Top Trout Mistakes: A Guide's View

Veteran Arkansas fly fishing guide John Berry lists the errors he encounters most often when helping anglers cast to and hook trout. The thing that tops his list: fly fishers who seem to think that the more line they cast, the better. “This is my pet peeve. I see fly-fishers fighting their line all day to try and consistently cast 50 or more feet. I find that they are usually going past feeding fish to reach sterile water. With that much line out they can’t see or detect strikes. In addition, they have difficulty setting the hook. If they should hook a fish, they begin the fight with 50 feet of line out and if the trout takes a 35-foot run they are already in the backing.” In the Baxter Bulletin.