STRIP, TWITCH AND WIGGLE
While strip, twitch and wiggle might seem to be rather suggestive language, the strip, twitch and wiggle can be some of the most important techniques that you can master when fishing stillwater situations.
When fishing streams for trout imparting action is only used occasionally and under very specific situations; however when fishing in stillwaters using leeches, damsel and dragon fly nymphs, and similar imitations imparting action is an essential part presenting the fly. This is where the angler must know and understand the various forms of stripping, twitching and wiggling.
Stripping in fly line imparts action to the fly and is more effective than moving the rod tip to impart action. If you are moving the rod tip by raising or lower it, or by moving the rod tip side to side you induce slack in the line. If a fish takes before this slack is recovered it will likely result in a missed strike. Stripping the fly line eliminates this problem since stripping does not create slack.
When stripping in flies, especially when stillwater fishing, keep the tip of your fly rod should be just a few inches off the water or right under the water surface. This allows the angler to keep the fly line in a straight line from the rod out to the fly. Any action imposed by the angler on the fly line is immediately telegraphed to the fly at the end of the leader. In addition, this eliminates the droop that develops between the rod tip and where the fly line contacts the water when the angler is holding the rod in a raised position.
Another important rule to remember anytime you are stripping in your line is to always slip the line under the finger of your hand that is holding the rod and pinch the line between your finger and the cork grip. This is a good practice to use whenever you are fly fishing. When you strip in line always strip from behind the finger that is pinching the line against the cork grip.
There are several types of strips that an angler can make to impart action to their fly. First, you should consider what type of food your imitation is attempting to imitate. If you are using a bait fish imitation a long and fast pull imitates the normal swimming action of this type of food. A leech pattern is best imitated by a short pull followed by a pause to allow the imitation to slowly sink thus imitating the swimming motion of the typical leech.
Some types of insects move very slowly and a slow, hand twist retrieve most closely imitates their movement. This is accomplished by simply grasping the line behind the finger that is pinching the line against the cork grip and sloooowly retrieving a small loop of fly line in the palm of your hand.
It’s important to remember that stripping is intended to make your imitation look like it is alive. You need to always keep this in mind. A small bait fish out in the open generally does not linger in the open very long, and you should endeavor to make your imitation resemble a small bait fish resemble that small fish darting for cover. A damsel fly nymph and many other small insect nymphs swim with a slow undulating movement and a long fast strip will appear as an unnatural movement for this type of imitation. The angler that matches the movement of their imitation to mimic the actions of the naturals will generally have more success.
In addition to the type of stripping motion the angler can impart other actions to their imitation. Once again it is important to only impart action to your imitation that is similar to that of the natural.
Imitations, like damsel fly nymphs, require a slowly strip to correctly imitate their swimming motion. These insects are relatively weak swimmers and move in an erratic and jerky side-to-side motion. This is best imitated by using a short and slow strip – about one foot of fly line in three to five seconds. This is where the twitch and wiggle comes into play. As the fly is slowly stripped in lightly shake the rod. This causes the tip to vibrate back and forth. Since the rod is pointed directly at the fly by keeping the rod tip just above or right in the water this action is transmitted directly to the fly. The fly will mimic the motions of the rod tip and it will wiggle, and twitch just like the natural insect. When the strip/wiggle is completed – about 3 to 5 seconds of stripping and wiggling – the angler should pause for a few seconds and then repeat the action. If a fish takes the angler should simply lift the rod, allowing some line to run over the finger that is pinching the line against the cork, and when the rod is about half way to vertical simply clamp down pinching the line between the finger and the cork. This is adequate to set the hook properly.
Stripping, wiggling and twitching are tools for the angler to use. They are not a magic formula, and in order to use them successfully the angler needs to be observant and have some understanding of what they are attempting to accomplish. The key is often experimentation. Vary the length and speed of your strips until you start catching fish. Vary the time between strips. Allow the fly to sink longer between strips or increase the intervals between the stripping motions. The key is to do whatever works. If you read Rick Zieger’s columns you will often notice that the key to his success is determined by how he strips in his flies.
Several years ago my nephew and I hit the damsel fly hatch at Henry’s Lake in Idaho. The naturals were bright green in color and they were moving from the deeper water toward shore to hatch. The key to success was to position your float tube between a weed bed and the shore and cast your imitation away from shore out toward the center of the lake. Once the fly hit the water you lowered the rod tip down to the surface of the water and counted slowly to twenty. Twenty seemed to be the magic number to allow the nymph to sink to just above the submerged weeds where we were fishing. I made a slow short strip, wiggling the rod tip as I slowly stripped in the line, and then I paused to allow the fly to slowly sink back toward the weeds. About 5 seconds seemed to be the right amount of time and then I would make another strip/wiggle retrieve. It must have been what the fish wanted because my old fishing notes indicate that we both had a really good day.
If you are planning on doing some stillwater fishing this coming summer or fall remember to strip, wiggle and shake. Not only does it sound like fun it really does produce results.