Saltwater flyfishing is best done at night. That's one of the things I love best about it, the solitude it affords me. Fishing at night gives me my pick of spots with virtually no one else around. Not for the faint of hear though. You need to know what you are doing as far as wading goes. Night time is not the time to be trying out new spots. Best to visit them during the day at low tide to see where you can wade.

The other thing that I find is that if you are shorebound, low light hours are when the fish are most likely to be within reach for the fly angler.

As far as gear goes: There are some folks who fish the salt with a 6wt. Personally I think it's a bit foolish. A 6 or 7 wt rod does have its place-for fishing protected estuaries and salt ponds where the fish won't be over 20" long. The thing you have to remember is that these are not lifiting rods. Fishing river mouths for Hickory or American shad is one place where a lighter rod is great.

When you do fish in the wind (and you will) a 6 or 7 wt just won't work. You will simply wish you didn't even bother to go fishing. Same goes for casting larger flies and poppers. If you are fishing for larger fish or off of jetties/rocky reefs you need a rod with enough backbone to lift the fish.

For an all-purpose New England saltwater rod I would suggest a stiff,fast action 9' 9wt with a fighting butt. You also want to buy the best reel you can afford-one that holds at least 150 yards of backing. Saltwater fishing will test your gear, unlike freshwater. Big blues,bonito, and albies will rip line off your reel like you could never imagine. I have fished for Atlantic Salmon-big freshwater fish mind you, and NOTHING,NOTHING in the fresh water can compare to hooking into a 10lb bluefish,albie, or bonito. You can be deep into your backing in an instant!!!

As far as catching blues on the fly........





Wouldn't want to fight these on a 6wt.