Using the Drag or Stripping Line to Land a Fish Fly Fishing???

 

Question: What is your favorite method of landing a fish using the fly rod? Are you stripping the fly line to bring the fish to the net or utilizing the reel-and-drag system to reel the fish to the net? Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. 

The first method I learned to land a fish using a fly rod was fly fishing with my dad. I used my hand to pull in the line instead of using the reel to get the fish to the net. I still use the hand pull or stripping method, but it depends on where I am fishing, whether it is a lake or stream. 

If I am fishing the tailrace or shallow water, I depend on hand-lining the fish. It gives me quicker time to fight and control the fish. I can feel the fish’s movement more directly, and it's easier for me to adjust the tension by hand, which I have found can be crucial with delicate presentations or lighter tippets. This is the method I use when fishing for smaller fish on the tailrace and in smaller bodies of water such as Walker Lake. I am using  2 and 3 wt. fly rods when fishing in both places, so I rarely used the drag on the reel. 

I have also found that stripping the line can produce problems. You have to be very careful about managing the slack line in your hand. If the line gets tangled or wrapped around something, it could cause you to lose the fish. This has happened to me numerous times, especially in the boat. The excess fly line acts like a magnet in a boat or on the banks of a stream and hooks anything it comes in contact with. It drives me wild sometimes!

I've learned that stripping the line trying to land a big fish has caused me to lose quality fish. A break-off could occur when a bigger fish makes a fast run because you cannot apply consistent pressure.

My favorite way to land quality fish fly fishing is to get it on the reel. Which involves letting the fish take the slack out of the line until it is tight on the reel and then using the reel and drag system to fight and land the fish. Once the line is on the reel, you don't have to worry about the excess line getting tangled or snagged. I seldom lose the fish when using the drag on the reel. The drag system on your reel provides a smooth, consistent resistance that can tire out bigger fish more effectively and protect lighter tippet from breaking. 

The drag system does have a few drawbacks. I've had bigger fish to get into cover because I have too much slackline out, mainly because of a long cast. The slack line sometimes gives the fish time to throw the hook or swim into cover. If your drag isn’t set correctly for the fish you're fighting, it could either be too tight, leading to a broken tippet, or too loose the fish, allowing it to swim too far and get free.

 What's your favorite method to land a fish fly fishing? 

Epic Day Fly Fishing

 This post follows up on the one I did a couple of weeks ago, which involved Jason's fishing trips to Smith Lake with me and our trip to Oak Mountain State Park for some top action using the Boggle poppers. 

For those unfamiliar with the park, it is the largest park in Alabama, covering 11,644 acres, and with the new addition of the 1600 acres of Belcher, trach, which has two small 15-acre lakes, it will become even larger. The main park has three larger lakes, each covering 85 acres and one covering 75 acres. The 75-acre lake has a beech and paddle boats to rent. Miles and miles of trials are available for those who enjoy hacking. 

Jason and I decided to fish on the 85-acre Beaver Lake this past Sunday morning at daylight using my 10E Pelican boat. We were the only ones fishing the lake, which was a plus because you don't need someone fishing ahead of you, either landing the fish you are trying to catch or disturbing fish that may not be hitting another individual's bait. 

It was a perfect fall morning to cast some poppers without dealing with humidity. We were working the edges of weed beds using a smaller version of the boggle popper in size 6. The water was extremely clear, and I've found that a smaller popper works best in clear water as opposed to a larger popper. Within thirty minutes of fishing, Jason proved my point. 

He landed this giant largemouth using his 8 fl. Temple Fork 4wt fly rod paired with a 7 1/2 ft. leader tipped with 5X tippet. The fish hit light, making us think it was a smaller bass or bluegill. The minute it inhaled the popper, it went for the weeds instead of the deep water. Jason was able to lead the fish back into deep water, and after a 3-minute tug of war, I netted the fish for him. It was the largest bass he ever landed using the fly rod, making it special. This bass was the largest bass ever landed by a Trussell fly fishing. It was an epic morning for Jason, and I am glad I was along for the ride. A few smaller bass were taken before we left, but nothing compared to this fish, which was released to fight another day. 

If you want to see how he managed to get the fish to the boat without the bass breaking his fly rod and tippet, take a look at the video. You will see my fly line in the water, which got tangled with the fish, but it didn't affect getting the bass to the net. 

Guys, I had no scales or tape measure in the boat, but we both agreed it was between 5 and 6 lbs.

Some Fall Top Water Action

 There is nothing like landing bass on top during October, especially if you are fishing with your son. Jason is home for a couple of weeks. We launched at Duncan Bridge on Smith Lake this past Tuesday morning and fished the main channel north of the Duncan bridge. 

We were blessed to witness one of the most scenic early morning sunrises ever on Smith Lake. Of course, that is our opinion. 

The blue Boggle Bug size 8 was the popper that got the most attention for the morning. Jason landed this largemouth by moving the popper slowly. Notice the scar on its side, evidence of something attacking the fish.

This largemouth may have been wounded, but it still had enough fight to engage the drag on Jason's fly reel numerous times.

 I landed this bass on my second cast right after we launched the boat. Little did I know that would be the only quality bass I would land for the morning. As stated before, the blue popper was the winner for the morning.  Guess who had the only blue Boggle Bug popper?

Fall and spring seem to bring out aggressive hits using poppers on Smith, as shown in this video right after the sun hit the rock wall where the bass was feeding. This fish hit the popper 10 to 12 ft. from the base of the wall. I've learned, and Jason has learned, to always work the popper some distance from the wall before you make your next cast. The fish will follow the popper some distance before they decide to nail it. You've got to love this fall fishing!!

