The End of "Chuck and Duck" on New York's Salmon River

March 1, 2008 By: Marshall Cutchin

It appears that New York DEC law enforcement officers are so sure of their ability to tell the difference between a classic roll cast and a weight-assisted, over the shoulder lift-and-snap cast that the state feels confident enough to ban the use of “slinkies” on fly-fishing-only portions of the Salmon River. It comes to the great relief of many fly fishers who want the shoulder-to-shoulder chuck and duck festival to come to an end.
“Of course, if a pool is ringed with anglers lobbing ‘slinkies’ — three-inch lengths of parachute cord stuffed with split shot and clipped to the leader — then real fly-fishing is going to be difficult, if not impossible. Getting a fly near the bottom of an eight-foot-deep pool, even when using a sinking fly line, requires casting well upstream of the target lie. That’s not possible in crowded conditions. Chuck-and-duck fishing leads to crowding, and crowding makes chuck-and-duck necessary.” Morgan Lyle in the Schenectady, New York Daily Gazette.