Okay, so I have just started fly fishing this year and have had 4 trout take my fly. Two of them I actually hooked in time, but while I was reeling in they got off. Here is my dilemma
While casting upstream the fly comes back to you in the current. While that is happening I am continually pulling in fly line which is piling up directly beneath me. When a trout strikes I pull up on the fly rod and hook the trout.
The problem is when I have to reel in the fly line beneath me. While I have the trout hooked I am reeling in the slack fly line beneath me and that is when the trout comes off… what the heck am I doing wrong???
Just strip the fish in. On any fish smaller than a couple pounds there’s no reason to worry about using the reel at all. It’s really just there to hold line on any rod under a 6wt and even on rods that big depending on how they are being used. If you hook a big fish thats pulling hard enough for you to worry about breaking the tippet, hold the line loose enough to let the fish take line when it wants to while you’re stripping until you can either pull it in or it’s taken enough slack line out to get onto your reel.
When you are stripping line, before the fish hits, you should be holding the fly line in the finger (first or middle) of the rod hand. When the fish strikes, and you don’t want to have to deal with all the slack underneath you, reach out with your pinky finger on the rod hand. Grab the line with it, above the spool. Remembering to keep the fish tight to the rod with your first or middle finger, reel like mad, keeping tension with your pinky. This is a quick way to get larger trout on the reel, if they aren’t taking line fast enough.
That’s a good way to practice catch and release. But, both suggestions are great. You don’t really need to put the fish on the reel unless it wants to take a run. Then it’s fun to see your backing.
All of the above is good advise. If you are going to give line to a fish and work to get it on the reel, keep tension on the line as you let it go with the fish, keep your rod tip up to act as a shock absorber for surges or if you have knot in your line and have to stop the fish unexpectedly. I don’t have great expensive reels but all have decent drag systems. I have never caught any really large trout but have a 7.5 grass carp; a couple of 5.5 largemouth and a pretty good sized channel cat on my 3 wt. because I had decent drags on the reel.
Like the others have said, for any trout that you’ve got the appropriate weight rod for, getting the fish “on the reel” will not usually be necessary until you get to fish that require a 6 or 7wt rod. For my part, when I hook a small stream trout, I just pinch the line against the front end of the grip with my index finger, stripping line in as the fish tires. If he takes a run, its usually a short one, and I can just “unstrip” the line as necessary.
Recently, though, I’ve started going to ultralight gear, fishing my new 1wt for most of my local fishing. This light rod is easily contended with by even a 12-14" fish. In a true small stream (to me, of course…about 20’ or less across), there’s simply no room for the fish to run, and I still can get by with the occasional “unstrip”. In a somewhat larger creek, or if I hook a bass in a local pond, I’ve got to resort to reeling in the slack like crazy while maintaining tension on the fish until I get him on the reel. Its intense for a few moments, but that’s a part of my fun when fishing. That realization that this is a big fish on the line, and the odds are pretty even…what a great feeling.
Try collecting that stripped line in you free hand as you fight the fish—loop after loop. As some ahve said when possible if you have too much reel some in. No reason having line around your feet or pilled in the bottom of a boat while fighting a fish. BILL
I have this same problem often, and have taken to the method of just stripping line in until the fish is close enough to land. Never had a fish big enough to really pull out the line anyways.
