Mending your line is crucial when dealing with different current speeds, it is vital in giving your fly a realistic presentation in the wate...
Mending your line is crucial when dealing with different current speeds, it is vital in giving your fly a realistic presentation in the water, and perhaps THE most crucial element in dry fly fishing. Without a line mend the fly will drag unrealistically through the fishing zone.
Performing a mend can be tricky, but can be learned. When casting to rising fish, it is commonplace for your fly line to lie on faster water than your fly, forcing the quicker drifting fly line to drag your fly past the rising fish at unnatural speeds or dragging it out of the desired drift altogether. Mending your line is simply throwing your fly line upriver from the fly after the cast, thereby eliminating that drag. How to do this properly requires a bit of practice and experience.
If you are just starting out, cast your fly to the desired location, typically above the spot where you ideally want the drift to be, and watch your fly line. When you it belly, throw it upriver the amount that was being dragged downriver. In other words make your mend up equal to the belly down. Make your line a mirror image of what it was.
The easiest way to do this is to actually lift the section you want to mend off the water, thereby eliminating disturbing the fly. You can easily tell the part you want to mend at the hinge point, which is the point the belly begins to form up the line from the fly. Simply lift and flip this section. Then watch your fly drift unencumbered through the target zone.
Even if a strike doesn't occur it is such a beautiful thing, you will wonder what the heck is the matter with the fish.
Performing a mend can be tricky, but can be learned. When casting to rising fish, it is commonplace for your fly line to lie on faster water than your fly, forcing the quicker drifting fly line to drag your fly past the rising fish at unnatural speeds or dragging it out of the desired drift altogether. Mending your line is simply throwing your fly line upriver from the fly after the cast, thereby eliminating that drag. How to do this properly requires a bit of practice and experience.
If you are just starting out, cast your fly to the desired location, typically above the spot where you ideally want the drift to be, and watch your fly line. When you it belly, throw it upriver the amount that was being dragged downriver. In other words make your mend up equal to the belly down. Make your line a mirror image of what it was.
The easiest way to do this is to actually lift the section you want to mend off the water, thereby eliminating disturbing the fly. You can easily tell the part you want to mend at the hinge point, which is the point the belly begins to form up the line from the fly. Simply lift and flip this section. Then watch your fly drift unencumbered through the target zone.
Even if a strike doesn't occur it is such a beautiful thing, you will wonder what the heck is the matter with the fish.
