By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter

Fishing here on Nantucket has done nothing but improve. With the week-long blow long behind us and a stable air mass the fish have moved in almost everywhere. Nantucket harbor is fishing well and I have had several reports of good size fish there. On the West End the sight/flats fishing has opened wide up; this past week Jaime Rantanen from PA landed 12 stripers up to 17 pounds and pulled hooks on 3 others. Dan Zemann of NY landed a nice 40 incher (22 1/2 pounder) along with 3 other nice fish a few days ago, and managed 8 today all ranging from 29 to 36 inches, and Jim Beasley of Florida landed several nice fish with a personal best on fly of 34 inches. The rips have exploded with squid so we took a "store" trip out yesterday morning and were doubling and tripling up with stripers ranging from 30 inches to 37 inches; not as big as the report I had from the previous day but all nice fish. Capt Shawn Bristow has been getting into some fish up to 43 inches in the rips.

While not on fly, bluefin tuna have been showing up in the East. Capt. Shawn has been out the past two days and managed into several yesterday and one today. While not everyone wants to see them, I hope the smaller school size bluefin show their faces for some fly rod action.

By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter

The weather gods have smiled upon us here in the Keys the past couple of weeks. Light winds, hot temperatures and afternoon storms have finally made it start to feel like summer in Key West. The fishing has responded. I have been solely focusing on tarpon and have been finding a good number of fish laid up in backcountry basins and cruising the Atlantic fish lanes. In addition, we have seen sporadic shrimp and guppy hatches where the tarpon have been feeding with gusto in the early mornings. One thing to try when the wind drops and the fish get spooky, try putting away the 12-weights and pick up a 10-weight rigged with a long leader. The lighter line can definitely make the difference between casting to a ton of fish and hooking some of them. Hopefully this good weather and good fishing will continue as we move into July.

By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter

Could someone please tell this guy it's OKAY to roll up your jeans before entering the river?

By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter

Long casts, while impressive, are often overkill. And while bombing flies into hula hoops on the back lawn improves your aim, what matters most in the real fishing world is accuracy under pressure. Pro redfish angler Travis Holeman shared with me this “40 feet in four seconds” practice drill that will help you lose the casting “yips.” His theory: if you master shorter casts -- on target and on time -- you will definitely hook more fish, from trout rising in the river to bonefish cruising the flats.

It’s a two-person exercise. Set out five targets (trash can lids, hula hoops, doormats, whatever) at 40 feet. When the caster is ready, the timekeeper calls a random target, one through five. Using a stopwatch, or shouting “one Mississippi, two Mississippi …” (like the pass rusher in a flag football game) he/she counts four seconds. The caster must hit the target before time is called. Mix it up, then trade places.

This drill makes judging distance second nature, so you focus on aiming the cast, not measuring line. The trick is to start by paying out 20 feet of line, draping 10 out the end of the rod, and coiling 10 near your feet, then holding the fly in your off hand. (Factor in a nine-foot leader between the line and the fly, you’re nearly ¾ of the way to 40 feet from start.)

To get that slack line airborne, make the first move forward, not back. Roll cast away from you, off target, release the fly, then fully load the rod on the backcast. If you start by yanking backwards and pulling the fly out of your hand, you’ll only get yourself tangled or stick the fly in the side of your head. Strip out the remaining line as you make one determined false cast. Don’t mess around. Four seconds isn’t enough time for four or five false casts.

Once the line is in the air, immediately train your focus on the target. Use your thumb to direct the cast. The rod tip ultimately tells the line (and fly) where to go, and the thumb tells the rod tip what to do. When you shock the rod and make your final cast, if the target is lined up at the tip of your thumbnail, odds are your fly will land on the money, or close.

- KD