1. Home
2. Fly Fishing: The Lifetime Sport
3. Pe-Si

Perfection Loop

This makes a strong, dependable loop for loop-to-loop connections.

Physical Conditioning

Weight training exercises can help develop casting muscles. These muscles can be developed through a program of resistance training.

Plant Cover

Lily pad covers are found in the shallows around irregular shorelines. These furnish overhead protective cover for daytime feeding fish.

Pocket Water

Pocket waters are mini-resting lies located in the midst of water unsuitable to hold fish. Search for pockets in the middle of a fast riffle or in slow shallows; likewise, a snag caked with vegetation can provide protective cover even in the shallows.

Polarized Glasses

Polarized glasses are a “must have” item. With them on you can see straight into the water to spot fish and underwater structures.

Posture (Body Position)

To provide the longest possible casting arcs the caster’s body is angled sideward toward the target. The foot opposite the casting arm is placed in the forward position pointed at the target.

Power Stroke

The power stroke is made with a locked wrist similar to hammering a nail. The forearm does most of the movement while the wrist is immobile.

Practice Methods

Perhaps the most effective practice method is to start with the amount of line that you can cast efficiently. Practice casting perfect loops on both the back and forward casts.

Presentations

Prime Lies

Prime lies provide fish the best habitat by providing protection, food, and rest. Prime lies become homes for the largest and the most dominant fish.

Pull Retrieve

The pull retrieve shares the same basic hand positions as the strip retrieve; however, it differs in that the line is pulled back in a much longer direction with the line hand extending back posteriorly. This pull retrieve is suitable for both long slow or fast retrieves.

Reels

Manufacturers also have an abundance of quality reels on the market. The basic reel types feature regular arbor spools or wide arbor spools with either a pawl drag or disc drag system.

Reservoirs

Reservoirs are man-made lakes constructed by damming up a stream. The flooded canyon or valley provides a widely varied habitat.

Resting Lies

Resting lies are cushioned places where fish can rest from the current’s flow. Additional protective cover such as overhead vegetation or an increase in depth makes them more attractive for fish.

Retrieves

A broad range of retrieves is needed to simulate the natural motions of aquatic foods. Insects possess a variety of means of locomotion.

Riffles (Feeding Lies)

Riffles are places where the current picks up speed as it runs a relatively straight course over a gravelly or rocky bed. In freestone streams this rocky bed provides the most habitats for aquatic food production.

Riffling Hitch, Waking Fly

The riffling hitch provides a surface struggling-and-waking action that simulates an injured baitfish trying to right itself. With this crippled action, fish are attracted to an easily caught meal.

Rise-and-Fall

The rise-and-fall retrieve differs from the lift-off-and-settle in that the rise-and-fall “s” motion is of less magnitude. It is best used to imitate insects that tire and settle back down to rest.

Rods

Because fly fishing manufacturers offer hundreds of different rods for sale, choosing the right rod for you can be perplexing, even frustrating. All fly rods, however, differ primarily in their actions, in the materials of their construction, and in their lengths.

Roll Mend

The roll mend produces more line movement than the standard wrist roll mend. This roll mend calls for adding additional slack line by rod shaking.

Selecting Alpine Lakes

When I was young I loved to fish alpine lakes. The scenic perfection of Utah’s High Uinta lakes drew my attention.

Shallows

A lake’s great depths harbor little food or oxygen for fish to exist. A common mistake is to fish a lake’s depth instead of its shallows.

Shoals

Shoals are submerged islands which fail to reach the surface.

Shoot Mend

The shoot mend is implemented in waters with current traps such as dead spots, swirls, and up dwellings. These spots catch the line belly, and the shoot mend frees the line from these traps.

Shooting Heads

I find that shooting heads are useful in salmon, steelhead, and float tube fishing. I prefer a twenty to thirty pound monofilament shooting line.

Shoreline Vegetation

Shorelines with heavy vegetation can be difficult to fish; however, wading or float tubing can provide good access. In addition, shade and cover are provided in these places.

Single Haul

A simple way to perform the single haul cast is to grasp the line and to hold it stationary downwards at your side during the backcast. The rod hand movement pulls the line back as it moves through the backcast stroke.