here’s a very classic example i’ve seen bezillions of times that explains why so many anglers lose a lot of fish on the strike and it’s due to improper control of the line prior to the strike and ineffective rod angle.
– instead of having the rod tip at water level, the line is dangling straight down and the rod tip is as high as his waist when he initiates the strike.
just as when casting and we pick up the line to initiate a back cast, whatever distance that is required to regain tension is a waste of both reaction time in the case of striking a fish and in either scenario, a waste of effective rod travel which needs to be compensated by going much further backwards than is ideal.
he does indeed do a scissor strike (pulling on the line as in doing a simple haul while simultaneously lifting the rod) but the amount of line pulled in just can’t make up for the amount of slack that’s there at the beginning.
if we take into account the induced slack on the water that’s quite normal when trying to achieve a natural drift and add more slack to that due to negligence we’ll quickly realize that it’s a no-win situation that would basically require running backwards to set the hook properly. definitely fun but not always possible and it’s a really good way to crack your head on a rock or fall in the water ! (don’t ask… )
we’ll also notice secondary negative effects to this excessive rod arc:
– when the rod tip went high and behind the fisher’s head, the only part of the rod applying any pressure to the line is the very tip-end of the rod, it’s weakest/bendiest part.
– what we see at the end of the clip is the line sagging leading to the subsequent ‘long distance release’.
double-whammy !
remedy:
– keep the rod tip low and always anticipate the strike. (i call it ‘being in the Zone‘)
for those who have the old habit of raising the rod tip, a good way to not start creeping up is to consciously position the rod tip right on the water, lightly touching the surface.
– keep slack line at the rod tip to an absolute possible minimum and learn to include the Scissor Strike for most fishing and specially when there’s a need for slack line on the water.
– try not to lift the rod tip high but rather at an approximate 45° to the water’s surface. this bends the rod further down the blank where it’s a lot stronger putting higher pressure on the fish and also leaves room to move the rod to react to the fish’s movements. we can’t go any further back if we’re already as far back as we can go !
as a side note, putting more pressure on the fish sooner on in the fight generally tires it out faster, leaving it in better condition to be released.
and speaking of, there’s no better way to learn to strike and hold fish than by using barbless hooks ;-)
thanks Joakim for sharing this video !
Filed under: Fly Fishing, Tips & Tricks Tagged: fish striking techniques, Fly Fishing, Fly Fishing Films, Fly Fishing Techniques, Outdoors, Recreation, the strike Image may be NSFW.
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