Novice and expert anglers alike must contend with fly-line management until — immediately following the hook-set — the line has been cleared and is coming directly off the reel.
Doing it poorly is bound to result in missed opportunities, and while it greatly helps to make your boat fly-fishing friendly, here are a few tips and a tools to easily execute the often frustrating chore of managing fly line properly.
There are dozens of fly line dressings and cleaning devices on the market, but you must get in the habit of using them regularly.
While many fly fishers take the time to clean and stretch their lines at the beginning of each fishing day, there are those who take it one step further and do both after every shot, especially when pursuing permit, big bonefish, or tarpon, all wary and particularly unforgiving species.
Basic Tools No matter how calm the wind is and how unhindered you think you’ve laid your line onto the boat’s casting deck, fly lines somehow always manage to wrap around the trolling motor or cooler seat, or catch on tie-down straps, turnbuckles, rod holders, and even shoelaces.
Stripping baskets, popular with many shorebound fly rodders, and stripping buckets (like those made by Sea Level, Strip and Feed Research, and Carbon Marine), used by an increasing number of boating anglers, are fantastic line-management tools, but only when used properly.
If you fling a 70-foot bomb to a cruising tarpon, and strip all the way to the boat before the fish refuses to eat, don’t grab the handful of excess line and toss it back in the stripping basket or bucket.
If you do that, your next cast will surely fall short due as a tangled bird’s nest, unable to pass the rod guides, brings the line to an early stop.
Thinking outside the bucket, Welbourn came up with the LineLair, a square or round mat that rests on the deck of a boat and has a series of rounded spikes that prevents loose fly line from wandering.
No matter how clean and stretched your fly line is, nor what type of line management tool you opted to use, when a fish makes its first run, your excess fly line is going to dance all over the place and become extremely vulnerable to catching on something, which is why anglers should be obsessive about keeping the deck clean and uncluttered.
Keeping your fly line clean and stretching it before every use helps avoid untimely knots and tangles.
All fly anglers inevitably contend with fly-line management issues. Chances are, even the best of fly rodders will miss a shot at a fish, if the line lays tangled on the deck or is looped around an unsuspecting snag when he or she begins false casting. Novice and expert anglers alike must contend with fly-line management until — immediately following the hook-set — the line has been cleared and is coming directly off the reel.
Doing it poorly is bound to result in missed opportunities, and while it greatly helps to make your boat fly-fishing friendly, here are a few tips and a tools to easily execute the often frustrating chore of managing fly line properly.
Fly line laid on the casting deck often catches on trolling motors and other snags.
First Things First
Winning the battle against tangles and snags begins with a few simple but often overlooked steps. First, always keep your fly lines clean, and remember to stretch them before use. A dirty line with memory from being stored on the reel is conducive to knotting and tangling, a recipe for disaster both during the cast and when attempting to clear the line during a hooked fish’s initial run.
There are dozens of fly line dressings and cleaning devices on the market, but you must get in the habit of using them regularly. While many fly fishers take the time to clean and stretch their lines at the beginning of each fishing day, there are those who take it one step further and do both after every shot, especially when pursuing permit, big bonefish, or tarpon, all wary and particularly unforgiving species.
A stripping bucket is a particularly effective fly line management tool on windy days.
Basic Tools
No matter how calm the wind is and how unhindered you think you’ve laid your line onto the boat’s casting deck, fly lines somehow always manage to wrap around the trolling motor or cooler seat, or catch on tie-down straps, turnbuckles, rod holders, and even…
