Does lifting a line off the water cause noise that puts down fish?

[lee s]

Lefty IS absolutely correct.
Improper lifting or ripping the line from the water creates a LOT of noise underwater.
I too, have spent some time diving and the advise to submerge one's head underwater and listening to a line being ripped is GOOD. Depending on conditions sound can be good (Dorado?) or sound can be detrimental (troutoids). It is for sure, that learning to be "soundless" would be QUITE advantageous as one could go from soundless to sound if desired, but NOT having the skill, would leave one no option but to be noisey.
One of my pet peeves is "slurping" anglers.
Spey casting anyone? VERY FEW spey casters have learned not to slurp.
.....lee s.

[Silver Creek]

In the current edition of Mid Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide Lefty Kreh writes that lifting the line, even a foot of it, off the water will cause noise underwater that will put down fish. He recommends, therefore, retrieving line so that only the leader is lifted off the water.

The question was not improperly lifting the line. It was not noisily, rapidly, rashly, or any other adjective. Placing an a adjective such as "improperly" creates a tautology. One could say lifting the line "silently" and say that Lefty is wrong.

The question is how the Lefty's recommendation to take in all the line up to the leader is to be interpreted. Is it all the time as the the statement seems to suggest? If so, Lefty is wrong in my opinion. I believe it is not necessary to strip in all the line up to the leader before recasting in every cast to avoid spooking the fish. I don't know of anyone that does that in every case.

I think Lefty would be surprised if we interpreted his statement to be in every case. Although Lefty does not use a conditional "if" or "when" to limit his statement, I think it is a presupposition or assumption that the angler must make when interpreting the meaning of his statement. To do otherwise to me is so obviously wrong that one has to make this logical presupposition to understand what Lefty means.

[Nighthawk]

One thing is for certain. I need to lay off of the baked beans a day or tow before wading for trout!

[tigfly]

If you go back to "Lessons with Lefty" he'll show you how to pick a line off the water.

I haven't read the MAFF article that started this thread, so I may be totally off base with this. But I would tend to agree that the best backcasts start with pickup under enough tension that the leader is about all that is still in contact with the water. I have Joan Wullfs flycasting book and video, and have read both Jaworowski's "The Cast" and Kreh's "Longer Flycasting" and they teach the same thing. So I think if you are starting the backcast the way Kreh, Wullf, and Jaworowski all recommend you are only lifting the leader.

[tigfly]

Forgot to add that my point is that making a good backcast avoids the problem of ripping line or making much noise, that is a win-win for the angler. I believe that picking up before coming under tension when dry fly fishing, making that popping sound as the sunken leader pops the fly under water, does spook fish.

[Silver Creek]

I was taught the "C" cast pick up as a method to elevate the line so only the leader is on the water when the backcast begins, but it still picks line up or elevates it off of the water. I don't see how you can pick "only" the leader off of the water unless you begin the cast with only the leader on the water.

http://www.garyborger.com/2010/02/03/the-c-pickup/

[lee s]

Silver,
You just said it yourself...."only the leader is on the water when the backcast begins." Especially if, as I was taught, "the cast" is the speed up and stop portion of the stroke. The "pickup" portion of the stroke is already done when the power to stop portion takes place.
Some of us can only "pick up" say 19' of line, so 22' of line out would cause unnessary noise (and according to the openning post Lefty does say noise.) I must retrieve line to the 19' mark or else.....?
....lee s.

[Silver Creek]

Lee,


But the original quote was to "retrieve the line so only the leader is lifted of the water." With the C cast pickup, you do not retrieve the line.

Lefty Kreh writes that lifting the line, even a foot of it, off the water will cause noise underwater that will put down fish. He recommends, therefore, retrieving line so that only the leader is lifted off the water.

I think that is point of contention. Do you really need to ALWAYS "retrieve the line". It think not and that is why I believe that Left is directing this comment only at certain situations.

[randyflycaster]

Back to my other point: If Lefty is correct, the roll cast should be obsolete on smooth water. We can't make an effective roll cast if only the leader is on the water.
Randy

[Silver Creek]

That is correct. Not only that, but a roll cast sprays water in the direction that the fly will land. I think smooth water does not in itself make a roll cast a poor choice. It also needs to be shallow, clear and hold spooky trout. That is why I think Lefty's statement is conditional. Otherwise it makes no sense to me.