3 Ways to Improve as an Angler

By Mike Hodge

Three Ways You Can Improve As An Angler Summer has arrived. Southeastern fly fishing can be a challenge. Because of rising water temperatures, it’s an early-morning game with a short window of opportunity. If you can’t get out on the water as much because of honey-dos or work responsibilities, you can still improve your fishing skills. Here’s how. Get Organized Fly fishermen typically are hoarders. We seem to have way too much stuff. Use the downtime to cull and sort. Keep what you need, get rid of the rest. And what you do keep, it’s best to organize it, so when you do start fishing regularly again, the first few outings run smoothly.

Learn a New Skill If you’re a dry-fly angler, study nymph fishing and vice versa. If you’ve never streamer fished, bone up on streamers. If you think Euro-nymphing is intriguing, check out some how-to videos. We all have our perferred ways to fish, but at least observing a different approach can often sharpen one’s skill set. And several skills can learned on land. Weak on knots? You can practice rigging while watching ESPN. Struggle with the double haul? Practice in the back yard after dinner. Scout New Water Everyone has their favorite spots. Why not look for new water? You don’t need to actually fish. Look at Google Earth, study maps and do some exploring. New water opens up new opportunities, a bonus when popular water gets crowded. We can all get better. Angling has no limitations. Try something new. Enjoy the process.