goby
05-12-2012, 09:31 PM
Today I went to Lewiston Lake. The flows are really high, and I was worried about that. It turned out there was nothing to worry about.
I caught at least 30 trout. A couple were fairly big (20"). I also tried something that I saw in a Kelly Galloup video, the "Jerk Strip." Wow!!
I did the traditional strip with a Crystal Bugger and Streamer. Then I did the Strip Jerk. Without any doubt, the Jerk Strip was much more effective.
Below is a article about the Jerk Strip.
BTW, Lewiston Lake is now fishing like a spring creek, so I don't know if the Jerk Strip would work in a "traditional" lake.
I'm now anxious to use the Jerk Strip in a river/stream setting.
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The idea of the jerk-strip is to get the attention of the fish by slapping the streamer down, hard onto the water, then immediately beginning your retrieve. The retrieve is a fast-paced jerk of the rod tip of about 15-20" (this moves the fly about 8-12"), rapid recovery of (strip) slack line as you return the rod to its starting position, repeat; so on and so on. Yanking the rod tip moves the streamer; stripping line back is necessary because where would it go otherwise, so you can move the fly again. This method moves the streamer very much like a Rapala being worked on a spinning rod. When you fish in this manner you are trying to work the streamer in the top one foot of the water column.
Why is the Jerk Strip so effective?
When you dead-drift or slowly strip a streamer you are searching for any hungry fish willing to take your offering. Sometimes you are rewarded; most times, you're just prospecting. By using the jerk-strip retrieve you're attempting to entice fish that are not even interested (read hungry) into attacking your fly. Here's why-
When you cast your fly and slap it down onto the water, then �jerk-strip� it back, you do so at a feverish pace, and if the initial impact of the fly hitting the surface calls attention to itself or the fast-paced retrieve puts the fly anywhere near a fish, it's a fair bet the fish will react in a very primal manner based on (1) invasion of its territory and (2) the greater urge to disable and consume the smaller intruder.
Here's where this all goes wrong for the aggressive fish attacking your fly.
Your quarry is now attacking it's quarry. It expects to dispatch this intruder and return to the safety of its lie - with no sidetrips or surprises. When the fish inhales the thing attached to the invisible line and turns to swim back to safety and the trip comes to a screeching halt- a defensive instinct called fight or flight (as described by we mere humans) takes over.
Fight or flight is an instinct every living creature possesses deep inside of them and can not suppress. There is no way to turn off a primal instinct that living creatures have used to survive for thousands of years. Example: If you see someone you know walking down the street and you passively walk up to them and tap them on the shoulder (try this and you can only hope they react calmly!), they may calmly turn and face you in relaxed demeanor (passive - such as dead-drifting a streamer.)
I caught at least 30 trout. A couple were fairly big (20"). I also tried something that I saw in a Kelly Galloup video, the "Jerk Strip." Wow!!
I did the traditional strip with a Crystal Bugger and Streamer. Then I did the Strip Jerk. Without any doubt, the Jerk Strip was much more effective.
Below is a article about the Jerk Strip.
BTW, Lewiston Lake is now fishing like a spring creek, so I don't know if the Jerk Strip would work in a "traditional" lake.
I'm now anxious to use the Jerk Strip in a river/stream setting.
_____________________________
The idea of the jerk-strip is to get the attention of the fish by slapping the streamer down, hard onto the water, then immediately beginning your retrieve. The retrieve is a fast-paced jerk of the rod tip of about 15-20" (this moves the fly about 8-12"), rapid recovery of (strip) slack line as you return the rod to its starting position, repeat; so on and so on. Yanking the rod tip moves the streamer; stripping line back is necessary because where would it go otherwise, so you can move the fly again. This method moves the streamer very much like a Rapala being worked on a spinning rod. When you fish in this manner you are trying to work the streamer in the top one foot of the water column.
Why is the Jerk Strip so effective?
When you dead-drift or slowly strip a streamer you are searching for any hungry fish willing to take your offering. Sometimes you are rewarded; most times, you're just prospecting. By using the jerk-strip retrieve you're attempting to entice fish that are not even interested (read hungry) into attacking your fly. Here's why-
When you cast your fly and slap it down onto the water, then �jerk-strip� it back, you do so at a feverish pace, and if the initial impact of the fly hitting the surface calls attention to itself or the fast-paced retrieve puts the fly anywhere near a fish, it's a fair bet the fish will react in a very primal manner based on (1) invasion of its territory and (2) the greater urge to disable and consume the smaller intruder.
Here's where this all goes wrong for the aggressive fish attacking your fly.
Your quarry is now attacking it's quarry. It expects to dispatch this intruder and return to the safety of its lie - with no sidetrips or surprises. When the fish inhales the thing attached to the invisible line and turns to swim back to safety and the trip comes to a screeching halt- a defensive instinct called fight or flight (as described by we mere humans) takes over.
Fight or flight is an instinct every living creature possesses deep inside of them and can not suppress. There is no way to turn off a primal instinct that living creatures have used to survive for thousands of years. Example: If you see someone you know walking down the street and you passively walk up to them and tap them on the shoulder (try this and you can only hope they react calmly!), they may calmly turn and face you in relaxed demeanor (passive - such as dead-drifting a streamer.)