There are many different places you can go for fly fishing. Freshwater fly fishing and saltwater fly fishing are the two basic types.

 

Freshwater fly fishing is the most common because it is easy accessible and has plenty of fishing options. You can go to lakes, streams, ponds and rivers, which is widely accessible, for fly fishing. The water can be moving or still and you can cast from the bank or you can wade into the water.

 

 

 

Typical freshwater fish are trout, salmon, steelhead, bass and bluegills.  The flies for each can be very different, so be sure that you know exactly what kinds of fish you’re after—or be sure to carry a variety of different flies with you when you head out.

 

      - Trout like cold and well oxygenated water to survive and the most common place trout reside are streams, rivers, lakes and ponds. Brook, brown, rainbow, and cutthroad are the most common species.

 

      - Salmons reside in cold, clean and well oxygenerated water to survive and reproduce. They are often found in healthy and fast moving rivers with sheltered and protected area.

 

      - Pike: the northern pike, muskellunge and chain pickerel are the most commonly seen species. To catch them, flies can be placed just below the surface near weed beds.

 

      - Steelhead usually stays at the bottom in slow moving water in protected areas. They are often found under fallen logs, behind boulders and rocks, and under the banks.

 

      - Bass are the most popular sport fish. They typically are vicious fighter. There are two common types, largemouth and smallmouth bass. Largemouth bass reside in still warm water and weeded areas. Smallmouth bass are often seen in rocky areas and water is cooler than that preferred by largemouth bass.

 

      - Bluegills are found in lakes all over the United States. Bluegills like to hang around stuctural changes like a boulder or submerged stump or log. They look for worms, insects, crustaceans, and minnows.

 

Saltwater fly fishing is getting more popular these days. Saltwater fly fishing has a lot to offer: the variety of saltwater fish available, the challenging you will face as the fish are bigger and fight harder, the wonderful experience to get on a boat and enjoy the exotic ocean scenes.

 

 

 

Coastlines are the common places you can go saltwater fly fishing. You can stand on a pier or wade in the water, but most fun part is your can ride out on a boat. Unlike freshwater fishing, saltwater environment changes more drastically and you have to deal with the tides and waves.

 

The oceans differ very differently in terms of the underwater geography and the variety of fish species. The diets and living environment of the fish in northern coastal are quite different from their counterparts in tropical water, thus require different fly-fishing approaches and techniques.

 

Saltwater fish are usually bigger and much stronger than saltwater fish, thus stronger rod and lines are necessary for stronger currents and bigger battles. Freshwater casting reels are typically smaller. Many have a line winder to guide the fishing line onto the spool in an evenly manner. The drag is set by turning a knob or a dial. Saltwater casting reels are typically bigger and the drags are adjusted by sliding a lever. Such reel comes with one or two speed versions and different gear ratios. The gear ratio decides the amount of line picked up with each turn of the handle. Two speed reels are used for bigger fish. They are often heavy and powerful with lower gear ratios for better cranking ability.

 

Saltwater tackle must receive extra care. Guides must be securely attached, and the rod must have the casting and lifting power. Reels must be able to sustain high speed runs and the drags have to be whisper smooth. All metal parts of tackle must be resistant to saltwater corrosion. And proper cleaning and care of tackle is much more important than in the case of freshwater gear. Hooks should be made of stainless steel. So usually the fishing tackle used for saltwater usually costs more.

 

As the average size of saltwater fish is bigger, the foods they eat are usually bigger. If the fly is too small, it probably won’t receive too much interest from the fish. In some cases, small flies are used in saltwater fly fishing. But often the saltwater flies won’t fit the freshwater fly box.

 

Boats used for saltwater fishing should be able to travel a long distance at high speed. Often fishermen could search for hours to locate schools of fish.

 

The freshwater angler usually is blind casting, hoping that the fly will move before a hungry fish. Anglers even hang several flies on a leader in hopes of better attracting their unseen quarry. In saltwater, the angler has to find the fish, which requires different techniques and tools.

 

In freshwater fly fishing, the angler may deal with a solitary trout or a single salmon or one bass under an overhanging tree. In saltwater fishing, you might see huge schools of fish. Also often the fish themselves are massive.

 

Saltwater fly fishing is different in many ways from freshwater fly fishing. You need to practice extra caution when handling most species of saltwater fish. Many of them have sharp teeth and gills and abrasive skin. A careful plan should be drawn before going on saltwater fishing trip because the opponents are often much stronger and if not handled well, the tackle could be damaged.

 

Here are some of the most common saltwater fish you will expect.

 

      - Tarpon is considered as a top saltwater game fish because they weight average 50 or 60 pounds and sometime up to 150 pounds and they could make vicious run up to a couple of hundreds yards. They live in tropical and warm coastal waters and eat sardines, mullet, anchovies and crustaceans.

 

      - Bonefish have amazing speed and stamina. They are found shallow flats with muddy bottoms in tropical and subtropical water. Their diets include shrimps, crabs, mollusks, worms, and small bait fish. They don’t weigh as much as Tarpon. Average size of bonefish is 2 to 4 pound, although they sometime can grow up to 19 pounds.

 

      - Bluefish generally range between 5 to 15 pounds. They are often seen in large groups. Bluefish feed on herring and silversides, but could eat any fish in sight. Be careful when handling them and keep hands away from their mouths and use long pliers to remove the hook.

 

      - Red weigh between 5 to 10 pounds. The popular spots to find them are weedy, grassy flat areas, channels and coves. They like crab, shrimps and other bait fish.

 

      - Sailfish, as the name may indicate, swim fast up to 60 miles per hour under the water. They weigh between 50 to 70 pounds, sometimes up to 100 pounds. Sailfish eat a variety of foods, squid, octopus, mackerel, tuna and small bait fish.