Wouldn’t it be tragic if you couldn’t catch a fish? Especially, if you've been following along in this series that's soon to become a book. I assume you have. I assume you've read the articles and assembled a balanced outfit of fly rod, line, leader and reel. I assume you've learned the essential facts about tippets, leaders, and lines. I assume you can tie the right knots, cast and make a presentation. If you have done this, you’ve spent precious hours and invested hard-earned dollars to learn the sport.

So now that you're near the moment of actually going fly fishing for fish, has a stray thought crossed your mind–a stray thought like not catching a fish? Not to worry, assuming you review and digest this chapter. There are a "bunch" of things yet to be discussed that relate directly to whether or not you can catch a fish–things like animating the fly, striking the fish, rod tip angle and line control, to name but a few. I begin the discussion with two points critical to your success.

Rod Tip Angle and Two-Point Control. As you make the cast, presenting the fly let’s say to a cruising fish, two-point control actually begins about the time the fly hits the water. Many of you have witnessed in spinning or bait casting, the phenomenon of a fish striking immediately as the lure or bait touches the water. In fly fishing, it always pays to believe the fish watches as you rig up, select the fly and lay out your cast. It pays to believe your finny adversary watches as the fly wings its way toward his turf. It pays to believe the moment the fly touches down the fish intends to smash it with vengeance. Look closely! You can see it gathering its strength for the strike . . .. Got the picture?

You must be prepared for a strike the instant the fly nears the water. Here’s how–first, put the rod tip down. Point the tip toward the water. If a few drops run off the tip, "you're doing pretty good" as my Grandfather used to say. Second, you must have absolute control of the line, and this only happens when two-point control is established. This means running the fly line beneath a finger of the rod hand (either the index or middle finger) with the line hand grasping the line behind the rod hand. This setup is used throughout the retrieve, strike, and recovery of the fish. The line is always beneath a finger of the rod hand.

Prevent slack. Having explained the rod tip is always down, think about what happens when you lift or hold the rod tip up–somewhere between 8 to 11 on the clock-face. The answer, of course, is the heavy fly line will sag and hang perpendicular. The pool of line underneath the rod tip — when it’s dropped back to the surface — is called, "slack." Go outside and try it. With line straight and the rod tip pointing down, point the rod tip up to about 11 o’clock. Now point the rod back down. The puddle or pool of slack line will range somewhere between three to six feet. It’s easy to measure — so do it, measure the amount of slack. The exact amount of slack formed by the careless act of raising the rod tip is contingent on the length of the rod. The longer the rod, the greater the amount of slack. Think! Slack is bad! It will cost you the cast and it’s likely to cost you a fish. When you fail to control slack, you fail to control the fishing process.

Simply stated, it is impossible to properly strike the fish when slack exists. The reason is simple: the line hand is not in direct contact with the fly. The fact is direct contact with the fly is absolutely necessary whether it’s making the retrieve, animating the fly, setting the hook or making the cast. To set the stage for success, always point the rod tip down, close to, if not touching, the water. Point the rod towards the water, remove the slack, establish 2-point control and, as the fly touches down, you’re ready for what comes next–fishing. Just be sure to trap the line beneath a finger of the rod hand.

Animating the Fly. The line hand, as you are beginning to see, is critical to success in fly fishing. Just as it is the critical to line control and striking the fish, the line-hand is key to animating the action of the fly, whether top water, diver, swimmer or bottom bouncer. Unfortunately, many fly fishers start out emulating the techniques they learned in spinning and bait casting -- using the rod tip as the way to set the action. Watch them. Note the way they twitch, pop, and jerk the rod tip, thinking that’s the way it’s done. This technique is dead wrong! In fly fishing, it’s the line hand that does the work, not the rod or rod hand. Nothing can impart action to the fly like the touch of the fingers from the line hand.

With two-point control established, rod tip down and slack removed, the line hand animates the fly by stripping in line in a wide and varying array of combinations. For example, when using a popping bug for largemouth bass, one of my favorite techniques is to make the bug quiver, not move. It is tough to do it any other way than with the line hand delicately manipulating the line. Ordinarily the distance, timing and speed of each strip, pause and strip is, of course, variable. Factors such as the specific fish pursued, the time of year, the water conditions, and other environmental factors -- all weigh heavily. In saltwater, a fly fisher after barracuda may use very fast strips of two or more feet. To do this, the fly fisher will use both hands on the line; the rod is usually tucked under the arm. Don’t forget the barracuda is a fast swimmer that can get from here to there in a second. Have you tried the two-handed retrieve?

