Fishing a full Mono Rig system allows for abundant versatility — but not without the line hand. Unless you’re tight line or euro nymphing at very close range, then your line hand needs to do some work. In truth, it should do a lot of work.
Many tight line anglers miss the importance of their line hand. But just as we strip and hand twist to recover slack with a fly line, the same skills are necessary while fishing a Mono Rig.
There are important reasons to use our line hand, and there are a few ways to do it. This latest Troutbitten video covers it all. Below the video are a few more paragraphs with important details, along with some links to other key Troutbitten articles for understanding what to do with your line hand.
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Reasons
Hook Setting is greatly improved by having the rod tip closer to the flies. That’s a fact for every style of fishing. Because if our rod tip is eight feet off the water, we have a better chance at a solid hook set than if the rod tip is sixteen feet off the water. So use the line hand to recover slack instead of using only the rod tip.
Casting Angles and Options also benefit by using the line hand for recovery. Using only the rod tip puts us out of position, drifts become shorter because we run out of backcast space. And angles for the next cast are available at a narrower range.
Wind is an issue for every style of fishing. And for the tight line and euro nymphing angler, too much wind takes away our tight line advantage. Using the line hand allows us to keep the rod lower, so less line is in the air, with less of the sail effect on our leader.
Fishing Under Structure, like tree limbs, is necessary for having success on many streams and rivers. Using the line hand for slack recovery allows us to keep the rod lower — under the limbs, ready to strike and ready for the next cast. Doing slack recovery only with the rod tip in such places is a major handicap.
Trimming the Sighter is a subtle way of adjusting the angle and position of the tippet, leader and sighter, from rod tip to the water. Recovering short lengths of line, just after entry of the flies is easily and more efficiently done with the line hand and with a stable rod tip.
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Stick the Landing — Tight Line Skills Series, #3
Ways
There are three ways to recover line by hand:
Stripping is the easiest to understand and the most popular. It allows for the most line retrieval at the fastest rate. Remember that the line must first go under your trigger finger on your rod hand, Otherwise, you have only one strip. Hook setting also suffers without a good trigger finger.
READ: Troutbitten | You Need a Good Trigger Finger
The Hand Twist (as seen in the video above) is fine for recovering short lengths of line at a slower rate. It’s a fair option, but the hand twist is not my favorite for a full Mono Rig. Instead, I prefer a Pulley Retrieve.
The Pulley Retrieve allows for fast or slow recovery of about five to six feet of line. Following the pulley retrieve, you can switch to stripping or the hand twist if more line must be recovered.
VIDEO: Troutbitten | The Pulley Retrieve
Lastly, don’t forget that the rod tip can and should do a lot of slack recovery while fishing tight line systems. And for that, there are two ways. You can lift with the rod tip or lead with the rod tip. Learn to use them in tandem.
READ: Troutbitten | Tight Line and Euro Nymphing — The Lift and Lead
READ: Troutbitten | Three Ways to Recover Slack
READ: Troutbitten | Beyond Euro Nymphing
You have two hands, so use them both. Get that second hand off your hip, and use it for slack recovery, opening up a range of options, adjustments and efficiencies.
Fish hard, friends.
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Enjoy the day.
Domenick Swentosky
T R O U T B I T T E N
domenick@troutbitten.com
Nice. Thanks for another great article and video.
You got it. Thanks for your support.
Super helpful video. Thank you. John
Cheers.
Absolutely exceptional!
Thank you.
3 Episodes a week…
I’ve Got lot’s of ketchup to do.
Love the work!
Keep up the Amazing Project Friend!
Thank you Dom for a great site and for your willingness to share your impressive store of knowledge. I’ve been fishing a mono rig for several years now trying to learn to fish and not just go fishing. I’ve had a question for some time now that I haven’t been able to find if it has been addressed in the database of articles. Namely, how long do you fish the core sections of a mono rig? I’ve been using the same base of 24 ft. of 20 lb Maxima and the next two sections for two years now. It doesn’t really show any wear, brittleness, or other defects. At what point would you replace the whole rig? It may seem a “duh” question, but if you think about it, it’s the front sections that get replaced as rigging needs change. Andy
Like any other gear, it’s not a question of how long, but how many hours on the water.
I’m on the water almost every day. And I never replace my Mono Rig butt section until something catastrophic happens — like an incident with a tree limb, stepping on it, accidentally cutting it, etc.
But if you see it degrading over time, if it doesn’t seem to perform the same, just change it. It’s cheap.
Cheers.
Dom
Hey Dom, the over-the-shoulder shots were great. Just being able to clearly see how the line unfolds as the fly jets forward into the water is helpful. That’s how my line looks, too. I’ve always been a bit confused by the equivalencies made between the mono rig and fly line in terms of their unfolding. Yes, they both turn over. But equally important are the differences. To me, the mono rig (or euro leaders) don’t look much like a fly line and leader as they unfurl. For a long time, the idea that they were supposed to look the same had me thinking I was casting the mono rig incorrectly (it didn’t look like fly line per se). It’s an important issue, if only because the thin rigs are impossible to see in most videos out there. You can follow the arm and rod movements, but the line not so much. But here I see it. Thanks again.
Good stuff. We’re using more of that in upcoming vids as well.