Techy Thursday - Send it, mend it and follow it around

Wet flies, nymph teams and streamers. A lot can be said for the art of swinging yet despite the conditions, or wind making it tough for an upstream presentation very few anglers do it. Many just don’t see it as a viable option however matching your flies to the river and conditions, you can have a lot more fun than you will having your tungsten blown back downstream at you.

Here’s a duffers guide I lay on clients...

Send it. Make your cast on a downstream angle to ensure a slower drift across fewer currents. Don’t fluff around, just get your fly out there...

Mend it. Give it time to sink before the line pulls tight. This could be a pullback, or standard upstream, or downstream mend depending on the currents.

Follow it around. Following the line with the rod tip as it swings, as opposed to leading it allows for a slower, more controlled swing and any strips will dance the fly upstream rather than accelerating the swing across. You are also in a better position to work your flies back up the edge of the current following the swing.

Take a step or two downstream...

You KNOW there are fish there somewhere and covering a large amount of water you KNOW you have presented the fly in their vicinity... take a step downstream and repeat until you nail one.