Basic fly fishing tips from old Bill

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

First, what got me started off here on this very large subject is over the past decades we have noticed that way too many customers have a "under wrap" in their backing which actually is like having no backing.

For many of our customers this is not important because they don't fish anywhere that they would get out into their backing.

If you take all you reels/spools and pull off all the fly line and some of the backing you might find this on some of your tackle.

What causes this under wrap or half-hitch in your backing is reeling all the line and leader and tippet into the spool.

Then it gets under another wrap and you are out of business for catching a real big fish.

I hope you can understand what I am talking about because sometimes it is not that easy to describe with words/text.

So don't reel all the line inside the spool.

Leave a little out and that makes it easier to get started too.

**Here is the funny part....we have customer who have tried to say we put the line on that way and it is our fault?? Pretty funny.......

[Darian]

Thanks for the info. I'm not quite sure I understand if you meant the backing or the line when you say to leave a bit out.... :confused: Could you please clarify this :?: I've experienced the underwrap situation you refer to in Baja. However, it appeared to be from winding the backing on too loose to begin with.... #-o

[Hairstacker]

Darian, Bill is talking about the very end of your entire backing/line/leader/tippet sytem. What happens is the tag end of you tippet sometimes migrates underneath one of the coils when the whole thing is reeled up for storage.

[Darian]

Aha!!! Thanks Mike. If I understand this correctly, there's an opportunity for the end of the leader to pass under a deeper coil. When stripping out line where this has occurred, it creates a potential knot that may not bind until into the backing.... :?: :?:

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Perfect Mike....

I was fishing in Alaska at Bristol Bay Lodge in August of 1976 and I was catching some fresh Sockeye Salmon that got out my entire fly line and just as it hit the backing it all locked up.

My guide, Mike Monroe, showed me what had happened and advised me not to reel in my leader so this would not happen again.

[Mike O]

When I reel up my line onto the reel, I take the end of the leader and shove about 4 inches of it out of one of the ports on the side of the reel. I am lucky never to have had the problem described.

[wjorg]

Thanks Bill!

I always wondered how this happened. It happens to me all the time when I take a shooting head off my reel, and reel in the bare amnesia.

[Ed Wahl]

I thought I'd dredge up this bit of wisdom again. Yesterday I had Bill C. at the shop switch one of my trout reels from right to left hand retrieve. While taking off the line to switch directions he came across a knot in the backing. I was rather happy to have found it there instead of on the water. Today I switched the other spool over and found a knot in the backing there too. :eek:

So I checked all my reels, and one more, a striper set up, had one also.

Gonna be much more careful when reeling up from now on.

If you've never heard of this before you should check your reels, odds are you've got a knot forming in your backing.

Ed

[michaeln]

When I reel up my line onto the reel, I take the end of the leader and shove about 4 inches of it out of one of the ports on the side of the reel. I am lucky never to have had the problem described.

I do that too, except after running it OUT one of the ports I run it back IN the next one. Helps to keep it from backing out.

[Jay Murakoshi]

Ya ought to see what an under wrap does when your hooked up to a Jack Crevelle that's around 30lbs. Long story short, we hand line the fish in... Now fill in the blanks

jay

[Jgoding]

Ya ought to see what an under wrap does when your hooked up to a Jack Crevelle that's around 30lbs. Long story short, we hand line the fish in... Now fill in the blanks

jay

You can now put the rod in a travel case instead of the 5' tube??