I was recently reading in one of my favorite Blogs, a short article on the “Ready Position” when wading for bonefish. It was written by one of the best guides in the business, who I have followed over the years and consider an innovator in our sport. But it reminded me of my “Eureka Moment” many years ago when I realized everything I had ever read in books and magazines (only source of info then) was from the perspective of a guided trip while either fishing from or being transported by a skiff. So in effect all of the information was valid and useful if………….I was with a guide and/or fishing from the front of a skiff or at a minimum being run miles out to a far away flat to wade. But I wanted to fish on my own, find flats and creek systems that I reached by car or a short kayak paddle. I might be slow, but it finally dawned on me that most of the standard strategies had to be re-thought. The rods needed to load with 25 feet of line (softer), the line had to unfurl on short casts into the wind (over-line) and the leaders off the shelf didn’t work at all on short casts (too limp). To complicate it further, it wasn’t my decision which direction to walk, (I went from where the car was parked), the flies had to be lighter, smaller, low profile, less flash (the fish are ten times spookier), I had to learn how to wade quietly (and I mean quietly), how to be ready to present a fly and how to ambush cast. And I had to learn to see fish on my own. Not after someone whispered “fish at 11:00 o’clock.” Eureka (you numbskull) it was time to forget everything I had read and start adopting specific strategies for the conditions and fish (read “seen lots of flies”) I was targeting. And develop the skills I needed in order to be successful as a DIY guy. All of that previous diatribe brings me to one small but important topic………….The Ready Position for a DIY angler. Is the ready position for the DIY situation the same as you have seen in the magazines, read in books, witnessed on T.V. and YouTube? Maybe…….Maybe Not. Remember, you just drove to a flat or creek. You don’t get to run around to the other end of the system to “set up” properly and take advantage of the sun, wind and tide. You have parked the car and are standing on the shoreline ready to fish. You need the sun at your back or over your shoulder so, there you go, the decision as to which way to walk has been made. If you are like me, then 180% of the time the wind is blowing a gale either across your shoulder or into your face (of course not true but feels like it) and the tide can be going with you or against you. Why is the direction of the wind and tide important for The Ready Position? Because it means that for a majority of your wades the wind and tide are not going to be sweeping the trailing line gracefully behind you ( the way you see in the magazines). Nope, the line is going to be circling around your legs and at the precise moment you set up to cast the “fishing gods” play their card and unmercifully wrap the line three times around your left boot. Let’s just say that I have experienced the “Unready Position” more than my fair share of times ( I didn’t say I was the sharpest tool in the shed) so let me see if I can help you avoid the ” Unready Position” and put you into an acceptable “Ready Position.” Rule #1 It is always faster to strip line off the reel, than it is to untangle it from around your feet. Rule #2 As they say in the movies………..see Rule #1. Rule #3 Nothing good can come from trailing more line than you can cast or the distance you can see fish. Now that you know the first few rules in DIY line management, let’s see how to put them into practice. If you are walking into the wind and tide, no problem. Strip out enough line and trail it behind you (the wind/tide will keep it away from your feet) so that the total amount of line trailing combined with the line beyond the rod tip plus the leader are equal to the distance you can either cast or see fish. I.e. if you can cast 100 feet, but only see fish at 50 feet, the total length of trailing line and that outside the tip is 50 feet. But the reality is, the vast majority of the time the conditions are not going to be suitable for the standard ready position. You might be walking a shore, be amongst the mangroves, walking with the tide or wind (sweeping your line into your legs) or on a soft bottom making walking conditions to difficult to focus on line management. Or just being tired, been walking for three hours in the ready position and just want to make it easier. (I know you boat guys are laughing at that one, but try walking three hours in the water holding a fly between your thumb and forefinger while keeping the line away from your feet. It’s tough). So here is what I do now when the tide and wind won’t let the line trail behind me. I strip ten feet of line off the reel and let it hang. Think about it, that is a loop five feet down and five feet back to the reel. Not much of a trail. Then ten feet of fly line out the tip plus the twelve foot leader. I’m now ready for a 32 foot cast. If I need another ten feet, it takes […]
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