Sometimes, the last thing you want is an animated fly. The antithesis to fast stripping for a barracuda is nymphing a stream for trout. In this instance, the fly fisher’s concern is for a "drag-free" drift of the fly, not how well his or her fingers manipulate the fly. Otherwise -- no strike and no fish! Experiment -- trial and error will help you immensely. You will never forget the retrieve you were using the moment Jaws struck your fly. As you address the varying array of possibilities in making the retrieve, don’t fail to review the fishing literature for your chosen species. Proven tricks, tactics and techniques abound to be shared with you by those who have gone before. The odds are, your favorite fish has been covered in detail. Why, even the lowly carp has made it into the halls of the fly fishing glory, and is now draped in "how-to-catch-it" detail.

Points to Remember. As you practice animating your fly, remember these points: (1) keep the rod tip down at or touching the water; (2) keep the rod tip pointed toward the fly; (3) do not allow slack to form; and (4) maintain two point control throughout the retrieve. If you need another reason to be convinced this is the way to go, consider this: with the rod tip down and slack removed, you can easily lift into the backcast any time the need arises.

As you strip in line animating the fly, there is tendency to forget what’s happening to the line that’s being retrieved. If you are not using a basket, there is a good chance the line will fall helter-skelter into the water or the deck of the boat. Dropped into the water it will float or sink away; dropped to the deck, it's sure to tangle or get under your feet at exactly the wrong time. Instead of taking these risks, learn to form coils in the line and suspend them from a spare finger of the line hand as you retrieve line. As your skills advance, the ability to form coils during the retrieve will become increasingly important. Coils can help prevent errors during the final cast or after hook up. Stay relaxed. Keep an eye on the strike indicator. And always, remember that the line hand moves the fly, not the rod tip.

Strike Detection. While you are animating the fly, here is something to think about -- strike detection. With the line land in constant contact with the line, the fingers manipulating the line should feel the strike or touch of a fish better than any other part of the fly fishing system. However, it’s possible to fish productive waters encountering strike after strike without ever knowing a strike occurred -- simply because the fingers never felt a thing. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Yet, it’s true! It happens, particularly while nymphing in moving waters or when the silly fly fisher otherwise allows slack to form between the fly and the rod tip. This is one reason why many companies, such as Orvis and Cabela’s offer "strike indicators." A strike indicator is usually a piece of highly visible material easily attached to the fly line above the fly. It helps you visually observe the line’s movement in the water.

Anything out of the ordinary can mean a strike. Without the very inexpensive addition of a strike detector to your system, it’s very possible to go home thinking yourself a failure when, in fact, you were quite successful. You just never knew how successful you were. That would be tragic. No bones about it, strike detection can be difficult, particularly in fast moving waters. Short of seeing the strike, the only certain way of detection is resistance on the line as felt by the line hand. If you cannot feel the strike, you cannot hook the fish. This is another very good reason not to use the rod in response to a strike or to set the hook. As an example, a swirl behind the general location of your fly may or may not be a strike. But, if it is a strike and the fish isn’t on, move the rod tip — and I promise — you will not hook the fish.

Hookset. So what happens if the fish strikes the fly? Obviously, set the hook. But a word of caution: setting the hook in fly fishing differs "a bunch" from the routines typically used in spinning or bait-casting. One of the biggest reasons fly fishers fail to catch fish and sometimes break their rod is the way they react to a strike. They attempt to set the hook as they’ve done or seen done in bait casting. They rear-back on the rod. Wrong technique! If the rod doesn’t break the first time, all they have to do is keep on trying -- eventually they will succeed. The rod’s purpose is not to strike the fish. Striking the fish is done by quickly stripping the line directly to the rear with the line hand; at the same time, turning the butt of the rod to one side or the other with the rod hand. If the rod tip remains pointed at the fish, hook-up will occur. Lifting or jerking the rod tip up is a no-no. To catch fish on a fly rod, strike the fish correctly: Drive the hook into the fish’s jaw with the line hand! On the big tough fish — wahoo, largemouth bass, pike, muskie, strippers, tarpon, etc. — an experienced fly fisher will drive the hook two, three and four times just to be sure the hook-up is solid. As I’ve already mentioned, chasing a fast, toothy, tough-mouthed critter in saltwater using a two-handed retrieve means you can use two hands to set the hook.

