LIFE ON THE EDGE
First off, this article is written from the perspective of a saltwater fly angler, but that’s only because the lessons I learned were learned through the necessity of that angling discipline. The fact is that as a veteran beach angler before that, I’d been missing a trick. A big one. And what I learned when I picked up the fly rod is something I wish I’d known long before. So whether you’re a ‘swffer’ or not, consider the following.
If you’ve come to saltwater fly fishing from another angling discipline, particularly the beach-casting fraternity, like I did, you may be likely to make an immediate assumption that the key to success will be getting your fly way out into the deepest water possible. Makes sense; the bigger fish are further out, right? Why else would I have spent all those years expending so much effort to propel baits 150m out from the shore if that wasn’t the case.
Either way, there’s a tendency to look to the zone you might consider to be the furthest you could possibly cast to as being the one that’ll be most productive.
At this point I sense many novice or aspiring saltwater fly or lure anglers reading this and immediately feeling raised anxiety levels: “Hang on… exactly how far out are we talking here? My fly line is only 30m long as it is, and a third of that hasn’t seen the light of day since I wound it on! Will I have to learn the dreaded ‘double haul’ I’ve heard about? What if I can’t! What if I have all the grace and coordination of a stack of broom handles being
