I LOST MY FIRST SALMON

[strood]

I was down on the Dee on Friday night when i hooked what i thought was a kelt at first because i have have hooked and landed five in one day earlier this year.the salmon took my fly very gently and at first it was just a dead weight and came to me very slowly and gave just c couple of very big pulls and a couple of head shakes.Ass i reeled in just saw this Barr of silver and it must have seen me and took of like a racing car and i could not stop it and it broke the line and stole my cascade fly.
WHAT DID I DO WRONG
WHEN THE FISH STARTED RUNNING MY ROD WAS HELD HIGHT
ALSO I tried TO SLOW HERE DOWN WITH MY HAND ON THE REAL
AND WHEN SHE JUMPED I KEPT MY ROD STRAIGHT UP .THAT IS THE MOMENT SHE BROKE ME OFF I CRIED SHE JUMPED VICTORIOUSLY A COUPLE MORE TIMES AND SWAM OFF.

BUT REALLY WHAT A BUZZ AND A GOOD WAY TO LIFT THE BLOOD PRESSURE BETTER NOT TELL THE WIFE SHE MITE NOT LET ME GO FISHING AGAIN
DAVE

[salmonking]

Sure...i fished on fri untill darkocklock and never even saw a fish
so unlucky,wish id hooked and lost one.

[greenbanks]

strood said:

I was down on the Dee on Friday night when i hooked what i thought was a kelt at first because i have have hooked and landed five in one day earlier this year.the salmon took my fly very gently and at first it was just a dead weight and came to me very slowly and gave just c couple of very big pulls and a couple of head shakes.Ass i reeled in just saw this Barr of silver and it must have seen me and took of like a racing car and i could not stop it and it broke the line and stole my cascade fly.
WHAT DID I DO WRONG
WHEN THE FISH STARTED RUNNING MY ROD WAS HELD HIGHT
ALSO I tried TO SLOW HERE DOWN WITH MY HAND ON THE REAL
AND WHEN SHE JUMPED I KEPT MY ROD STRAIGHT UP .THAT IS THE MOMENT SHE BROKE ME OFF I CRIED SHE JUMPED VICTORIOUSLY A COUPLE MORE TIMES AND SWAM OFF.

BUT REALLY WHAT A BUZZ AND A GOOD WAY TO LIFT THE BLOOD PRESSURE BETTER NOT TELL THE WIFE SHE MITE NOT LET ME GO FISHING AGAIN
DAVE

Wow!!!Way to go Dave.
Another good soul joins the brotherhood of the angle gentlemen, welcome to the joys of Fushing Loon. ;D

Kenny

[Sloggi]

springer said:

Many things could have made you lose that fish but an old saying Ive heard many times regarding a jumping fish is 'Bow to the King'
meaning drop your rod tip when a fish goes airbourne this will give you a bit of slack to absorb the shock.

Of course, you could follow the old adage - "never let the line slacken - keep it tight"

Who knows. Just be happy you found a lie, discovered a successful fly, and hooked a fish.

[strood]

Thanks lads for these tips above. ;D

Kenny i will tell this store all day at work tomorrow and R-D will come home and tell you at tea time. ;D

[davewallbridge]

I fish primarily for Seatrout and these, as you know, spend almost as much time in the air as in the water when you are playing them.
I started off using the 'bow to the king' technique but found that often when the fish lands and you make contact again you do so with a bit of a jolt.
The technique I have used for years now is to simply take my palm from off the reel rim or handle and let the check give line to absorb any shock. This keeps a degree of tension on the line so you stay in touch with the fish but avoids a break and seems to be a smoother operation.
It's important to have the check (or drag) set light but that is how I prefer it to be. I set it so there is just enough resistance to prevent over-runs when stripping line to cast and apply any extra drag by 'palming' the reel rim as I find this is a more sensitive and versatile method than using a heavy check/drag setting.

Dave.

[paulsewin]

Hi Strood,

What a story, so close and yet so far away from your first salmon. You will always remember that fish. I don't know why, but we always remember the ones we lose.

As the other members have said, it's better to have played and lost than not to have played a fish at all.

The big thing is to try and learn from your disappointment and hopefully avoid repeating any mistakes that were your fault.

I'd like to ask you about 20 questions about this incident but here are a few things you may want to think about.