Keep in mind as the fish get bigger, the hooks get bigger, too. And as the hooks get bigger, it is more important that they be kept razor sharp with the barb low or filed off. So be sure to do it: file-down or remove the barb, and keep those hooks deadly sharp. A sharp hook assists you in embedding the hook in the mouth during hookset. Many of our predator fish have tough bony mouths making hookset difficult enough for the line hand and impossible with the rod tip up. So keep it low. You won’t break your rod and you just might catch a fish . . .. That’s a far better outcome, agreed?

A few comments will further clarify why the rod is not instrumental in hookup. You already know the rod in the casting phase serves as a long flexible lever that assists in making the cast. In the fish catching phase of fly fishing, the rod continues to serve as long flexible lever, but with a slightly different purpose -- it reduces the shock to leader and tippet. Said another way, the rod becomes a long shock absorber when playing a fish. If it absorbs the shock to line, leader and tippet with the fish on, what do think happens when you rear-back on the rod trying to set the hook? It absorbs the shock to the limits of its design, and then breaks! It stands to reason, doesn’t it? If you can break a fly rod during the cast because of line weight overload, you can bet money on being able to break the rod by overloading it when setting the hook. It’s an important point to remember, if you don’t want to become lost in remorse as the rod explodes and the Fish Gods laugh . . .. And laugh . . .. And laugh.

The Rules

1) Remove all slack immediately after making the final cast.

2) Keep the rod tip low and in close proximity to the water.

3) Maintain a straight line between the rod, rod tip and the fly.

4) Establish and maintain 2-point line control immediately after making the final cast.

• Run the line under at least one finger of the rod hand.
• The line hand grasps the line, always behind the rod hand.

6) Strike the fish with the line hand by a quickly stripping the line directly to the rear.

• The rod remains pointed at the fly until the hook is set.
• The rod tip remains down, low to the water.

8) The line hand’s function is critical in fly fishing.

• The line hand animates the action of the fly.
• The line hand moves the fly, not the rod tip.
• The line hand strikes the fish and sets the hook.

Playing the fish. Once the hook is embedded in the fish, look out! The battle is joined. If you have learned how to use the line hand, you are ready; if not, go back and re-read what's gone before. Initially, the line hand will handle the give and take of line during the battle, either by stripping it in or releasing it to the pressure of the fish. Whether giving or taking line, it always runs beneath the trapping finger of the rod hand. Two points are essential to victory: (1) maintaining 2-point control, and (2) maintaining a tight line. Factors that now come into play include clearing the line, handling the run, applying the drag and pumping the fish.

Clearing the line. Your first objective early on in the fight is to clear the free line and get to the reel. You cannot, however, do this if the fish’s initial run is straight toward you. Believe it or not, some sport fish seem to have a propensity for this behavior. Two standouts are largemouth bass and shark. The bass is probably heading for deep water and submerged structure; the shark is probably attacking. Until the fish turns away, the line hand must carry the fight forbidding the one thing guaranteeing your defeat -- slack. Keep stripping-in line. When the fish turns aside and runs, release and clear the line until it is on the reel. That’s what you want -- to fight the fish from the reel. But take care! Those coils of line lying in the bottom of the boat or drifting in the current can be deadly. If one of those coils tangles or snags, that will terminate the battle with your fish. So, focus on clearing the line during that first outward bound run. Keep a slight but constant pressure on the line as it whips through the guides. Once you are on the reel, let the reel take over the give and take of the battle, operated, of course, by the line hand.

On the Reel. Now is the time when the fly rod and that expensive fly reel really earn their keep. That long lever you’re holding in the rod hand is instrumental in playing fish. In the end it will be the combination of line pressure and the shock absorbing action of the rod that tires the fish and wins the battle. You may have seen one or two spectacular pictures of a fly fisher with his rod damn near straight up in the air as he fights a big fish. While this makes for great photography, it is a poor fish-catching technique. During a long run, the best way to fight the fish is to keep the rod low and to the side, the rod tip pointed at the fish. Fight the fish with the rod butt not the tip. If the fish goes right, the rod butt goes left; if the fish goes left, the rod butt goes right. In either case, the lifting section of the rod, not the tip, applies the pressure. Keeping the rod tip low is important. It is this sideways pressure, and the drag of course, that rapidly tire the fish, bringing it quickly to bay.

