Good line management is as equally important to that of the cast which delivers your fly to its intended target. Jim looks at why...
Saltwater anglers use bowls of sorts, reservoir and lake anglers use mother earth or the occasional line tray, and those afloat use the innards of the boat. All of which in some way help the angler to maintain a modicum of control over their line and its placement prior to making subsequent casts.
The river angler chooses to use none, that's not to say he/she couldn't adopt any of the aforementioned, it's just that given the nature of most rivers it's probably impractical... "Or is it?"What is good line management?... in part it refers to your control of the fly line during and after the retrieve.
What part of the line am I actually trying to manage?... in this case and having deployed my cast at what ever distance & upstream angle, it is the trailing fly line that will occur from the retrieve as I pick up slack as presented to me by the moving current.
For the purpose of this article, let's therefore assume I'm on a river fishing with an upstream approach using a method that requires one or more false casts to deliver the fly.
Below is an image with but two examples of line management, one where it is being gathered by the line hand thus managed (In my case the right hand), and the other not at all... do either of these resulting line formations look familiar?
I'd liked to have shot the following footage in the wet stuff, but having just experienced almost biblical floods a few days earlier, risking 'life & limb' isn't high on my bucket list... so grass it is ~ sorry!With my cast deployed and line on the water what follows is one type of commonly used retrieve.
Similarly and given the same circumstance, what follows is an alternative and my preferred.
The obvious difference between the two is the speed of the retrieve, this is driven by the distance the line hand travels to recover the same slack as presented by a given current.
Short & Speedy: Why I wouldn't...
- ...I recognise that I'm pulling line in at such a frenetic pace.
- ...There is little room for any variation with this retrieve... it tends to be fast or nothing.
- ...The unnecessary and resulting bounce of the rod tip when using such speed.
- ...Retrieving at what ever speed in a fast current I find it difficult to avoid the dreaded 'drag' loop of line forming beneath the rod tip.
Slow, Long & Smooth: Why I would...
- ...For the same quantity of pulls I can retrieve more than treble the amount of line.
- ...I've time without all the pace to react to the slightest of changes within the given fishing situation.
- ...I can alter the pull to fast & long but still maintain smoothness.
- ...Perhaps its familiarity will be such that I use this type of pull in unison with the rod movement to set upon a fish... otherwise known as a strip strike.
- ...It's just a lot darn smoother and comfortable.
Having now looked at the speed we move on to how one or the other work in controlling the fly line during the actual retrieve.
As you can no doubt see it's more difficult to bring together the loops in such a manner that makes them easy to control using the Short & Speedy retrieve. I hope the Slow, Long & Smooth however speaks for itself.Having chosen the speed at which I adopt the retrieve. How do I actually create the loops with the line hand?
- If you've decided to go for the Short & Speedy, read no further... go fishing and have a work out.
- If you've otherwise opted for the Slow, Long & Smooth... continue
The following shows but two examples of which there are many, on how to grab/gather the line and form the loops.
Note that with the Basic Loop & Grab I do not use my forefinger to maintain any of the loops. I'll use it along with the thumb to manipulate and feed the loops into the subsequent cast.
My preference when fishing at short range where minimal retrieving is required is the Basic Loop & Grab, for longer lines and drifts then the Palm Down Loop Split. You might even try the same with your palm facing up as an alternative. Ultimately your choice should be based on your own dexterity and ability to gather the loops without forethought or continually looking at what you're doing.
Having established my speed and how I'm going to form the loops, what are the benefits of this type of line management?
- With little or no line dragging in the water you'll not be fighting the current when initiating your next cast.
- You'll dramatically reduce the number of false casts you make as a result. You'll literally be doubling your fishing time for half the effort!
- It might even slow you down in that you'll start your cast from a better stand point, I'd also like to think therefore smoother and more efficient as a result... my fingers are crossed for you on that one.
- You'll not look like a Harlem Globe Trotter as you continue to bounce your line hand up and down trying to pick line up off the water from behind/under/around you.
And the difficulties can be what?
- Gauging the correct pull length versus speed to match your anticipated drift... nothing's changed there then.
- Grabbing/gathering the loops in the hand... my intention is to gather them in such a way that they lay in the hand side by side and not over one another so the paying out of the line is tangle free. Thus the Palm Down Loop Split is a personal favourite given the length of line.
- Having looped the line efficiently, you then drop them all back onto the water having initiated the first stroke of your next cast making all that has gone before totally worthless. Keep hold of them and under control learn to feed the loops gradually throughout the cast.
- Holding all of your loops out of the water. Fear not that some of your loops touch the water, sometimes it can't be helped based on a given wading depth or situation. The fact that your holding them in itself will help immensely.
As this article shows, you don't have to be on the water to practice. Give it a go... you'll not regret it!
Jim is our ESF in house fly casting contributor and AAPGAI Master level instructor teaching full time in the Cotswold, Wiltshire & Hampshire area... visit his website.