Longer is Better
By Are Dee

Fly Fishing is defined as "Fishing by casting artificial flies using a lightweight, resilient rod". The fly that is attached to the fly line by a monofilament leader four to twenty feet long is your hook. The fly usually has little weight so that you can actually cast a specially designed line and the fly just follows behind the line. You with me?

Flies are hand tied to represent many other food items such as insects, crustaceans, and bait fish. These flies are fished dry on the water's surface and many are fished wet or sub-surface.

The leader is larger in diameter at the fly line end and the small end attached to the fly is called the tippet. Just some basics, which you may or may not already, are aware of.

The freshwater fisherman new to saltwater fly-fishing will have to alter his or hers approach and learn a few very important techniques. Unlike fresh water, saltwater fishing you must always deal with, what I call the "wind factor". Typically your flies are larger and you'll have to get used to casting with a shock-leader tippet. A shock-leader tippet is a heavy wire or monofilament leader (never longer then 12 inches) places on the weakest part off the leader. (Towards the end of your line.) You do this in to make sure you don't loose that sharp-toothed big game fish that you'll defiantly want a picture of. Oh, did I mention that this makes it difficult to cast against a breeze.

All of these are very unfamiliar to freshwater fly fishing, creating casting problems that must be overcome. To fix that we have to use heavier lines, which will give you more line speed. Heavier lines, of course will demand a stouter rod. Let me give you an example. Freshwater rods take an average line size of 4 to 8; saltwater lines will average from 8 to 11. 

If you are new to saltwater fly-fishing you may be mislead by articles playing down the necessity of making long casts. These days, casting only fifty feet will give you less of a chance to catch that 100-pound tarpon. What did I say? There are no disadvantages to long cast! Some fishermen have told me that you cannot set a hook beyond sixty feet. Perhaps that is true for big tarpon, which have a shovel-like mouth that point upwards. Hello! It's tough to set the hook at any distance when it comes to tarpon. 

Now pay attention! Providing you have sharpened the hook and strip your line "by pointing the rod towards the fish strip with your hand to give your fly some action" the fish will hook itself. Distance has little to do with driving a hook into the fish's mouth. Hooks that are exceptionally sharp will even penetrate bone. I've never lost a fish because I was 40 or even 100 feet away. The point is; distance will not interfere with setting the hook. 

So, if you're new to the sport or a seasoned veteran of saltwater fishing, I recommend taking the time prior to your next fly-fishing excursion, and work on that distance. There is nothing more disappointing then coming up on fish and not getting that line out. Adding just 15 feet to your cast will greatly improve those opportunities and give you less a chance of scaring big game fish. 

Some of you I'm sure are now asking, how can I improve or even get started saltwater fly-fish? You'll find that Orvis or local fly-fishing shops throughout the US have plenty of qualified staff and are always eager to assist. Keep in mind, lessons are not cheap, but it's worth learning the techniques properly the first time.

Good luck and, remember longer really is better.