Most Common Fly Fishing Errors

During his long service in the capacity of fly-fishing guide John Berry had the unique opportunity to see a lot of fly-fishers. On the basis of his observations John emphasized the four most common fly fishing errors fly fishers make.

The most common errors are:

  • Casting too much line - which results in casting beyond trout feeding zones, not being able to detect strikes or set the hook.
  • Lack of Line Control - which results in too much slack or drag in the line. If there's too much slack in the line, you can't set the hook (and can therefore lose fish). And if there's too much drag in the line, your fly won't look natural, and fish will be turned off.
  • Improper Rigging - which often in poor or unnatural fly presentation. One of the most common mistakes here is working with too short a leader/tippet.
  • Not Checking Your Fly Often Enough - which can result in a couple of different problems. When you're new to fly casting, it's easy to lose your fly while casting. It's a good idea to check that this isn't happening to you. Another common problem is allowing weeds and other debris to stick to your fly (which makes it look unnatural).

Most of the errors described above are seen with new fly fishers. But many trout anglers tend to get a bit lazy about checking the fine details of their gear or technique and may also experience some of these problems as result.

Keeping these errors in the back of your mind while out fishing, will help prevent you from making the same ones.

Read the full story Arkansas Fly Fishing Columns.

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Big Game Fishing Season - Utah Fishing

The newspapers are all carrying articles about the hunting seasons, which are expected to be good this year. But fishermen are also finding big game - this is the best time of year to go after trophy fish. Flaming Gorge lake trout are congregating near spawning areas. That makes them easier to find but the big ones are still hard to catch. The next couple weeks will bring your best chance.

Lake trout are also active and catchable at Bear Lake, as are the big cutthroats there. At Strawberry, everyone is catching cutthroats, including some big ones. In terms of number and size of fish, I don't think fishing has ever been better at the 'Berry. Most of our trout waters are good right now.

Lake Powell and Sand Hollow continue to offer very good action for bass, striped bass fishing is still great at Lake Powell.

See Utah DWR fishing reports for information about good fishing all over the state.

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World Record Yellowtail Kingfish

Co-owner of one of New Zealand's best known big game fishing boat the Skipper Bruce Smith is a 30 year veteran and one of New Zealand's renowned and respected skippers.

World Record Yellowtail Kingfish

A little while ago Smithy helped his son Mat gain a World Record 37.8kg (84lb) Yellowtail Kingfish on 6kg (12lb) line. A great father and son team effort! Fishing in the recent 38th International Yellowtail Tournament in the Bay of Islands against some of the best 6kg yellowtail kingfish fishers you'll find anywhere, the combination of Smithy on the helm of Striker, and his son Mat on the rod, lead to the new World Record.

This brings to 6 the number of light tackle yellowtail kingfish caught on Striker.

Anyone who has tangled with a kingfish knows how hard they are to land on any gear let alone 6kg (12lb) line. In New Zealand yellowtail kingfish grow to prodigious size. You can read the full story of the capture here.

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Funny Fishing Movie Posters

What’s your favorite fishable film?

Charlie’s Anglers

from Charlie’s Angels

The Da Vinci Cod

from The Da Vinci Code

American Pike

from American Pie

Catfishwoman

from Catwoman

Anglin’ Power

from Austin Powers

The Silence of the Carps

from The Silence of the Lambs

E.T. The Fishing-Tournament

from Extra-Terrestrial

Guillaume Bouchard

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