Great Sight-Cast Fisheries

In all of angling, there’s nothing quite like sightfishing. Whether targeting a big, single permit on the flats, groups of surface-swimming cobia nearshore or tunas ravenously pounding bait on top in blue water, nothing stirs an angler’s soul more than spotting his quarry before delivering the cast. Sight-fishing is addictive, supremely challenging and uniquely rewarding. To many anglers, it represents the pinnacle, the ultimate form of sport fishing.

There are literally ­hundreds of outstanding sight-casting fisheries the world over. Many ­exist in coastal and inshore ­environments, created when clean, clear water pours in with the tide and floods flats, allowing anglers to stalk fish as a hunter stalks game.

Other sight-fisheries can be found in deeper-water ­arenas, where anglers cast to fish swimming and feeding just beneath — or, occasionally, just above — the water’s surface.

From New England to California to Florida, we hopscotch the U.S., chronicling a few of the country’s outstanding sight-fisheries.

No, these certainly are not the only great sight-casting fisheries in the country — not by a long shot. That's why we've asked for a few of your favorites too, via our Facebook page. You'll see them marked below in green.

First Up (next page): New England