When the topic of wrecks or offshore structure comes up most people think of bottom fishing for grouper, seabass and snapper or live baiting for king mackerel and amberjack. Well don’t be surprised to find a fly fisherman sinking flies over some of your favorite structures.

Offshore or nearshore structures such as wrecks, oil rigs, navy towers and artificial reefs hold a multitude of creatures. They can be found in almost every level of the water column, and the most amazing thing about this fishery is how simple it is get to these fish.

Up and down the coast of North Carolina there are countless wrecks. Most of these are mistakes but some were the products of good planning. The State of North Carolina has a very good artificial reef (AR) program and their efforts have put ARs all along the coast. Sportfishing clubs have also raised money to build reefs. Clubs from the Raleigh and Cape Look Out areas have helped to produce a number of qualities ARs in the state, due mainly too hard work and good donations by club members and sportfishermans. The North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources and the Division of Marine Fisheries publish a book on all the ARs in the state. It is called the North Carolina Artificial Reef Guide. This book contains the Loran Coordinates and the location and number of each buoy on site. Besides the locations it gives a description of the materials that make up each reef.

Whether the reef made of Blackbeards’ last victim or the old Washington Baum Bridge and several pieces of concrete culvert pipe, they all have places for fish to hide and bait to gather. Just like in a lake or in a river any structure that attracts bait will in turn attract predators. Other structures off the northern coast of North Carolina coast includes Navy Towers off Oregon Inlet and Diamond Shoals Light Station and a vast number of buoys .

All of these structures hold bait and predators at some time of the year, and most all of these locations are listed on navigational charts. Location of structures can be as simple as visually spotting the Diamond Shoals Light Tower or as hard as finding a 100-year-old shipwreck in 100 feet of water. Two things that will make it possible to find what you are looking for are a good bottom machine (depth finder) and a Loran or GPS. An expensive depth finder would be nice but not essential. For the last few years I have used a cheap brand that is available almost anywhere. The most important thing is to mark bottom contour. Cigar minnows and sardines are easily detectable with even the inexpensive machines.

Not all wrecks or reefs will hold bait all the time but when they do it’s generally cigar minnows or some type of sardines or scads. Great clouds of bait will block out your whole screen on your depth recorder. The cigar minnows tend to stay over and around the structure and the sardines swim up on the surface in tightly packed schools. Both locations are strike zones for predators.

There are several types of predators lurking around the wrecks and reefs. Most species overlap but some are only there for a short while. The amberjack show up first, late summer false albacore arrive and soon after king mackerel as well as Spanish mackerel move into the neighborhood. This makes for a rough community.

The first to arrive on the wrecks is the toughest and the hardest to fool with a fly. Amberjack are big, from 20 to 80 pounds and have great eyesight. A hooked amberjack will pull an unsuspecting angler out of the boat! Even a twenty-pound fish will test a 12wt and twenty pound tippet. The best method to fly fish for jacks is to use live teasers and bait and switch. This technique involves live bait teasers fished close to the boat on spinning rods and when the jacks attack the live bait on the surface pull the live bait away and replace it with a big fly. I have had the best results with menhaden colored Lefty’s Deceivers on a 5/0 hook. You will probably have to repeat this numerous times to get the fish worked up. Tackle should be stout 12wts minimum 14wts aren’t a bad idea. When you hook up pull as hard as you can and not break the tippet. Amberjack live in a jungle and love to take flies; fly lines and lures back to the wreck and cut you off. Besides tackle busters they can be ego bruisers. Many anglers have fought fish for an hour, only have them at the last minute make an unstoppable run back to the wreck and cut them off. I hold them in highest regards.

Most of late summer when the ocean lets me I spend my time over the wrecks chasing albies. I am a card carrying albie addict. Most people’s vision of albie fishing is casting to breaking fish and not fishing deep over a wreck. Sinking lines have gotten a bad wrap. The truth is they’re not difficult to cast and they improve the number of species you can show a fly to. Here are a few easy tips that will let you fish a wreck or reef for albies, king or Spanish mackerel.

The first tip is to use short leaders. Most leaders need to be only 3 to 4 feet long, and they’ll allow you to get the fly down close to the bait quicker. Most days I use regular 20-pound monofiliament for leader material. No taper leaders needed here, just a straight piece of 20 pound. On some occasions, particularly when it is slick calm and the water is extra clear I’ll use fluorocarbon-it works well. When kings are in the neighborhood I do use a wire bite tippet. I like to use some of the new knottable wires on the market like Malin Boa or American Wire Surflon Mirco Supreme. You use single strand wire about 30 pound test. The bite tippet is usually from 12 to 24 inches and is attached with an Albright knot.

The second tip use sparsely tied flies that are weighted. Sparsely tied flies sink faster and will get into the strike zone quicker and stay longer. Flies for albies, I like using Yak Hair or Success Flies Kinky Fiber. Both of these materials hold a great profile and are iridescent in the water. Both fibers make a great cigar minnow or sardine profile. I also use both materials when tying Bob Clouser’s Deep Minnow or Lefty Kreh’s Deceiver and dress them up with a good amount of holographic flash.

Amberjack flies work best just the opposite of the albie flies, thick and bushy and tied with natural materials. The best pattern is Lefty’s Deceiver tied in natural colors. My favorite color combinations are brown and white and olive and white a close second. Amberjack shied away for flies with too much flash so use it sparingly or not at all. Big poppers popped violently sometimes produced boat sized eruptions.

King Mackerel flies need to be tough, and when I’m gunning for kings I’ll use flies tied with ultra hair. It is tougher than the other two fibers, and on days they are really snapping it works almost as well. For added toughness, I even go so far as to epoxy the thread on my mackerel flies. The colors that worked best last year were pink, pink and white, red and red and white. One day two years ago we went through three dozen flies and three fly lines!

The third tip is have a range of sinking lines or shooting heads. An 8wt to 9wt is the best choice for albies and mackerel and a 12wt to 14wt is a better choice for amberjack. The conditions around the wreck will dictate the weight of sinking line you will need. Some days there is lots of current and you need an 800-grain line and other days there is no current and a 225 will work best.

The fourth tip is to position your boat up current from the wreck and drift back. If the current is light make your cast parallel to your boat, and as the boat drifts play out line to take the drag off the fly so it will drop deeper. If your drift is to fast due to wind you may have to use a sea anchor. Watch your bottom machine, and when the edge of the wreck comes into view start your strip. Big long strips usually work the best.

The fifth tip is to strike VERY hard. Lifting your rod tip will leave with your feelings hurt. It takes a lot to set the hook on a fish 40 feet deep!

The sixth and final tip – it is easier than you think! You do not need to be a monster caster. A good caster will cover more water and probably get more strikes but even a novice can productively fish a fly over a wreck or around structure.

The next time you go to a wreck or reef don’t forget your fly rod and "go deep!"

Brian Horsley started fishing on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in the mid 70's catching big bluefish in the surf, and started his guide service FLAT OUT in 1992.