Securing Your Fly - A Tip

[Steven]

No, don't look down...

Big Bad Wulff mentioned the lack of a hook loop on TFO's predator which made me think of a tip I got from a guide on the Farmington. He called it the Argentina Tap - where he learned it.

When securing your fly, rather than securing it to a hook loop or to the cork butt, hook your fly on a rod guide as high up the rod as you can reach. Do this with some line still dangling down.

Then reel in line so that the leader hooks under the bottom of the reel. You should have (if this makes any sense), line coming out of the tip top (depending on the length of your leader), going down the rod maybe a foot or two, with the leader looping under the reel and back up to the fly which is hooked on the guide. Tighten up a little on the drag and it's really unlikely your fly will swing loose. Another advantage is that the leader won't kink if the line is coming out of the tip-top.

To start fishing again, pull the line/leader out from below the reel...you should have a loop hanging down towards the water/ground. Then tap on your rod, the fly will come loose. Having a little bit of line out will help as you work to get more length.

Hope this makes sense and helps.

-Steven

[Jack Hise]

Been doing that for several years!! Now I know it has a name Some recommend not using the "Hook Keeper" as you can easily stick yourself in the hand.

[Lotech]

I too have been doing that for several years. I worried though, if I were to snag the leader while walking through the brush, that I would put a 180 degree stress on the tip of my rod. So, after using this method, I'll grab the leader in the middle and roll it once around the rod and loop it over the stripping guide. This will reduce the silhouette of the rod/line and help to prevent an accidental snag on the bushes.

[anglerdave]

Yep! Me too! For the life of I don't know why they still put those things on fly rods. No one that I know of uses them.

[Steven]

I probably learned this about five years ago or so. Definitely smack in the forehead time...I've been fishing for how long and haven't figured this out?

[DG]

I've done that once or twice, but the leader always ends up working its way into the spool of the reel and I have to extricate it carefully. After a couple times, I quit doing it unless I have a strike indicator on and the leader is too long to use the hook keeper in the normal fashion. What I WOULD like to see on rods is the hook keeper on the LEFT side of the rod, as you hold it in your right (casting) hand. Reverse that if you are left-handed. I don't like the position of most of them, either straight down on on the right side of the blank. Too hard to get to.

As for hooking myself with a fly in the hook keeper, I have not managed to do that in 35 years of flyfishing.

[oldfrat]

I've used Steven's method for years. Never had a problem with it and like having some fly line out when I need it, not just leader.

[sagefisher]

Like DG I used to do it that way, around the outside of the reel, until the leader was eaten by the reel. Now I just hook my fly onto a guide up past where the ceramic guides are and loop the leader back, slipping it around the foot (is that the right term? of the reel ie: the shaft from the reel to the reel seat). That never comes of nor gets eaten by the reel. A couple gentle turns of the reel and the line is nice and tight. This also is very handy when fishing a leader/tippet system that is 3 or 4 feet longer than your rod, it keeps the fly line from entering the tip of the rod.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[Steven]

Like DG I used to do it that way, around the outside of the reel, until the leader was eaten by the reel. Now I just hook my fly onto a guide up past where the ceramic guides are and loop the leader back, slipping it around the foot (is that the right term? of the reel ie: the shaft from the reel to the reel seat). That never comes of nor gets eaten by the reel. A couple gentle turns of the reel and the line is nice and tight. This also is very handy when fishing a leader/tippet system that is 3 or 4 feet longer than your rod, it keeps the fly line from entering the tip of the rod.

Larry ---sagefisher---

I'm not sure what "outside of the reel" means, Larry. I think you explained (a lot clearer than I did), what I was trying to say. Nothing get's "eaten" by the reel. I'd think it would be virtually impossible.

[RonT]

Same here. I also do the around the reel thing, and haven't experienced the reel "eating" the leader either.
R