FLYLIFE^63DRAG
The problem with a dead straight line
lying on the water is that any current
or wind acting on that line is going to
affect the drift of the fly. This conse-
quential unnatural movement of the
fly is called drag, and it is often a major
hindrance to catching fish.
Drag occurs when the line and lead-
er lying across the water (or under the
water), has current (or wind) or even
boat movement acting on it. Drag not
only affects the behaviour of the fly as
the fish sees it, but it can also prevent
the fly from getting to a fish, especially
to a fish holding deep.
The most obvious drag you’ll see is
when you have to cast across faster
flowing water to put a fly into slower
water. But drag applies right across
the spectrum of fly fishing, on almost
every species, in all waters. It is far
from being restricted to trout, dry flies
and flowing water.
Drag can operate across the sur-
face and is most apparent with float-
ing flies; it can be obvious or it can
be very subtle. For example, we can
make a cast across still water with
the line straightening out perfectly on
touch down, but then the leader and
line starts to slowly coil towards us.
This is going to drag the fly, and to a
fish looking for static or dead-drifting
insects, it’s going to set off alarm bells.
A moving boat or crosswind will
also cause a dry to drag on still water.
Any time we see the line being bent
when we’ve cast it straight out, there
is drag acting on the fly.
Drag also prevents sinking flies from
getting to the required depth. Sinking
resistance acting on the fly line and
the leader is a form of drag. It also
puts a belly in the line such that if a
fish does eat the fly, we’re simply not
going to have sufficient tension to set
the hook.To determine whether or not a fly
is dragging, use a reference point —
something floating naturally in the
current, such as froth in a bubble line,
a leaf or a twig — or in still water use
a fixed point, or something floating
nearby. Drag can also affect sub-sur-
face flies and this can be difficult to
detect. This is when we need to read
the water, the fly, and the line, and to
start using tactics on the suspicion that
drag may be affecting what we’re try-
ing to do — indicators can tell us a lot.Rod van Beek throws a simple upstream mend to avoid drag.
Lift the line slowly off the water and mend gently to avoid moving the fly.THE MOST OBVIOUS DRAG YOU’LL SEE IS WHEN YOU
HAVE TO CAST ACROSS FASTER FLOWING WATER TO PUT A
FLY INTO SLOWER WATER.
The fish was rising in the small bubble line coming off the willows. The fast tongue of current in the foreground
required an upstream mend to avoid dragging the fly, but the window of drag-free drift was brief.