Tips on fly fishing - not casting but reeling in?

Question

I have started fly fishing and want some tips on what to do once I have done my cast. What is the best way to reel in or what leaders can give me the best results.

Thanks

Answer 1

You have been given some good answers for a very broad question.

If you are fishing dry flies then you need a tapered leader for sure, that helps transfer the power of the cast down the line into the leader and to the fly, which in theory gives you a proper presentation of the dry fly. You can build your own tapered leaders, but I tend to use store bought tapered leaders for dry flies. There are fewer knots to make wakes in the water and to collect less trash that is on top the water. I use Rio mono tapered leaders, which tend to be a little expensive but they are very good. So, to keep costs down, you use tippet, say about 18 inches of it at the end of your leader.

For the most part I use only fluorocarbon tippet. It is harder for the fish to see it. It you find a few extra large fish you can tie on a tippet size one up from what you normally would use since it is harder for the fish to see it. Only on really small size 20 and 22 flies do I sometimes use mono tippet. By the way, always replace your mono tippet every year since it ages with the UV light and weakens. Fluorocarbon does not have that problem, so while it is more expensive to buy, you can hang onto it until you use it all up rather than tossing it away at the end of the fishing season, so it really ends up being less expensive.

Fishing dry flies means you usually want a drag free drift if you are in a river or stream. So, you have to cast in a mend to keep the fly from being pulled by the river faster than the water the fly is resting in. You usually want a drag free drift but that does not mean you can't move the fly. If you watch bugs in the water, unless they are dead, they will move a little or sometimes a lot. So, what type of insect are you imitating? A female stone fly will be moving all over the top of the water dropping her eggs, as will other insects, so sometimes you want movement. Other times you see that the insects are just sort of resting or dying on top of the water, in lakes and rivers, and you either need to go totally drag free or use very small rod tip movements to give a little action to the fly. Once you have moved the fly out of your target area one nice feature about dry fly fishing is you can just pick up the fly line and make a quick cast back to your target area with possibly only one false cast to have a change of direction and help dry the fly.

When fishing streamers or nymphs, you will have to strip in more line than you would with a dry fly before you can pick it up to recast.

Leaders for nymphs and streamers don't have to be nicely tapered. You are not making a cast for presentation, you are making a cast to get the fly to the area you want the fly to sink in. For heavy streamers used on large trout or bass, just a 4 foot piece of fairly heavy leader would do. You won't be fishing any 6X or 7X leaders or tippets, more like 4X or 3X or even 2X.

You can taper the leader down a bit if you want, but just do it by tying two leaders together, like a 3X and tie on a 4X and possibly a 5X then the fly.

For nymphs in a river, you will be under water and the nymphs should be fished totally drag free and deep, like right to the bottom or as a dropper off of a dry fly, still fished drag free, then it imitates an emerging insect.

Streamers are usually fished with a variety of retrieves, usually with lots of action and not usually drag free. The type of line retrieval should be varied to find what the fish want.

As pointed out in other answers, you retrieve the line with the opposite hand you are holding onto the rod with. But, remember to maintain control of the line with the index finger of your rod hand and only grab the line from behind your rod hand to strip some line in.

When fishing large streamers or really large dry flies, you may need to have a larger leader and possibly increase your line size up by one size in order to have better control over the fly. As you are casting and changing flies you will notice when you have exceeded the ability of the line and or leader to do the job properly. That is when you need to increase by one size for more control.

For smaller trout and smaller bass you may end up just stripping in the line all the way bringing in the fish with out getting the line back on the reel. As long as you are only making short casts this is OK. If you are making long casts then try to let the fish play out a little line (without giving it any slack) until the line is taught, then start reeling in. Always have your drag set very light, just enough drag so the reel won't free spool if the fish makes a run (a free spooling reel equals a birdsnest at the end of the run). Then you palm the reel for a little extra drag. You will get the feel as to how much to palm a reel and you will also find out why it is good to wear leather palmed gloves (I use SunGloves to protect my hand from the sun and for the leather palm). When the fish stops it's run, slowly start reeling in the line keeping proper tension on the line at all times.

For larger fish always try to get the line on the reel as soon as possible. Nothing is worse than having a pile of line at your feet, trying to tie itself into knots and have a fish take off on a long run. One of those knots will hit the first guide and there goes your fish.

Hope this helps and answers most of your question.

Larry

Answer 2

This question is very broad. I do not know what you are fishing for. Lets assume trout.

Once the cast is complete. you take the line in your left hand (assuming your right handed) and pull it in. This is called 'stripping the line in'. You can choose how to strip it according to what kind of line your using or if the water is really clear, you don't want big jumps in your fly. I switch off using small pulls or long ones to see what the fish respond to. If your fishing a sinking line and the water is not too fast, it best to strip a little faster to keep it from hanging up on the bottom.

Again its hard to pinpoint one technique when the water is always different and the line is different as is the environment.

The clearer and flatter the water, the longer the leader. This is because if the fish can see your line it is more likely to spook them.

Try watching what someone else does and go from there.

Answer 3

Immediately after striking a fish you will need to strip line back in by hand, and for smaller fish this is all you need to do to land it. However in the case of fighting a large fish you should try to get him on the reel as soon as possible. That means getting you line back on the reel.

Fluorocarbon is considered by most to be the material of choice for constructing leaders. However you can use Monofilament for the butt section and then taper down to the appropriate tippet size.

Answer 4

Hand retrieve the line on smaller fish. As for leaders, I perfer a furled leader. It helps those of us not as experienced to cast better and not produce as many knots in the leader.

Answer 5

Abalone pretty much said it!

For the "expert opinion", hopefully Pheasant Tail or Sagefisher will answer you.

ASKER ,(Brenboer), you should give us more info on what type of species of fish you will be pursuing.