Noted author & fly fishing magazine contributor Phil Shook will be here this Saturday, January 21st @ 1pm for a presentation: “Tarpon of the Yucatan and Caribbean Catches.” Phil has traveled Mexico in search of the silver king, sniffing out some of the better lodges & guides, his slide show presentation will offer some great travel info for all levels of traveling anglers. Whether you want budget or four-star accommodations, he has some great suggestions for all of us. FREE PRESENTATION, PLEASE RSVP if you want to attend, we have limited seating.

Join the Croton Watershed Chapter of Trout Unlimited on Thursday, January 26th at 6:30pm as author & fly tyer A.K. Best will be on hand to tie some of his famous trout fly patterns and give a presentation on Colorado trout streams. A. K.’s books & DVD’s have been some of the best fly tying reference guides of all time. Watch the master at his craft as this is a special early start to the monthly TU meeting. It will be held at their monthly site at the Emmanuel Lutheran church in Pleasantville. Visit cwctu.org for directions. The schedule for the evening will be as follows: Tying demo at 6:30 approx one hour, then the actual TU meeting follows. A.K. will then give a presentation on fishing select Colorado trout streams. PLEASE NOTE THE EARLY START TIME OF 6:30PM!

It’s time to kick off our winter schedule of Saturday presentations and in-store clinics. All of these clinics are RSVP so please read the fine print as the schedule will be updated weekly with any additions. We also ask for a small donation to pay for the excellent food & drink that we provide, we are usually not talking about dirty water hot dogs and stale potato chips!

Saturday, January 14th 12noon-Rob Nicholas “Housy Go-To Flies and How to fish them” plus “How to go to Patagonia.” Rob knows the Housatonic River as good as any and he knows the patterns that will catch fish! Rob has also been running trips to Chile & Argentina for over a decade, and has some great trips available, he’s a great guide and a great host. Visit housatonicanglers.com for more info.

Saturday, January 21st 1pm-Author, journalist & Photographer Phil Shook will be here for a timely presentation “Tarpon of the Yucatan and Caribbean Catches.” Phil will give you an in-the -know overview of the Yucatan and its many destinations, whether budget or four-star accoomodations are your preferrence . Phil is a noted author of books and numerous fly fishing articles which have been published in most of the big fishing magazines, we are happy to have him here for his first presentation. Visit bexarfly.com for more info on Phil.

We had a great time at our 40th Anniversary Dinner on Sunday, we thank all who came out and supported the evening! Congrats to Glen Ticehurst who one the grand raffle Sage Xi3 fly rod AND the second prize Hardy Princess reel, he truly deserved both wins! We have the new 40th Anniversary T-Shirt in stock, limited quantities so come in and grab one for a holiday gift. Thanks FABU!

Help us celebrate 40+ years in business on Sunday, December 11th from 4-8pm at the Katonah Memorial House. It’s been quite a ride so far, we’re going to do it in “Sportsman Style” with a top shelf dinner cooked by our good friend Chef Mark Alvarez of Concierge Foods. Cocktail Hour, Appetizers, Dinner, Dessert, Bar will all be included PLUS we will be including a special 40th anniversary bedford sportsman tee shirt! Also, we will be raffling off a Sage Xi3 fly rod, Hardy fly reel, Beulah switch rod, fly lines & various vendor schwag which never disappoints. Ask those who have attended any of our shindig’s, we do it right & we like to have a lot of fun!!!! PLEASE CALL THE STORE TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT WITH CREDIT CARD OR STOP IN AND PAY AT THE STORE. $55 per person, please rsvp with payment by 12/6. Due to limited seating, no walk-ups sorry. We hope you join us on what will be a very special evening!!!

