In traditional method of fly fishing, the angler typically retrieves the line with your non-dominant hand while your dominant hand holds the rod. Though you can retrieve quite fast with just one hand, it just isn't fast enough to imitate many of the baits that become prey for one another in salt water. Fish in salt water swim in an environment that has no boundaries and very few places to hide. They have to be fast, or they become, somebodys lunch. Imitating them requires an equal amount of speed.

The two handed retrieve increases the speed at which the fly moves. After the cast, you must tuck the butt of the rod and the reel in the armpit of your dominant arm. Then, with your upper arm holding the rod close to their body, both hands commence a rapid hand-over-hand retrieve of the line. The two-handed retrieve requires some finger dexterity and works best when the hands are kept close to the stripping guide of the rod. Most people can get more speed with lots of quick, short retrieves rather than longer ones.

When you feel a fish bite, you must now learn the Skip Strike method of setting the hook. Do not use the standard method of taking the rod butt back in your hand and looping the line over their fingers to "set up", for this takes to long. Instead, you will set the hook with your line and not the rod. The bite was quick and saltwater fish move fast. Pulling the line straight back, with a sharp tug and pointing the rod tip at your prey, embeds the fly more effectively than an upwards thrust of the rod. Try this technique the next time you are out on the flats and watch your success rate vastly improve.