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Boat Gastnmg Orgamrzlc;d Howto keepyourboatfrom becoming a shipof fools. HE STRIPER BITE WAS ON AND EVERYBODY wantedto go fishing.Ben,Greg,Ross,and I werein my 18-foot Maritime Skiff, and eventhough the boat is equippedwith castingplatformsin the bow and stern,it's still only 18feetlong. We had a spotty morning. The tideswereright, the wind waslight, the seaswereflat,bait wasaroundby the ton, and therewereacresof stripersbreakingthe surfaceon both sidesof the boat. We all wantedto catchfish, but we didn't havea lot to showfor our efforts.With four anglersfishing,we simply didn't haveour lines in the water enough.
B Y T O MK E E R platform is small, the angler ought to step offthe platform into the center of the boat. That angler then begins to retrieve his fly. Next, the second angler stepsto the point of the boat and starts to cast.When he finishes his cast,he can start to retrieve his fly. Step Three: The first angler usually completes his retrieve before the secondangler.Next, he pitches the few remaining feet of line, his leadet and his fly behind the second caster and onto the water on the opposite side of the boat. The first caster then steps back onto the bow platform behind the second caster. He moves to the point ofthe boat and begins to castand the rotation starts over. This kind of organized fishing, with two casterson the bow platform and two casterson the stern platform, will enable four anglers to successfully fish in a relatively small boat. With a bit of practice and precision, the system works like a charm. Here are a few additional pointers that can help you fine-tune the on-the-water casting arrangement:
Use a stripping basket. Without a strippingbasket,the linesof the two anglersfishingin the bow of the boat will probablybecomeone tangledmess.A lot of fishermendon't use strippingbasketson boats,but when working a castingrotation, baskets Withan organized castingrotation,two or morelly fisherscaneasilyfishfroman inshore areessential. hookups. skiff.andenioythe thrillof double{ortripleor quadruple} When usinga strippingbasket,a two-handedretrieveis generallythe bestway to work your fly. The strips We had a decision to make. One Step One: The first angler posiought to be syncopatedso that the option wasto take turns fishing, but we tions himself at the point position in fly moveserraticallyand enticesthe vetoed that idea. The only way to sucthe bow of the boat and begins to work cessfully fish four guys on my boat out line. His turn endswhen he casts. fish to strike. Alternate a seriesof Once the first angler's short and long pulls to makeyour fly was to work in a rotation. CoordinaStep flro: look like a darting baitfish. Then line is on the water, he stepsback. If the tion is the easiestway to work a rotation, and it involvesthree simple steps, bow platform is large enough, he can you can strip-striketo hook a fish when it hits. starting in the bow. simply move over a few feet. If the 14
S A L T W A T E RF L Y F I S H I N G
Manytimes, Adiust for fte witd. the wind blows in a direction that will foul up your casting. Ifyou are a righthanded caster,for example, and are casting from the stern and the wind is coming from your right, you'll be in trouble. Insteadof making a standard right-handed cast,turn around so that your line is now downwind and pitch the fly on your backcast-it'll reduce the number of pierced ears. To that point, never cast over the center ofthe boat. Chancesare you'll hook one of your buddies. To deal with a crosswind, you'll need to alter your cast. Backcasts should be made sidearm,with the rod parallel to the water. As the line begins to straighten on the backcast, drift your rod tip up high so that it is directly behind you and in its normal casting position. Come forward in a standard overhead casting position. This sidearm/drift up/overhead cast is invaluable for keeping flies out ofyour back, neck, and arms. HaYe a plan for landing fish. When an angler hooks a fish, he should drop the rod tip so that it is low to the water, and then steer the fish toward the unoccupied side of the boat. By controlling the fish's head, you can maneuver the fish away from the other lines on the water and fight the fish directly off the bow or the stern. With this kind of arrangement, the center of the boat is free so that if a quadruple hookup occurs, there is plenty of room for the two center anglers to land their fish without everyonetangling lines.
Bag YourFlies B Y J A Y" F I S H YF" U L L U M we use in saltwater,including ourflies,requires lust abouteverything afterbeingexposedto salt.To keepmy fliessaltu,f some maintenance free, I storemanyof my patternsin zip-lockbags.Then,as fliesare lost of bagsandreplenor destroyedbytoothycritters,I go throughmy inventory that ish the flies in my chestpack,In recentyears,l've alsodiscovered zip-lockbagsarea muchbetterway to carryandorganizemy flies. pattern,I put it intoa smallzipperedpocket Afterfishinga particular in the front of my chest pack.lt does not go backinto the appropriate plasticbag;puttingthe saltyfly in with the "clean"flieswouldcontaminatethem.At the end of the day,I removefrom my chestpackthe flresl've fished,wash and dry them, and returnthem to the zip-lock bags. Keepingthe flies that were fished separatefrom those that were not alsogivesme a completeinventory of the patternsthatwere productive, or not,duringthe day'souting. basedon the I organize my saltwaterpatternsin specificcategories, type of fly,the sizerange,andthe color.I alsolabelthe tops of the bags. fliesin specificcategories makesit mucheasSeparating andpackaging my chestpackfor eachtrip. ierto reorganize This system works very well when I don't know what the targeted specieswill be on a giventrip. My time on the water is often tied in offersto introwith a seminaror a fly-fishing show.Someonegraciously duce me to theirwaters,but my host is not surewhat we mightbe castingto duringthe trip.When the targetedspeciesis vague,I pack take bagsof "mightbe a goodideato have"flies.Theseadditionalflies up very littlespace,and weigh much lessthanflies storedin boxes. becausethey Theonlybox I carryis usedfor crabandshrimppatterns, losetheirshapeif storedin plasticbags. protect, When I beganto use zip-lockbagsto inventory,categorize, and condensenearly500 saltwaterflies,some of my fishingpartners didn'tthinkit was worth the effort.Most of them havenow retiredtheir heavy,expensivefly boxes,replacingthem with zip-lockbags. you'dliket0 sharewithyourfellowreaders? Doyouhavesomepractical know-how W 05201 . Wepay$50for submissions WritetoEditor,SFF,P.0.Box4100,Bennington, usedin themagazine.
Keepconnrody used gcn lnndI. To reduce excessivemovement on board the boat, I'll run a hank of line through a half-dozen spools of tippet material (usually from 10- to 20pound fluorocarbon, and a spool of wire) and hang it from my center-consolerailing. I'll alsohang a hook hone, binoculars, and a Boga-Grip off the railing. I stick a variety of flies in a pieceoffoam (big bait patterns,epoxies, topwater flies, and attractor patterns in a range of sizes) and leave them on top ofthe center consolefor handy access.Anglers won't have to
rummage through a plethora of bags to find their gear,and more deck space remains free and clear. Gear that needs to remain waterproof yet handy (cameras,binoculars, food) can be temporarily stored in zip-lock bags, provided that the seas aren't too rough. When you're moving from spot to spot, however,theseitems ought to be storedin protectivewatertight cases. A variety of rods should be prerigged with different lines and flies for the times when you ll need to quickly
respondto thechanges in fishingconRods should be strungup with ditions. floating,intermediate, andeitherTeeny or Depth Chargelineswith poppers, smallbaitfishimitators,andlargebaitfish patterns.When fishing with a numberof anglers,it's much easierto simplypick up a rod thatt readyto fish thanto takeup time or spacerigging up anotheroutfit. o-_S._ Tom Keer is a freelancewriter and fly fisher basedin Boston.He is a frequent contributor to SFF.
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