1. Head shakes just after the take may mean the fly didn't have a very good hold to start with.

2. The salmon came straight in to you. This isn't unusual but you should expect it to move away on its first run once it senses the shallower water or sees you. The biggest mistake some anglers make is to try to hold the salmon on a short line.

3. I don't know how big the fish was, or where you were fishing in the pool, but sometimes it is better to let the fish have its head for the first run and then try to get it under control before increasing the drag.

4. You said you had your hand on the reel, were you palming the spool or holding it very tight? A fish coming up to the surface is sometimes a sign that you've got too much pressure on it.

5. Lowering the rod or holding the rod tip high when the fish jumps? This is one of those things that anglers often talk about, and just like hooking procedures, there are no 100% all the time answers. Some choose one method religiously, others like to vary their method depending on the circumstances.

6. Did the line break as the fish jumped or as the fish came down? If it broke as the fish was on the way up, it broke the line against the weight of the line in/on the water and the force of the river acting on the line. Lowering the rod may not have reduced the drag enough to stop this happening.

7. Do you know if the line broke at the fly, usually indicated by a tight curly "pig-tail" at the end of the nylon? What breaking strain nylon were you using and if it was nylon, as opposed to fluorocarbon, how old was it?

If you were left with a curly "pig-tail", perhaps the knot wasn't tied properly, or nor bedded down properly or not lubricated before you tightened it.

If the break was higher up the cast/leader it may be the culprit was a wind knot, which effectively weakens the line by 50%. I check my line quite regularly for these when I'm fishing, especially if my casting isn't working too well or I'm trying to overcome an unhelpful wind.

I hope this has helped and that your next salmon does the decent thing and comes to the net safely.

Paul

[hornet]

Nae luck Strood,

As the other lads have said at least you connected and had a good fight.

Hopefully the next will be better.

Hornet

[strood]

thanks Paul

last Friday were you watching me trying to play this fish as your above questions are spot on.

yes i was palming the reel when she started stripping line as she sped down the pool and i applied more pressure to try and stop here .

yes i was holding the rod hight and applying more pressure to stop here running away with my line thats when she broke me off when she jumped.

yes my line did have a pig tail left where the hook was .

I was using 15 pound seagar fluorocarbon line and i did wet the line before i tied the line for the knot i was using a half blood knot.

thanks for these tips i will try and use these next time hopefully this weekend .

thanks

Dave

[castlikeaghille]

davewallbridge said:

strood said:

yes my line did have a pig tail left where the hook was.

I was using 15 pound seagar fluorocarbon line and i did wet the line before i tied the line for the knot i was using a half blood knot.

Dave,

It seems like the knot failed hence the curly 'pig tail'.

I used the single and double versions of the blood knot on nylon for 30 odd years but when I first bought some co-polymer line I had a few knot failures.
I contacted the manufacturer and they said that the knot they recommended for both co-polymer and fluorocarbon is the Uni Knot ( also known as the Grinner or Duncan Loop) and since switching to this I have never had a knot fail.

You can see an animated 'how to' for the single Uni here:
www.animatedknots.com/uniknot/index.php

and the double version here:
www.fishandfly.co.uk/knots/doublegrinner/index.html

The double version is a useful dropper knot and easier to tie than the double blood. It is a stronger knot for joining dissimilar thickness lines (when making up a tapered leader) and, should you ever venture out after dark, is a lot easier to tie by feel.

Also, as paulsewin said, don't try to hold a fish on a short line but let it run against a gentle drag. Whilst it is dashing around it's using up it's energy and will tire quicker.

Dave.

The advice above about the use of the single uni/grinner knot for flurocarbon and copolymer is, IMO, absolutely spot on.

For making leaders you might also like to consider using 2mm leader rings (we use the Riverge ones). The one down side of the grinner is it requires more leader than the standrad blood knots to tie it. So if the dropper is made by joining two lengths of leader a couple of fly changes using the grinner and it will become very short. However, if the dropper is tied to a leader ring when it becomes short you simply replace it with a new length of leader.

[strood]

Silver stoat

Thanks for your advice thats a very good site which has good instructions on how to tie knots will be practicing tying the rest off the week.
Once again thanks to all the replys i have had and the advice you all have given me .

Thanks
Dave

[Fruin]

I concur with all of the above. I usually dip the rod if a fish jumps, but I'll try just letting go of the reel and see if that helps (that's if I ever get another fish!)

I have just switched from blood knot to grinner knot for connecting hook and leader rings to leader. I noticed that the section of leader that has pulled through the knot was flattening. Using the grinner lessened this flattening. I also use the grinner for attaching fly line to backing.

