Journey To Fly: Basic Fly Presentations – Landing Styles: Delicate Or Quiet Entrance
By The Angler
In the last issue we look at how to make a grand entrance; creating a splash when landing your fly. That is a good way to land your fly should you find that the fishes have gone to sleep and you want to wake them up. With lures, we use popper. For flies, we cast and drop our rods fast and quick.
But what if you prefer a more finesse, more delicate, gentle, and quieter landing or in fly casting terms, presentation of a fly? Many a time we want our flies to land as gently as possible to “keep the peace” in the water and not scare the fishes away with a bang. This is especially true when we are fishing in high pressured waters where fishes are always “on guard” and get freaked out by the slightest disturbance.
Gentle does it.
To land your fly quietly what you will need to do is to end your cast in a more gentle and delicate manner. As you push your rod (line and fly) on its final forward movement, stop abruptly with your hand at about eye level and with your rod pointing upwards, before slowly and gently lowering it towards the water. Imagine pointing it at your fly and following it all the way until it lands on the water.
This quiet, delicate, and gentle cast is great especially when you spot a fish holding water. You want to quietly and gently land your fly a certain distance in front of it to not spook it, and strip your fly back towards it. Hopefully it takes the fly and runs. But if it does not, the next thing to hope for is that it does not swim away and go into hiding. It may not be interested the first time round but it may just go for it after a few times of trying.
[ But if you are not sure; always go delicate, gentle, and quiet first before going with a bang. And yes, sometimes you just have to make some noise. ]
Things To Note
Do take note that fly lines are thicker and heavier than braided lines and monofilaments. This said, the splash (splashes) does not only come from the fly as it breaks the water’s surface. The lines themselves will create a certain amounts of splash depending on your cast. Great if you are “waking or calling” the fishes up or trying to get their attention. Not good if you need to be subtle or to fish in “stealth mode.”
Also do note that the weight or size of your fly does make a difference. The heavier your fly; chances are you will be creating a bigger splash. Although flies are generally lightweight, adding things to a fly such as beads, wires, etc. does add weight to the fly. Sometimes a split-shot is added to the terminal tackle to bring the fly lower (depending on the presentation wanted). These do bring up the weight of the fly. However, casting a heavier fly on a lower than recommended line weight may be difficult for most casters in general.
So, which landing styles should I use? Again this will depend on the water that you fish at. If you are familiar with the lake, pond, or stream; then you will know which to go with. But if you are not sure; always go delicate, gentle, and quiet first before going with a bang. And yes, sometimes you just have to make some noise. Stay tuned for our next part of A Journey Through Fly where we look at fine tuning your cast.
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