Offseason practice

Now that most people in the northeast are preparing for winter you are probably not doing as much fishing but there is still plenty of time to keep honing your skills. One of the most important skills in fly fishing is the ability to cast accurately, as this allows you to place your fly in the perfect spot to entice fish. In this blog post, we will provide some tips on how to improve your fly fishing casting accuracy.

  1. Practice, practice, practice! The more you practice your casting, the better you will become. Make sure to find a safe and open area to practice, where you won’t disturb anyone or damage any property.
  2. Pay attention to your stance. When you are casting, your stance is crucial. Make sure to stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and with your weight evenly distributed on both feet. This will give you the stability and balance you need to cast accurately.
  3. Use your wrist. Many beginning fly fishermen make the mistake of using their entire arm to cast. However, the key to accurate casting is to use your wrist to flick the fly line forward. This will give you much better control and accuracy.
  4. Focus on your target. As you are casting, it is important to focus on your target. Visualize where you want the fly to land, and focus on that spot as you cast. This will help you to stay focused and make more accurate casts.
  5. Use the right equipment. In order to cast accurately, you need to use the right equipment. Make sure to choose a fly rod and line that are well-matched and suitable for the type of fishing you are doing.

By following these tips, you can improve your fly fishing casting accuracy and increase your chances of success on the water. Happy fishing!

Its not always about the 100 ft cast

I often take out clients to help them improve their casting technique. I enjoy it, but as fun as it is to get a nice double haul and lay out 100 ft of line. Its not that practical for most fishing. If you can layout a perfect 30 ft cast and then manage your line for a good drift, you will catch a lot more fish. So what is mending?

Fly fishing requires precise casting techniques in order to effectively present the fly to the fish in a way that will entice them to bite. Mending is an important technique in fly fishing that involves making adjustments to the position of the fly line in the water to improve the presentation of the fly to the fish.

Mending can be used to control the speed and direction of the fly line in the water, which can be critical for successfully catching fish. For example, if the fly line is moving too quickly through the water, the fly may not have enough time to properly drift and mimic the natural movement of an insect or baitfish. By mending the line, the fly fisherman can slow down the fly line and give the fly more time to drift naturally. This can improve the chances of the fly being noticed by the fish and getting a bite.

Mending can also be used to control the direction of the fly line in the water. This is important because fish tend to feed in specific areas, such as along the edges of currents or near obstacles. By mending the line, the fly fisherman can guide the fly to these areas and increase the chances of getting a bite.

Overall, mending is an important technique in fly fishing that allows the fly fisherman to control the speed and direction of the fly line in the water, which can improve the presentation of the fly to the fish and increase the chances of getting a bite.

River Reviews: Connetquot State Park

I recently had the opportunity to fish at the Connetquot State Park on Long Island with our local Trout Unlimited Chapter. I don’t typically fish out this way but whenever I get the chance I always jump to it.

In my opinion its as close to a trout amusement park as you can get to. There is a hatchery in the middle of the river which produces some very large trout that are fairly used to people and not that skittish. The river is divided into 30 sections and each angler is assigned to a section to fish. They all hold fish though there are some in the middle section 12-16 that seem to be the most productive.

This is not a technical stream, so you can fish a wide variety of different techniques with success. Typically hopper – dropper or dry-dropper is the best way to go but nymphs/streams even pure dry flies will work. After catching some fish I played with with a mop fly for a while and pulled in a few more.

There is some more involved procedures about how the different sections are assigned, and you can find more information at this site https://parks.ny.gov/documents/parks/ConnetquotRiverFlyFishingInformationMap.pdf

And we are off

The spring trout season is off and running and despite some weird weather there are plenty of trout to be had. Mostly have been fishing in Putnam and West Chester county and been putting people on both stocked and wild trout.

Reach out via the contact page or learntoflyfishnyc@gmail.com to book a trip.

Also the saltwater bite has been really heating up, so the next few weeks there will be adequate surf fishing opportunities from the beaches around NYC.