2 FEEL THE POWER!

How many of you hold the line within your fingertips to detect a bite when you’re not sure if there’s some interest in your bait? Chances are, almost everyone at some point. Even in this age of braid and low-stretch lines there’s still no substitute for concentrating on detecting that tell-tale fishy twitch and tug transmitted down the line which is just that little bit different from the regular movement of the waves, or lazy pull of weed around your leader. When you tune into that, you certainly catch more fish. Why? Fly fishing relies almost entirely upon that direct contact with the fish, which is amplified still further by the close proximity and complete lack of any superfluous weight and terminal tackle. It’s literally: you, line, fish. As you draw your cast in by hand (called stripping) to impart life to your fly, or get it where you want it, every little movement of your fly can be felt as it makes its journey through the current or water column. So, the sudden solid yank of a hungry bass, even a schoolie, will give a real jolt of adrenaline!

A fly fisherman can decide to play a fish one of two ways; either ‘off the reel’, meaning once you’ve felt the take and struck, you can quickly wind any slack line onto the reel and play the fish against the clutch. Alternatively, you can leave the line off the reel and retrieve and give line under tension purely by hand. To some extent it depends on the size of the fish, but I’ll say this – the feel of the power and strength a fish has is increased exponentially when you’re playing it by hand! I see fellow swiffers laughing and whooping out loud with the sheer joy and surprise a three pound mullet or pollack can generate when it refuses to yield and makes a run for freedom! Swiffing is never, ever about merely cranking a fish in. In this respect there is literally no other method that can generate the same extraordinary feeling, and it can transform your appreciation of every single fish you catch.