at P.O. Box 1027, Orange Beach, AL 36561, (334) 981-1827, or e-mail himÿat nautico@gulftel.com. You also can visit his website at www.offshoreflyfishing.com.