Now that delayed harvest is only a month away, now is a great time to go over your equipment and make sure you are ready for that first day in October. Please see a few fly fishing essentials below:
1) Rod, Reel and Line combo – one of the best things to do if you haven’t for some time is to bring this into a fly fishing shop like CWO! They can check your fly line, make sure your reel is working correctly and check out the condition of the rod – similar to bringing your bicycle for a tune-up every year. Trust me, I know this can pay dividends. I just got stuck on some beautiful water with a reel that broke and I had no drag to my line.
2) Waders – check the general condition while cleaning them off. Check for any small tears or holes that may have gone undetected in the past, especially up above the knees where you don’t wade as much. Find something? They can usually be repaired with great patch kits. I tore my brand new waders the first trip out but was good to go the next day with the right sealant.
3) Flies – There is nothing worse than being on the water and realizing you don’t have the right flies with you. Determine where you are fishing, get the local fishing report from CWO and have an assortment of the right flies ready to go for varying conditions. The flies you were using in the Spring/Summer are unlikely to do the trick now. If you are interested, our professional fishing guides have pre-selected the must-have flies to take on your next trip in the Asheville area – see our fly box selections.
4) Net – Have a net ready with a soft seamless bag for easy catch and release. The most recent ones have a rubberized mesh bag which is thought to harm a trout’s slime layer less than any other kind of mesh. Make sure to get a net with a hoop opening at least about 8 inches wide by 18 inches long. If you need a new one, CWO offers a wide variety of fishing nets.
5) Sunglasses – Have a high quality polarized sunglasses pair to both protect your eyes and better see all of the fish you are going to catch!
Happy Fishing ~ Kristen