The Take!

[musicalbloke]

Simple question this but how much line you let a salmon take once it has the fly before you lift into the fish?

[Braveheart]

That's down to personal preference MB. There are three main thoughts on this.

1 The way I do it, lift on the take.

2 Leave a loop of line, amount varies depending on personal choice, but can be anything from 2 ft up 5-6 ft

3 I know of some anglers who set the drag on their reels to the minimum and let the salmon pull line for a few feet before lifting.

I believe that when a Salmon (or any other fish for that matter) takes your fly that you will either hook it or miss it, whether you lift right away or let it have some line will make no difference. Others will say different, but that takes you back to personal preference ;D

[guideline]

I would disagree with anyone that says you should lift your rod or strike, do that and you have lost the fish. I have seen to many fish lost by inexperienced salmon fishers and lifting, you are simply pulling the fly out of the fishes mouth.The best is to let the fish hook itself. Keep a very large loop, the more the better, dont anticipate and Stay cool.

If you study a Salmon when it takes a fly it turns on the take. Basically it rises for the fly and turns, as it turns it needs line, let it take the loop, as the line tightens the hook will set, generally in the scissors and thats the best. No line to feed the fly pulls out of the mouth. I generally keep about 6ft and have no brake set. Any good experienced Salmon fisher will tell you the same.

[3lbgrayling]

sorry, but no 1s for me. and guidline who decided that you were going to be the voice of experienced salmon fishers.

jim

[Braveheart]

Now now Jim, the bloke obviously wrote the book on the subject, we should all bow down to his experience.


braveheart (40years an inexperienced novice )

[Fenton]

I'm for 3, unless fishing for Grilse,

F

[Hans]

Sometimes, in spate conditions, with heavy current, the fish takes, and hooks itself instantly, especially when they are 'hot'.
In low water conditions the takes are much more subtle, and that is when I leave a lot of slack in the line between the reel and the fingertip that holds the line.
If you really strike you will loose the fish in 9 out of 10 cases... (this is based on my own experience, so not the absolute 'dogma')
Hans.

[3lbgrayling]

in really low water i'm normally handlining,so when i get a draw i lift into it, about 85% succsess rate. the only time i'll have a loop is in deep fast clear water.

jim

[storlaks]

It also depends on how much line you cast. If you have a big belly on your line i.e. long cast this acts as a buffer when the fish takes, so you might let it take a yard of line(off the reel or a loop) and then just clamp your line and wait for it to tighten. Then lift. DO NOT lift when you feel the take, especially when fishing a longline, you will hook very few. This is even more important when fishing intermediate and sinking lines. If you try to lift too soon, you will only lift the belly of the line and have no direct contact with the fish. This is conventional tactics in a decent flow. hand lining in low water and stripping sunrays is very different. If a fish takes, you just hold on and give them nothing.

You will always lose fish, but if think about what the fish is doing when it takes and be patient then you'll hopefully hook much more than you lose.

Subtle or half-hearted takes can be a pain as you may need to wait that bit longer for something to happen, but just keep the rod tip down until you feel a weight at the end of your line, then lift.

That's my theory. Works most of the time, but not all.

[musicalbloke]

Thanks for all the info, unfortunately I wasn't able to apply any of it yesterday on the Wye. River looked great but didn't see a fish all day, however I thoroughly enjoyed it as I was able to give my new rod a good workout.

Thanks again.

[Pond Olive(lately Colona)]

Looking at the above posts, it would appear that there are no hard and fast rules in salmon fishing, and indeed, that was what I was told when I started, last autumn.

[ACW]

Yesterday I let the reel sing a bit .See the rivers report ! ;D ;D ;D

[easky]

I keep it simple when I feel the salmon pull I pull back, works in most cases .

[fredaevans]

I also use a loop of line (+/- 18 inches) which I drop when I feel a fish. The major difference you'll see in the PNW is most very good fishermen will 'strike the fish' not with a 'lift' but rod tip low and into the bank.

[greenkingfisher]

If only I had the luxury of having lots of salmon takes to tell you which hooking method is best.

Can somebody just tell me how you get the b*ggers to take your blimmin fly in the first place.