By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter

Editor's Note: Joe Cermele (in the first photo below) is an associate editor at Salt Water Sportsman, one of our sister publications. He's writing an article on this trip for Field & Stream's print magazine, and we conned him into sending us regular updates for this blog from the road.

What do you get when you send two East Coast trout bums to Montana to fish as many rivers as they can for seven days on $300 a day for food, flies, fuel and lodging? I can tell you as I type this at 11 p.m. from a motel room in Wisdom, Montana, that you get the road trip of a lifetime, but for the price of feeling like you haven't slept in weeks. My good friend Mark Wizeman and I are headed into day three of this trek, and we'll get up...again...before first light to get on the river and intercept the first risers of the day. Tomorrow it's the Big Hole, and as we have for the last few days, we'll end up fishing until dark en route to our next location. Draining, but well worth it.

Day one found us in West Yellowstone, where we fished the Upper Madison... [ Read Full Post ]

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.

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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. [ Read Full Post ]

By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter

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

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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... [ Read Full Post ]

By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter

Drought conditions persist in Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains, but there has been a shift in our weather pattern. Afternoon thunderstorms have become a regular thing as they are every summer in East Tennessee so conditions should not get any worse.

Creek fishing in the Smokies is superb this time of year. A short hike into the backcountry will not only get you away from other anglers and roadside tourists, but will also get you into eager fish. Wet wading is the comfortable way to go and the fish typically rise well to dry flies. Attractors like #16 Parachute Adams, Stimulators, and Wulffs usually get the job done. Major hatch activity has wrapped up by now but watch for egg-laying flights of Yellow Sallies late in the evening. The best fishing will be at elevations of 3000' and higher, but lower elevation streams are good. Most of these streams have rainbow trout but many have brookies and/or browns.

Tailwater fishing should be good this summer. Dry conditions limit the amount of water TVA can generate which leads to optimal flows to wade. The Watauga and South Holston are both superb rivers with good hatch activity through the summer. Sulphurs hatch in abundance... [ Read Full Post ]