An update:
I ended up tying some Clousers in various sizes, some Deceivers, some spoon flies, and a one of my own patterns: the Tug Blaster. The TB is a sort of shrimpy sinking fly.
This past weekend we went to the beach on Dauphin Island. It was very crowded. The Dauphin Island fishing pier is now landlocked after Katrina joined Sand Island and Dauphin Island(no, I don't fly fish from the pier!), but it is now possible to walk from the public beach all the way to the end of Sand Island. The surf there is rough and the current is very strong. On the lee side of Sand Island it creates points, troughs, and bars in a regular pattern.
When we got there the tide was starting to come up. I had to walk about 3/4 mile to get away from all the beach sitters/waders/swimmers. I finally got to a point that looked promising. The trough there was deep and slick on top. After looking for a bit I noticed a fairly large shark just past the waves. And then bait fish started jumping between the shark and me about fifty yards away. In the face of one wave I saw a fish. It was tough to cast into the wind. It was strong, really strong. After two attempts to get into the fish with the TB fly I had tied on before seeing the baitfish on top I finally put one in the middle of them. It sank. I stripped the line hard to keep the fly up. And, BAM. I had a strong strike. I stripped line to set the hook and the reel began to scream. Almost immediately I was in the backing and the fish was running up the beach and out. I took off running with him. After a bit he turned and I had to crank my reel as fast as I could to keep the tension on. As the fish hit the wave line he turned and smoked out again. The reel was screaming. He turned. I cranked. He ran. The reel screamed. This kept up for about ten minutes. My daughter was right there the whole time cheering along. The bait fishermen I had passed reeled in and we gathering behind me. Finally the fish began to tire and I worked him closer to me. The waves were very hard. I then saw the fish up close for the first time. It was a Spanish Mackerel that would easily top eight pounds. (The state record is 8 lbs. 12 oz.) I reeled the line into the rod, the nail knot ran smoothly through the tip and the fish was getting very close. (I had on a 12 foot leader fishing a nine foot rod). I began to ease him in and waded out to get closer. I held the rod up reached down to pick him up and then, flip! He was off. He was huge and he was gone.
For a minute I wanted to cry and then I began to laugh. Amy Jo was speechless. The bait fishermen were clapping and grinning. (I'm not sure if they were clapping over my piscatoral adventure or clapping that the huge Spanish was now available for them to catch!)
Man, what a fish.
