Stripers on the fly with a popular guide

The crack of dawn on eastern Long Island, New York.

What unique backgrounds do the select few elite northeastern striper guides possess? For example . . .

Their diverse experiences can offer you invaluable insights and strategies for an unforgettable fishing adventure. 

 By Skip Clement

1. He’s been a licensed United States Coast Guard certified Captain for decades.
2. He lives where he fishes.
3. He loves teaching kids how to cast and how to fish.
4. He ties flies.
5. He owns and maintains a flats boat and a bay boat.
6. He was a GM at New York City’s famous fly shop, Urban Angle’.
   

   ‘Flats fishing, casting counts here. Great angler aboard makes life easy.’ Derr photo.

7. He has guided New England, the Adirondacks, Seychelles, and the Florida Keys.
8. He lived and owned a home in the Florida Keys for years. There, he had Paul Dixon as a roommate, who also mentored him when he was young.
9. He co-authored the book Fly Fishing the Florida Keys (Amato 2004). It was republished twice.
10. He taught fly casting in the Florida Keys at the Ocean Reef Club – Orvis Fly Shop.
11. He’s as comfortable casting a spinning rod or fly rod as upland hunting with a shotgun.
12. He owned this digital magazine for a while, starting as a field editor and then as an editor.
13. He has written over 2,000 published articles for this and other publications on fly fishing, fishing in general, and conservation.
    

    Montauk albie. Photo op and quick release. Capt. Andrew Derr photo credit.

14. He camps out in the summer and fall with his son in the Adirondacks, where he co-owns a summer home with his sibling.
15. He has these distinctive characteristics. He does not lie or brag, supports US conservation matters, and vigorously defends the preservation of his home waters fisheries.
16. His friends and regular clients say he is the most level-headed and loyal person they have ever known.
17. He has a long list of famous people as friends.
18. He has a long list of regular clients.
19. He’s not a Michelin-rated chef, but no one who knows his culinary aptitude has ever turned down an invite to dinner.

PS: Get him to play guitar for you . . . 

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Captain Andrew Derr:

Captain Andrew Derr – October 2024.

Captain Andrew Derr

Guiding: Eastern Long Island, New York, from Long Island Sound to Montauk, New York. Stripers, albies, and bluefish.

Contact:

212-495-9062, Greenport, NY 11944

lionthefly@optonline.net

NOTE: A few decades after Andrew and his wife Sonja [a marketing genius] moved to the picturesque town of Greenport, NY, on the North Shore of Long Island. Greenport, once a sleepy coastal village, is now a haven for writers, sport fishermen [yes, almost all men], organic farmers, aquaculture, wineries, and an attraction for those prone to enjoying culinary experiences.

NOTE 2: Greenport, NY, is a historic coastal town next to Orient Point. The latter was once the terminus of millions of northeast Atlantic salmon that gathered there before making their historic run to Greenland’s breeding grounds.