# FISHING TIP # 197 FLY LINE MANAGEMENT



## captken (Feb 24, 2008)

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<SPAN id=_ctl1_ctlTopic_ctlPanelBar_ctlTopicsRepeater__ctl1_lblFullMessage>Stretch your fly line and a little more.


I've mentioned stretching your flyline before starting a morning's fishing more than once. Stretch the fly line and flake it out on the deck. Yeah, but---


When you strip it off the reel, stretching as you go, your coils on deck are upside down with the top of the bitter end of the line on the bottom. That makes the all important first cast a serious pain in the butt. Stretch the line, coil it on the deck then make one cast and strip the line back, coiling it in a perfect shooting coil before you make that first IMPORTANT cast. (I don't remember mentioning this last part before but I do it unconsciously because I always use a stripping basket.) 

Strip off the amount of line you can cast and NOT ONE FOOT MORE because excess line is in the way. If you can't cast it, why have it on deck or in your stripping basket where it is apt to tangle?" 

I don't know how many years it took me to realize I was doing this unconciously. 

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## Key Wester (May 2, 2008)

I count strips as i strip theline off the reel. After 19 or 20 strips, my line is piled up on my left upsidedown. I then stretch the line and stack it on my right correctly, ready for my first cast.

20 strips is a good starting place for me. I totally agree with you, haveing more line on the deck than you can shoot is gonna be a headache


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