Flylines

Presentation is everything. The skill - the art - of fly fishing lies in how you show the fly to fish.

The most common presentation is dead drift; matching the speed of the fly to the speed of the current as it floats over the fish holding zones.

Achieving a true dead drift, one with absolutely no influence from the line or leader, requires attention to detail and constant line management. This is the reason you see fly fishermen in that classic posture neck: bent forward, concentrating intently.

Perhaps the most difficult part of achieving a true dead drift is learning to recognize the minor influences of the line and leader on the fly. The major influences we see fairly clearly. When a fly is skating across the water it's obvious. If it's pulled under you know you must re-cast. Any time the float of the fly doesn't match the speed of the bubbles and debris on the water surface you know you have drag.

The more subtle forms of influence don't leave such obvious signals. To detect subtle drag, sometimes called micro drag, you must watch the line and leader closely looking for a tense line.

What is a tense line?

Perhaps the best way to illustrate it is to imagine a piece of string laid out straight across a table. One end is thumb-tacked down; that's you, the angler, holding onto the fly rod. The other end is free floating; that's the fly. Slide the center of the string a few inches across the table with your finger; that represents the river currents. As you push on the center of the string, the loose end is drawn toward the end which is held tight.

This is fairly simple science; the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. If you convert the straight line to a curve the distance between the ends of the string decreases. Since the thumb tacked end is fixed the loose end has to come closer.

In practice on the stream another element is added. The line is probably not totally straight on the water. As the fly drifts, the ebb and flow of the river will push the curves in the line back and forth. As long as the push and pull equals out so that there is no decrease in the overall distance from one end of the fly line to the other the fly will float free. It is "loose" or "relaxed."

Eventually, one of the curves in the line will start to increase so that the slack is drawn out. The line is now tense. An almost imperceptible motion of the fly toward the angler has begun.

Somehow fish recognize whether a fly is tight or loose. A relaxed, free-drifting fly will be much more effective than a tense fly which is being subtly influenced by the line and leader.

To fish with a relaxed fly, first create a slack pattern on the water. Use bounce casts, soft leaders or other similar slack line techniques to accomplish this. Second, be very careful to maintain the slack pattern once it is created. This is done by controlling your end of the fly line. Unlike a thumb tack, the angler can move and control the influence on the line. Follow the slack patterns on the water to keep tension off the fly.

For control, swing the rod side to side, raise and lower the tip or strip line.