How to Flyfish (eBook)

From newcomer to improver

John Symonds (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2017 | 1. Auflage
96 Seiten
Merlin Unwin Books (Verlag)
978-1-910723-57-9 (ISBN)

Infos

In this clear and attractive book are all the essential skills you need to be a competent all-round flyfisher. With John Symonds you will learn how to fish for trout and salmon in stillwaters from both bank and boat; in rivers; dry fly and wet fly. You will know how to tie reliable and easy knots, to construct the right leaders, learn where the fish are most likely to lie, how to cast to them and which flies to use. How to Flyfish will bring you up-to-date with all the latest on leader construction and knots, boat control with the paradrogue, traditional nymphing methods to the popular tenkara style. Packed with useful tips and clear diagrams.

John Symonds is a keen fly-fisherman and fishes for salmon, trout and grayling in the Wye and Usk catchments as well as the Welsh borderlands. He decided to become a certified casting instructor and guide as a retirement occupation and has successfully qualified to Advanced Professional Game Angling Instructors (APGAI) single- and double-handed levels, and is an International Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF) Two-Handed Casting Instructor (THCI). John's other interests include photography and graphic design. He lives in Hereford.

Textauszug

BASIC SKILLS

The tackle you will need for most methods of Western flyfishing include the following items:

A fly-reel which is used to store backing and the fly-line. The fly-reel usually has an adjustable drag system. A drag system provides controlled resistance whilst playing the fish, without applying too much pressure which could result in the leader breaking and loss of the fish.
The fly-line is wound onto a spool, which can be removed and replaced with a spare, carrying a different type of fly-line. On the base of the reel housing there is a foot which fits into the reel seat, located in the butt of the fly-rod.

 A fly-rod, which is made from carbon fibre for lightness, strength and flexing ability. It is normally assembled by inserting the tip of one section inside the next smallest and firmly pushing them together. The rod has a number of rings that allow the fly-line to run smoothly from the reel to the rod-tip.

 A fly-line with a weight that matches the fly-rod, made from a braided core that is coated with PVC or polymer. The front end of the fly-line is tapered to provide a good turnover and delicate presentation of the fly.

A tapered leader is usually at the end of the fly-line and this is made from either monofilament, copolymer or fluorocarbon to provide strength combined with a very fine diameter that is less likely to spook fish.

 A tippet (a length of straight nylon) is connected to the leader to provide a gentle presentation of the fly. This can be replaced when it becomes worn or too short.

 Flies are imitations of the natural insect, made from fur, feather and other synthetic materials, or they simply give a general impression of a food item that is attractive to fish.

Connecting backing to the reel

Before the fly-line is attached to the reel it is advisable to wind on a fairly long length of backing braid, so that the fly-line is not coiled too tightly onto the spool and winds onto the reel quicker. More importantly it allows the fly-line to run off the spool when playing a particularly strong, fighting fish such as a salmon. The breaking strength of the backing must be suitable for the size of fish that will be caught but 20lb is normally the minimum rating.

TIP

The amount of backing can be estimated by temporarily attaching the fly-line to the spool with masking tape and winding it on. The space remaining between the fly-line and the outer peripheral cage of the reel can be measured and this can be used to determine the depth of backing that is required on the reel.

 The diagram on the opposite page shows how the backing can be connected to the fly-reel by using a grinner knot.

 Start by threading the braid between the spool and the reel cage. Wrap the braid twice around the spool and bring it out on the opposite side to where it enters. The free end is known as the ‘tag end’.

 Make a loop in the tag end and offer this up against the main length of braid which is still on the bobbin. The latter is referred to as the ‘standing end’.

 Make four loops of the tag end over both the loop and the standing end.

 Pull the loops tightly, by using the tag end, so that they form a slip knot. Check that they sit down cleanly, butting up against each other, without any overlap.

 Pull the standing end of the backing to partially close the loop down onto the spool.

 Before closing the loop down completely onto the arbor of the spool, cut off the tag end with a pair of sharp scissors.

