It’s always good to go fishing where the fish live, and they can be found in Puerto Peñasco. I have been fortunate to be on the water early in the morning in my inflatable pontoon boat, when the sky and water are turning that pinkish orange glow. Many times I am surrounded by a few fish splashing, and the water looking nervous. I make a double haul cast with my six weight fly rod with a Clouser Minnow attached to the end of my line. Shortly after my fly hits the water I strip the line and I get a bump, maybe a second bump, then I strip strike and I have a fish attached to my line. Our Rocky Point fish usually have a hard boney mouth and you really need to strip strike hard to hook one of these guys. If you just lift your rod tip like you would normally do for trout fishing, you will miss a lot of fish. If you are planning on visiting Puerto Peñasco this fall I would encourage you to bring your fly fishing gear, and get wet. If you have not fished salt water before, you will find a wonderful place, with a lot of fish, to test your fly fishing skills. A fly rod in the 6 to 8 weight range will handle most of the fish that you will catch close to shore in Rocky Point. I am partial to St. Croix Rods, they offer a wide variety and price ranges that are good for a beginner all the way to an old veteran. I have always seemed to get good value from my St. Croix Rods and they have been very good with repair and warranty issues. My six weight fly rod that I have owned and fished hard for about 12 years, would occasionally get broken, I would send it in, and for a fee they would repair it and return it. This last time I sent my broken rod in for repairs, they didn’t have the parts to repair it, so they sent me a new rod for a replacement. I had the new rod out in October and caught Cabrilla, Sierra, Trigger, Pompano, and Orange Mouth Corvina. I am satisfied with this arrangement and I am looking forward to fishing it again in November and hoping the flounder fishing is as good as usual for that month. Since most of your Rocky Point fish don’t make scorching runs, almost any reel that will hold line and has some breaking capacity will work. You don’t need an expensive reel to enter salt water fly fishing in Puerto Peñasco. One of the most important decisions that you will make is the fly line. I like the sink tip lines that are really heavy for the first 25-30 feet, then usually have an intermediate sink line as a running line. I use 200, 300, and 400 grain lines for most of my salt water fishing. The 200 is the lightest and I would use that with the six weight and the 400 grain I would use with the 8 weight and that would give me a faster sink rate so I could fish deeper in the water column. Many times I will set up a second rod with a floating line with a bass popper attached. I don’t always get to use this setup, but when you find some Pompano over a rock pile they will attack that popper until you get tired of catching them. If you are new to fly casting or don’t have the double haul mastered yet, take a lesson or get a fly fishing buddy to get you started with the basics of the double haul. You will be able to cast further and more accurately in the wind if you can double haul. You will need some flies to cast, and my favorites for Rocky Point include Clouser Minnows, Gotcha’s, Crazy Charlie’s, Poppers, and Deceivers. You can start casting from shore, but if you add a pontoon boat with oars you will be able to extend your fishing day. Most days I will catch and release fish, but I have been known to keep a few fish for the smoker. If you are looking to upgrade your filet knife, let me suggest the Bubba Blade knife. I just got one and they make fish cleaning easy. The knife is just as sharp as it looks on the Youtube videos, and the handle is very secure in your hand. (www.bubbablade.com) This knife will even make short work out of cleaning a Trigger, and their tough skin usually will wreck a regular filet knife. Vince Deadmond The Fly Fishing Hardware Guy can be found at Best Hardware & Rental 237 N. Apache Trail Apache Junction, AZ vince@ajbest.com and (480) 982-7461.