Using the drag. When you stop to think, it is amazing that just a little bit of pressure, let’s say about three to five pounds, brings a big, mean, fighting fish quickly to the net. It works time after time. Most fly fishers keep drag settings to the minimum — say around 3- to 4-pounds — especially on long running fish. The reason is simple: once in the water, the line itself becomes a drag -- fighting against the fish and, for that matter, the tippet. Never forget the tippet! When you are down into the backing and the drag feels light, it is probably set just right. The reason, of course, is that the drag increases — without regard to the reel's setting — the closer the line get to the spool's hub. Remember that most fly reels operate on a 1:1 ratio, meaning that one revolution of the spool yields the amount of line in inches held in the circumference of the spool, at that point. In other words, a drag setting on a fully loaded reel spool automatically increases as the line is stripped off. Don't forget you can increase drag at any time by simply palming the reel. The odds are the fish will turn, and once turned, you will recover line and enter the final stage of the fight.

Pumping the fish. Once turned, don't let the fish go to the bottom and sulk. Your rod and reel now take on separate but integrated functions. The rod becomes long lever pump handle and the reel a device for recovering line. Here’s what you should do: pump or turn the rod to move the fish toward you using the rod’s strength in the butt section, then drop the rod and recover the line gained using the reel. Repeat the process over and over again. The fish may only move a few inches at first, but in the end, it will follow along with only a short detour or two. Remember to pump using the butt section, not the tip. It’s important the rod and reel be used as described during the "pump and grind." Some people make the mistake of trying to move the fish with either the rod tip or the reel. Either one represents a swift creative move likely to cost you the fish, line or rod — and if the fish gods smile — all three!

The close in fight. If you’ve followed the guidance, the fish will be close at hand as the fight nears the end. Significantly, this is the second most critical time in fighting the fish. With the line back on the reel, the short battle should be fought with gentle hands. The tippet, the weakest part of your system, has been subjected to constant strain throughout the battle. Now stretched and possibly nicked, it simply cannot be as strong now as it was at the start. And that long lever, the rod, won’t work for you the way it did at the beginning. The rod is simply too long to work from the best angle of attack during the close-in fight.

Landing the fish. I think the end of the battle is best addressed at the beginning. A lot depends whether it will be waged from a boat or ashore. If the fish is to be boated, you and your partner work as a team. Another fisher best handles the net if the fish is large. But use caution: before netting the fish, identify the species! I do not recommend bringing any shark aboard, even a small one, unless you are thoroughly familiar with the hazards. They are about as flexible as a snake and their hide like course sandpaper. Other species can be equally dangerous when reduced to a confined space like the cockpit of a small boat.

To make this point in a seminar, I sometimes tell a story about fishing for bluefish in Narragansett Bay. Despite briefing my two guests on the "tender care and handling of bluefish," emphasizing what not to do in bringing one aboard, the thrill of two big blues on at the same time was costly. One of my friends thought he knew better . . .. While I was subduing the first blue brought alongside, the other fisher decided to boat his blue without assistance. As he reached down to grab the bite tippet, the big blue promptly displayed the power and savagery of the species, badly ripping his hand and arm with deep slashing and jagged wounds. A fast wet boat ride to the emergency room saved the day. My friend not only became a cautious fisher after the experience, but has since opined little interest in chasing blues.

If fishing from the shore, decide what you intend to do with the fish before bringing it close in. If you are fishing from the rocks, try to determine the route the fish should track to be successfully landed. Even with a tired fish, rocks are always a deadly threat to the line. It is a sad experience when the line is cut. If the bottom is sandy, however, your decision is much easier. Most experienced fly fishers prefer to beach a large fish in shallow water. It works, and still enables catch and release. Just be sure the fish is able to make powerful strokes before you let him go. Not properly revived, he can otherwise go belly-up once out of your reach.

Quite seriously, if you follow the advice provided, catching a fish will not be your problem. In a simple straightforward series of statements, I’ve given you the secrets of successful fly fishing. Catching a fish with a fly rod varies from the practices and procedures often taught or learned in bait casting or spinning -- but the differences are quickly learned, if you are so motivated. Admittedly, following what’s been said without practice and an occasional review is difficult for some people. I think it is called, "Teaching old dogs new tricks . . .." Good Luck!

©Copyright: Douglas G. Macnair, 1997, 2001. From the manuscript, Fly Fishing for the Rest of Us.