Pacemaker Fishing Forum

By Capt. Chris Newsome

The straight line connection (SLC) is vital to success when fishing streamer style flies which are manipulated by retrieving line with your hand to impart lifelike action.  This holds true in both fresh and saltwater whether you are fishing a mouse fly for trophy brown trout in Patagonia or a gurgler for baby tarpon in the Everglades.  There are few places where the SLC is more important than the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel where strong current, wind and waves play havoc.

So what exactly is a straight line connection?  Well simply put, it is having the fly line in a straight line between the hand that is holding the line and the fly.    This is opposed to fishing dry flies or nymphs on mountain streams where a slack line presentation is necessary for a drag free drift. 

During slack line presentation, the rod tip must be raised to set the hook when a fish strikes in order to remove the slack between the line hand and the fly.  The reason that the rod tip hook set works in this situation is due to the relatively small amount of fly line outside the rod tip and the tiny hooks of dry flies and nymphs that easily penetrate the mouth of a fish.

The generally longer casts required for streamer fishing coupled with the larger hooks of these flies make raising the rod tip to set the hook ineffective.  The light tip of a fly rod will not provide enough force to drive the hook home is this situation leading to countless missed hookups.  The proper technique when fishing a streamer fly is to set the hook with a long, sharp pull on the fly line by your hand.  We call this the “strip strike.”  After the strip strike is made and the weight of the fish is felt, you will then want to raise the rod tip – but not before you feel the fish is hooked.  Not only does the strip strike provide a stronger hook set, but it provides numerous second and third opportunities to hook up if you miss the initial strike.  Raising the rod to set the hook moves the fly a great distance from the fish – eliminating any opportunity to have another chance at hooking that fish or others chasing the fly.  The strip strike, however, only moves the fly a foot or two from the fish so it is very common to miss a strike and still be position to hookup on a subsequent strike.

This brings me back to the importance of the straight line connection.  In order for the strip strike to be effective there can be no slack; i.e. a SLC between the line hand and the fly.  The rod must be pointed in the direction of the fly at all times to maintain a SLC.  For example if the rod is pointed 45 degrees away from the fly, the force of the strip strike will be absorbed by the rod tip rendering the hook set useless.  When fishing strong current like is present at the CBBT, the rod tip must follow the direction of the fly as it is swept down current in order to keep a straight line connection.  A great way to check if you have a SLC is to watch your rod tip as you retrieve line.  If the rod tip bends as you strip line, you do not a straight line connection.  With a SLC, there is no movement of the rod tip as you strip line.

Be aware of the straight line connection and soon you’ll be landing more fish!