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.
Been doing that for several years!! Now I know it has a name:D Some recommend not using the “Hook Keeper” as you can easily stick yourself in the hand.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I used to take my leader and wrap it around the outside of the reel casing or housing. At first I had no problems doing that but then I changed the style and brand of reel that I was using. That is when I found out that with some reels if you wrap the leader around the outside of the reel it can slip inside the reel between the reel casing and the reel spool, down into the mechanical portion of the reel. The way some reels are made does not allow you to encircle the outside portion of the reel that has no opening, but rather I had to encircle the reel on the handle or spool insert side. This allowed the leader to go inside the reel and it was quite a mess.
That is when I started wrapping it around the foot or leg of the reel. There is no chance of the leader slipping off or into the reel.
I was not being critical; I was just making a statement that I had had the same problem that DG has experienced.
The late JC absolutely hated hook keepers! He impaled himself more than once in handling someone elses rod, we would often handle other folks rigs when teaching casting or just checking if the outfit was balanced. Since he was on blood thinners he tended to really bleed…very messy. Might keep that in mind.
If right handed, hold the rod by the cork handle in your right hand. Tap the rod blank, about half way up to fly, with your left hand until the fly becomes unsecured from the rod guide and lands on the water or ground.
I’ve used that method for years. TFO dropped the hook keeper probably on Lefty Kreh’s suggestion. He doesn’t like hook keepers. They get in the way and put the hook in a bad location when your moving around. He’s the one I learned the hook/fly in the guide method but with one extra twist. He went on to show me that after you have hooked the guide and set the line (around the reel seat, use the fly line/leader and wrap it wound your rod a couple of turns (without removing the line from the hook or reel seat). It will hold your line in place without slipping and keep it close to the rod, so there are no gaps to get hung up while moving around in under brush. The whole idea was to have enough line out so your leader knot would not be outside of the guides. If the knot is into the guides this can take some time to get ready when you come to your next fishing stop. (basicly a time saver…as they say, your aren’t fishin’ if your fly isn’t in/on the water.)