The fall season has kicked into gear, remember to get a new freshwater fishing license!!!  Lots of good reservoir and lake fishing to do with the large & smallmouth bite heating up. Remember, you can fish the reservoir’s year-round, this is a great time to get out and finish up the bass season with a bang. Flyfishing the Croton Watershed will be limited to the upper East Branch ( the dam to diverting reservoir)  after 10/15. Until then, you have Cross River and Titicus outlet to fish. The Amawalk, West Branch are now closed…….The saltwater scene has begun to show signs of life with the “fall run.” We have been busy in the Long Island Sound and running day trips up to Watch Hill, Rhode Island to comb the beaches and breachways for albies, bass and blues. Call us if you are interested, it’s a great day of fishing!  Upcoming events at the shop will include: or annual OKTOBERFEST sale weekend 10/22, plus we are rounding out our plans for the store’s 40th ANNIVERSARY party which will be held the 1st weekend in December. Please visit our Facebook page, it’s a lot more active with fish photos and reports than the website. Hope to see you soon.

W Well, we are into the so called “Dog Days” of summer, hope everyone is enjoying themselves with some well earned vacation time. Sorry for the lapse in updates, we are back!  Our local trout fishing has become very difficult, the streams are low, not to say that you can’t catch, but you better get up early or stay late on the streams. Small flies, light tippets and stealthy presentation are going to b e the way to hook. Be creative with your fly selection, we are not trying to match the hatch. Be sure to check the stream flow links, as of now low, cold & clear are the best conditions  that we are going to get. The warm weather has also greatly affected our large and smallmouth bass fishing on the reservoir’s, try fishing off point and structure with deep running crankbaits or drop shot rigged soft plastics. Slooooooow down your retrieve and pay attention to any subtle strike, after you feel it-Stick  em good!  The Striped bass fishing in the Long Island Sound has slowed for the shore/wading fly and light tackle anglers, if you want a chance at a bass, set your alarm early and fish the tides, tough to get but there are still fish here. Plenty of bluefish around, they are big & mean so remember your heavy rods and wire leaders. “Ol Blue” can be a ton of fun for the kids, and the getting is good!  Call us for any info on our kid’s fishing instruction, we have been having a blast “rowing & throwing” around the reservoir for bass & panfish, we offer 2 & 4 hour sessions. As always, we can also hook you up with a great local saltwater Capt. if you’re looking to get into some saltwater action. Tight lines for now, stay cool!

FLY FISHING THE LOCAL CROTON WATERSHED STREAM SYSTEM-We have settled in nicely to the local fishing as the temps rise and the water drops, conditions on all the trout streams has been still very active. We have had some great Sulpher dry fly and emerger fishing as of late, hatches have been going of throughout the day and into the late evenings-word to the wise buy a headlamp and stay out on the streams late! Other flies you should have in the box-small caddis size 18-20 all colors, especially olive and grey. Terrestrials meaning ants, beetles, hoppers, etc. Fish these close to the bank and overhanging trees, you never know when you can fool one to come out from the banks. The tip of the day-try a big dry fly (hopper, caddis, foam) followed by a small nymph as the dropper, the dry/dropper rig is a sure thing this time of year! Check out this link for more info on how to tie 2 fly rigs:http://midcurrent.com/knots/seeing-double/

LOCAL RESERVOIRS-Bass fishing season is now open, take advantage of the post spawn activity and hit the reservoirs. Use soft plastics-rubber worms rigged drop shot or texas style will get you in the thick of things, Yammy worms rigged wacky and fished on the drop will usually score you some lunkers. Spinner baits in white are also a go-to bait this time of year-fish them close to the weedline and in/around submerged trees. Don’t wait until the water temps get to much warmer, time to grab some good large & smallmouth action now.

SALTWATER BAIT & LIGHT TACKLE-The Striped Bass season has been in full swing for some time now, big fish have been caught in the month of June in Long Island Sound, we are hoping they stick around for a bit longer. The bait fishing and trolling has been producing nicely using bunker, the wireline trolling with bunker spoons, swimmers, parachute rigs and tube n’ worms have all been catching their share. Still time to book one of the local Capt.’s for a chartered boat tripe, call us for more info…….The saltwater fly fishing scene has been very good as of late, sand eels have invaded the Sound, great fishing some nights in/around the fairfield ct. area, other nights as usual are slow. Check your tides and fish at night if you can, sand eel patterns, smaller decievers and an occasional topwater popper have all caught keeper bass on the greenline!

We will let the photo do the talking with this nice Striper taken last Saturday Night aboard the OMEGA with Capt. Greg Savino. Call him now for prime Striped Bass & Bluefish dates 914.980.1417. Fish On!