[macd]

www.trout-salmon-fishing.com/flyfishing-knots.htm

the water my standard dropper knot. any comments on its suitability for fluor/copoly?

[davewallbridge]

fruin said:

I noticed that the section of leader that has pulled through the knot was flattening. Using the grinner lessened this flattening.

If you part tighten the knot (not quite fully tight) and then slide it up to the hook eye before fully tightening it you will find this will virtually eliminate any tendency to flatten or curl the line.
Alternatively you can grip the fly between your thumb and index finger so that your fingernails rest on the line just in front of the hook eye to form a stop, slide the knot up to your fingernails and, without changing your grip, tighten the knot. This will leave a very small loop to allow the fly to pivot and move with the current.

Dave.

[splash]

macd said:

www.trout-salmon-fishing.com/flyfishing-knots.htm

the water my standard dropper knot. any comments on its suitability for fluor/copoly?

I'm with you MacD. I find the water knot utterly reliable if tied properly and butted down. Two to three turns in fluoro and three or four in copolymer depending upon diameter provides a very simple and straightforward set up.I don't particularly care for the seamless rings although they do offer some benefits regarding convenience

[Fruin]

Thanks for the advice Dave.

MacD, I also use the water knot for my droppers. I used to use the double grinner, but found that it offered no significant advantage for it's added compliexity.

I do not use the leader rings for droppers; I use them, with a touch of added glue, for the ends of polyleaders. They do not seem to weeken the same as a loop to loop connection.

[castlikeaghille]

fruin said:

Thanks for the advice Dave.


I do not use the leader rings for droppers; I use them, with a touch of added glue, for the ends of polyleaders. They do not seem to weeken the same as a loop to loop connection.

Please can you expand a little on how this set up works - thanks - CLaG

[splash]

fruin said:

Thanks for the advice Dave.

MacD, I also use the water knot for my droppers. I used to use the double grinner, but found that it offered no significant advantage for it's added compliexity.

I do not use the leader rings for droppers; I use them, with a touch of added glue, for the ends of polyleaders. They do not seem to weeken the same as a loop to loop connection.

Funnily enough Fruin, I do the same having got the idea from a Roman Moser braided leader which employed this set up. It also seems to last a lot longer than tying a loop on the end and is a lot neater.

cheers

Splash

[Fruin]

castlikeaghille said:

fruin said:

I do not use the leader rings for droppers; I use them, with a touch of added glue, for the ends of polyleaders. They do not seem to weeken the same as a loop to loop connection.

Please can you expand a little on how this set up works - thanks - CLaG

ClaG,
After a days fishing I usually just wind line, polyleader, and leader onto the reel for my next day. If on my next day the conditions dicatate the same setup I thread it all back trhough the rod rings and away we go. However, I always check the knot from polyleader to leader with a couple of sharp tugs and a steady pull. Far too often with the loop to loop method, the leader or the polyleader will snap at the meeting point when applying minimal pressure. This obviously concerned me, but until non-mono core polyleaders become more readily available, it required a solution. I now tie a leader ring onto the end of the polyleaders with a grinner knot and a small dab of glue or varnish. When attaching the leader, I simply tie it onto the leader ring at the end of the polyleader.
These breakages are also the main reason that I went through a long period of making polytips out of old non-mono core fly lines. The loop to loop seems less prone to failure with braided cores.

[castlikeaghille]

fruin said:

castlikeaghille said:

Please can you expand a little on how this set up works - thanks - CLaG

ClaG,
After a days fishing I usually just wind line, polyleader, and leader onto the reel for my next day. If on my next day the conditions dicatate the same setup I thread it all back trhough the rod rings and away we go. However, I always check the knot from polyleader to leader with a couple of sharp tugs and a steady pull. Far too often with the loop to loop method, the leader or the polyleader will snap at the meeting point when applying minimal pressure. This obviously concerned me, but until non-mono core polyleaders become more readily available, it required a solution. I now tie a leader ring onto the end of the polyleaders with a grinner knot and a small dab of glue or varnish. When attaching the leader, I simply tie it onto the leader ring at the end of the polyleader.
These breakages are also the main reason that I went through a long period of making polytips out of old non-mono core fly lines. The loop to loop seems less prone to failure with braided cores.

Ah - with you now - I was thinking fly line to poly leader - ta - CLaG