 Finally push the knot down onto the arbor, whilst pulling the standing end, to tighten it up.

The backing is now connected and is ready for winding onto the fly-reel. It is important at this stage to decide whether a right- or left-hand wind is preferred. This will determine the direction in which drag is applied (to resist the pull of the fish when it is running). In the opposite direction of rotation there is no drag because it is not required when the fly-line is retrieved by winding it back onto the reel.

As the backing is wound on it should be guided onto the spool to ensure a uniform distribution and a flat surface to wind the fly-line onto.

The knot that is used in this method for connecting the backing to the reel is known as the grinner, which makes a very useful loop with a slip-knot and it has a number of other fishing applications. For instance it can also be used for attaching a fly to a leader. If the knot is not tightened down, the small loop that passes through the eye of the hook will allow the fly to move freely and hence it will be more attractive to fish.

Another knot in this family, the double grinner, provides a neat way of joining two lengths of monofilament, with different diameters, for making a tapered leader.

A rotating connection for a dropper can be constructed from a loop made with a grinner, which can be located between two joints in a leader, and tightened down to provide a rotating, tangle-free, connection.

The grinner knot

The Grinner Knot (connects backing to reel)

Connecting the fly-line to backing

A new fly-line from the factory is normally wound onto a spool and has a free end that is tagged with a label saying ‘reel this end’. The backing that has already been put onto the spool has to be attached to this end and an effective way of doing this is to use a nail knot.

The diagram on the facing page shows how the backing is joined to the fly-line by using a nail knot that is tied with the help of a darning needle.

 Firstly, grasp the very end of the fly-line, with the needle lying alongside it and the eye of the needle protruding out from the front end of the fly-line. Then grasp the tag end of the backing and hold it in the position where the nail knot is to be started. This should be slightly back off the end of the fly-line to allow for four turns of backing and some clearance at the end so that the finished knot is not accidently pulled off the fly-line when it is tightened down.

 Next pull the tag end of the backing under the needle and fly-line and over the top.

 By pinching the windings as they are formed, this frees up the other hand to continue pulling the backing round and under for the next turn. This sequence is repeated until four turns have been applied.

 The tag end can now be threaded through the eye of the needle, whilst the windings are held in place with the other hand.

 Whilst continuing to hold the windings firmly in place, the needle is withdrawn though the loops, pulling the tag end with it. Continue to pull the needle until the tag end drops free.

 For the next step, make sure that the fly-line is supported, to prevent it sliding out of the loosely-wound turns, and then seize both sides of the backing and tighten down the nail knot. Make sure that the knot pulls down neatly, with touching but not overlapping turns.

 Holding the backing and fly-line and pulling tightly will cause the nail knot to bed down into the coating of the fly-line and this will also allow the strength of the connection to be tested.

 Cut off the tag end with scissors.

There are some alternative methods that can be used for tying this knot, such as using a short loop of monofilament instead of a needle. Alternatively, the windings can be made on a small diameter, rigid tube and the tag end threaded through this before it is withdrawn.

The nail knot is also a useful method for joining a leader onto a fly-line because this gives a good transference of energy and helps with the turnover, and hence presentation of the fly.

Once the fly-line has been connected to the backing it can be wound onto the reel. It is helpful if the fly-line spool can be allowed to rotate on a pencil, or something similar, which is held by an assistant.

It should be possible to guide the fly-line onto the reel by manipulating it with the finger and thumb of the hand that supports the reel. This will ensure that the fly-line sits uniformly on the reel without any high spots that could possibly jam against the reel cage.

Usually the fly-line manufacturer provides a detachable, self-adhesive label with the line details on the spool, which can be stuck to the fly-reel as a reminder, for when the reel and line is stored with a number of others.

The Nail Knot

Assembling a fly-rod and line

Threading the...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 30.5.2017
• Verlagsort: London
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Freizeit / Hobby ► Angeln / Jagd
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport
• ISBN-10: 1-910723-57-6 / 1910723576
• ISBN-13: 978-1-910723-57-9 / 9781910723579