We apologize for the lack of updates recently, the fishing season is well underway and May is the month to hit the streams, the reservoir’s and the saltwater!  I would like to give big shout-out’s to the angler photos below-George West with a nice spring striper,  Bryan C. with a nice brown trout in hand & steelhead from up north on the Salmon River, and finally to Ben Colley with the biggest baddest (locally caught on a fly rod) Brown Trout we have seen in a loooooooong time!….Nice Job boys, please keep the photo’s coming! The local streams are all fishing very nicely right now, we had some excellent dry fly fishing the past few weeks due to the low water, but the recent rain has gotten the “nymph-o-maniacs” back into the action. Safe to say that an abundance of Caddis nymphs, emergers and dries should be in the box-tan, olive and grey lead the way. Look out for the pale Mayflies arriving soon, we have seen some popping out here and there, Cahill’s, Sulphers, Pale Evening Dun’s are just around the corner…………Reservoir bass and trout bite has picked up recently, dunk some sawbelly’s for the trout, or fish crankbaits and jerkbaits for the bass, we will say it ’til we drop-MAY IS THE MONTH!!!!! We have recently opened up a sister location CROSS RIVER BAIT & TACKLE-yep you know it, the place on Rte. 35 that has been there for years! We are stocked with LIVE BAIT & WORMS for all the bait fisherman, plus the tackle shop has all the rods, reels & lures you need to fish the local waters Call us at 914.763. 6083 for directions………The Saltwater scene has kicked into gear, The Hudson River & The Long Island Sound are heating up with Striped Bass on the move. Remember, we can book you with great local Capt.’s for striped bass & bluefishing, do it in the month of May or June!!!! Well,all we can say is get out and wet the line, the dog days of summer will be here soon so fish now!!!!

UPCOMING EVENTS AT THE BEDFORD SPORTSMAN THIS  MARCH & APRIL -PLEASE NOTE ALL EVENTS ARE FREE UNLESS NOTED, YOU MUST RSVP FOR THESE EVENTS. CONTACT THE STORE AT 914.666.8091 OR EMAIL bedfordsportsman@aol.com

This Saturday, April 14^th 1pm “SUCCESFUL FLY PATTERNS OF THE LOCAL CROTON WATERSHED TROUT STREAM SYSTEM.” Trout Unlimited President and fly tier Bob Wesolowski will be here to tie a handful of fly patterns that catch fish! Streamer, nymph, dry & wet fly patterns will all be represented. Bob teaches the trout unlimited fly tying school and has the recipes that will put more fish in hand.

Sunday, April 15th 9am-1pm BEDFORD SPORTSMAN BEGINNER FLY FISHING SCHOOLS START. Winter is over, you have hopefully taken advantage of some of our seminars & driving tours, now it’s time to fish! Join us for a 4-hour intro fly fishing school designed to get you rigged & casting for trout. We cover: equipment & rigging, basic fly fishing knots and casting technique. We meet here at the store for an hour covering the rod/reel and knots portion, then off to a pond for basic casting instruction, finally we put you on the stream casting and fishing both wet & dry flies. That’s when the fun really starts! $175 per person, only $225 total if you have two people! We supply everything, dress for the weather. Please call us 914.666.8091 or bedfordsportsman@aol.com. FUTURE SCHOOL DATES INCLUDE SUNDAY 4/22.

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.