Barry and Cathy Beck’s Fly Fishing the Flats is a modern classic in the instructional genre of fly fishing literature. It isn’t groundbreaking or breathtaking. It is simply the perfect solution to a legitimate problem: How do I make the transition from fly fishing in freshwater to saltwater? Although there are many similarities, countless trout …
Countless tourists head to coastal New England cities, towns, and remote coastlines every year. Trust me: I sit behind you as I try to get around during my normal day-to-day. With around 6,000 miles of coastline, there is room for all of us. And there is just that much more room for stripers, bluefish, and …
What would drive a man to stare heavenward in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? It isn’t a bird. It isn’t a plane. It is a mistake. But let me back up for a minute. Sight casting for large fish on the flats does something to a guy. Not only are you fishing to the …
New journeys always feel longest. Longer on foot, in the sand. Dunes and grey cedar shakes all look the same. Hightide removes all footprints and tire tracks and traces of everything. Night adds to the length and the blending and the feeling of almost being lost. Even on a fifty foot wide beach. Even on …
You’re not going to catch a fish here. I said it out loud. There were dozens of people on the beach behind me, but the sound of the waves on the rocks drowned out my voice. You’ve only got a little time to fish, so why aren’t you going where you know there’s fish? Again, …
I have fished with a lot of vests, chest packs, and other fly fishing gear storage solutions in the past 20 years. Most work pretty well, Still, all of them have at least one or two major drawbacks. The right bag or pack for your gear involves: A) the means to hold what you need …
I’m willing to wager that the bulk of my audience/readership fishes primarily or exclusively in freshwater. That makes sense, because I fish primarily in freshwater. But saltwater fly fishing is spectacular. While there are plenty of common elements between the trout stream and the surf, the differences stand out. And they can potentially be daunting …
Cast: Wife: patient, supportive, loving, long-suffering Children: 7, 4, 2, 5 months – prone to mischief and getting filthy, very cute Husband: sometime fly fishing writer, even less-time fly fisher Scene: Picturesque New England beach. Afternoon. Springtime. Bluebird skies. Low tide. Striped bass present. A family outing, with picnic dinner packed. Fly fishing gear stowed …
I couldn’t help myself. It was a fish. It swam up from the clear depths to chase my fly. I saw the whole thing unfold before my eyes. I trout set the snot out of that striper. And, of course, that means that the striped bass pictured above is not the fish that I just …
“Before you even hook some of these saltwater fish, there is so much that has to go into it. Things all have to align: the moon, the tides, your fly, your cast. It is exciting, it is intense. But there is nothing like it.” That is part of the answer that Abbie Schuster, founder and …
