A Few Things We Can Learn from Each Other


Today, I was talking to a die-hard saltwater guy. He's a good guy, but he definitely got on a rant while he was talking with me. He told me, among other things, that saltwater fishermen are far superior to their freshwater counterpoints. "Really", I said trying to be diplomatic, knowing full well that what he was proposing was an utterly silly statement. 
Now, I am passionate about both fresh and saltwater angling. Trout and bonefish, steelhead and tarpon... geez, how can you choose between the fresh and the salt. Both are wonderful branches of our great sport and both require the acquisition of great skills to be called an expert! Furthermore, both camps have their strengths... and their weaknesses. THEREFORE... both camps could learn important skills from each other! 
This got me thinking, so I present here a few examples of skills we could learn from one another:


A few things saltwater anglers could learn from freshwater anglers:


How to cast for accuracy.

How to be quiet and sneak up on fish unobserved.

How to be observant and notice small, subtle indicators of fish activity.

How to manage line to deal with currents.

How to make near-perfect presentations by looking and thinking more... and casting less.

How to pay attention to “matching the hatch” i.e. identify what fish are feeding on.



A few things freshwater anglers could learn from saltwater anglers:

How to cast for distance and into the wind.

How to be quiet in a boat.

How to strip strike.

How to cast quickly and deliver the fly with fewer false casts.

How to make your first cast your best cast... after all that's when the majority of fish are caught.