The winter of 2011 has been bitterly cold for the Southern Tier. Despite a few days with temps in the 50’s, we’re a long ways from spring. Local creeks are frozen over and the bigger rivers have a lot of accumulated ice. For even the most die-hard of fly fishermen, fishing in freezing conditions can be difficult at best, leaving most of us to wait out the cold.
What follows are some ideas on how to prepare for the upcoming season with links to past articles on the topic:
- Set goals. Identify areas for improvement and where and how you want to fish. Keep your list reasonable and attainable, but strive to stretch your capabilities and get out of your comfort zone.
- Start and keep a journal. A record of your fly fishing experiences can be extremely important to improvement as a fly angler.
- Clean and prepare your gear. Make sure to go over your gear thoroughly. Proper maintenance and cleaning is the best way to make your gear last and give you confidence on the water. Clean fly lines, reels, and rods and check waders, boots and other outerwear. Make sure you have sunglasses, sun lotion, and foul weather gear such as a wading jacket and fingerless gloves.
- Organize. Determine what flies you need, and organize them by pattern and size. Use plastic storage bins and store your gear by the kind of fly fishing you do (i.e., warm water, coldwater, saltwater).
- Tie up or buy up. There’s no better time than now to tie up some flies. If you don’t tie your own flies, now is the time to shop. Go through your current inventory and note what patterns and sizes need restocking.
- Plan your fishing and make sure you have the appropriate licenses. It pays to study state regulations ahead of time.
- Get fit. Fly fishing is not typically considered “exercise”, but wade fishing requires endurance and balance, something we tend to lose if we revert to couch potatoes in winter. Good core strength leads to better balance while wading and casting, so do exercises that strengthen the core, such as crunches, push-ups, and squats. Aerobic conditioning is also important.
- Educate yourself. Take the time to read the fly fishing magazines that are collecting dust. Search the internet for local fishing blogs and forums. Join local fishing organizations such as Trout Unlimited. Meet new fishing friends and enrich your future fly fishing experiences.
- Practice casting. For the real hardcore, casting practice can be done on the water, but for those who wish to practice indoors, the options are a gym or one of the micro practice rods available on the market. The Echo Micro practice Rod is an excellent example.
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