A side note: I really enjoyed today's trip because it was my first fall trip for this year. I mentioned this in one of my previous posts, but I have only one guy to fly fish with now, and he will not be able to join me again until next spring. I do have individuals who fish, but they are not into fly fishing like me. There is a big difference in having someone in the boat with you who loves the sport as much as you do. 

 

My Forgotten Bluegill Web Page

 Three weeks ago, I was following my afternoon routine of enjoying my afternoon coffee while scrolling through some of my old fishing folders. Surprisingly, I discovered the Bluegill website page I created in 2010 on the BLUEGILL-BIG BLUEGILL WEBSITE. In fact, that was the year I created my fishing blog, Fishing Through Life. I was using the Bluegill site to connect with bluegill fishermen nationwide. I decided to create a few posts to reconnect with some of my bluegill buddies on the site. If you would like to take a look, follow my page link, Bluegill-Big Bluegill---

The main reason I stopped posting on the site was finding time. I found it challenging to post on the Bluegill site and share info on my Fishing Through Life blog, not to mention work and attending tennis matches involving our son and daughter at the time. In other words, my wife and I were busy working, and time was limited 15/16 years ago: thank goodness for retirement! 

Quote of the day: Enjoy every minute of fly fishing from March through June!!

 

Waiting For CoolerTempertures

 When is the best time to land fish using the fly rod? August stands out as the least productive month, particularly for warm-water species. Bass and Bluegill tend to retreat to deeper waters during the hottest times of the year, typically July and August when surface temperatures can reach a scorching 87/88 degrees. However, as the water begins to cool in late September and October, the fish become more active, marking a significant shift in behavior. 

The tailrace gets most of my attention during these summer months. I would rather stand in 58-degree water than sit in the boat and wipe sweat from my forehead. 

This past Tuesday's trip on the tailrace was my first outing to fish the tailrace in a while. Why? It is hard to leave landing the spotted bass and super-sized gills on the lake during April, May, and June, the prime times to fish the lake. 

I arrived at the parking lot at 6 a.m. and discovered I was the only one there. Great, I will fish a couple of holes near access six. Before I suited up, I walked down the metal walkway to check the water lever and saw the generators had been on early that morning. I knew then I would have to wait at least an hour or more for the water to recede before I could wade anywhere near the areas I would fish. So I sat in the truck and reorganized my five fly boxes while listening to my sevenies songbook on my flash drive. 

Finally, the water receded, and I reached access six to fish my first pocket hole. The water was lower than I expected. Neither pocket hole produces any trout. I used my Euro nymphing 10' 4"  fly rod paired with my Orvis fly reel. I'm still learning to detect a take, especially in a slow current. I soon discovered I was battling two enemies: the bright sun lighting up the areas I was fishing and a tremendous amount of fishing pressure the week before. So I looked for shade, which was above access six. I sit up in a hole and run. I had fished many times before. I am now into my fourth fly change. I selected a size 12 pheasant tail as my point fly and added a size 18 green midge as my upper fly. My tippet ring was tied about 16" above the point fly. I use the tippet ring so I don't have to keep tying knots when changing flies above the point fly.

Cast after cast, in the first run, didn't produce a trout, but I didn't lose hope. Moving to deeper water, I finally landed my first trout. The take was light, but I was proud of detecting the hit. I am still learning to land a trout using the long Euro rod, but I am getting better with every trip. This form of fly fishing will be my mode of fishing in this place because of the amount of fishing pressure it endures. The rest of today's trip enabled me to practice my casting technique mainly because the trout developed lockjaw. As I was leaving and walking up the incline back to the truck, I remembered this hit song by "Three Dog Night" in the seventies, "One is the loneliness number," which might have been the feeling of the lone trout I landed today. But for me, it was a great way to spend the morning. 

Still Landing a Few Fish on Smith Lake---PATIENCE!!!

 The extreme heat is a killer during the summer months, not only for the fish you are pursuing on Smith Lake, but it takes a toll on the person doing the fishing. The only way to enjoy fishing this time of year is to be on the water before dawn, fish for three hours, and leave before the sun takes over and the humidity gets unbearable. Cathey and I followed that plan to the letter this past Tuesday when we left the house at 4:30 and started fishing at 5:15. No hot sun and no humidity to cause your clothes to get wet. In the deep South, roughly six months are considered prime fishing months: March, April, May, June, October, and most of November. Early Spring, starting in March through June, is exceptional. The water temps are warming up, and the spawn is on for the bass and bluegill during these months. The fish are hungry after a long winter of eating very little and will eat almost anything thrown their way. October is another month that is an excellent time to toss topwater lures and poppers. The fish are stocking up for the winter months. Some of my best topwater action is in October, not for the bluegill, but the spotted and largemouth bass are very active during October. 

The dog days of summer cause me to look forward to all these months every year. The only negative aspect of Spring and Fall every year is that I get a year only when these months come around. The positive aspect is landing many fish during these months, so the positive outweighs the negative when considering the fishing part. 

This was one greedy bass; it not only wanted to inhale the Bea's Popper I was fishing, but once I landed the fish, I noticed a small bluegill in its throat with only the tail of the bluegill showing. It put up quite a fight on my 3 wt. This would be my only bass for the three-hour trip.

My 3 wt. was really put to the test when landing this nice bull gill. The fight was equal to the spotted bass I landed earlier that morning. This would be my only keeper. I did land a few small gills, but they were not worth keeping

Cathey, fishing with crickets and her 8-foot ultra-light spinning rod combo, won the bluegill total. I am still trying to teach her to use the fly rod. Hopefully, she will be using it before next year's spawn.