This article appeared in American Angler Magazine in 2011
“Keep your tip down, get your slack out, and stay tight to your fly or you’ll miss the strike.” We all receive this advice when learning to fly-fish . . . and we generally pass it on to others just starting out. Is this bad advice? Certainly not, but as saltwater anglers advance beyond the basics of casting and retrieving the fly and occasionally employing a wet-fly-swing as stream anglers often do, the revelation that moving water – turbulent water, in particular – is a phenomenon that may be cleverly utilized in many fishing situations. And on the other hand, there are instances when water movement creates unnatural drag, which becomes the culprit of failed presentation and it must be countered. Savvy anglers offset these currents with clever techniques that nullify their adverse effects by eliminating line and leader drag – much the same as dry fly and nymph anglers painstakingly eliminate it from their presentations.
Whether seeking to utilize chaotic water to enhance your fly’s appeal, or striving to cancel the effects of moving water to maintain natural drag-free presentation, the incorporation and management of slack line is highly effective. Slack may be introduced in a variety of ways: clever casting, careful line management, elevated rod posture, and others. But first, knowing where and when slack-line presentations are appropriate must be understood. Fly pattern design is important with these techniques, as well; unique pattern types that perform best when presented on a “loose line” are highlighted at the end of the article to help you with proper fly selection.
Slack Line Fishing Scenarios
Recognizing situations where turbulence may be utilized to advantage or where current must be offset to eliminate unnatural drag is fundamental to slack-line fishing, as these methods are intended to overcome unusual, complex and otherwise frustrating angling scenarios. It is not for everyday fishing. Keeping your tip down and staying tight to a steadily-retrieved or swung fly is still sound practice – most of the time.
Chaotic surf is perhaps the most dramatic example of natural turbulence that game fish, including stripers and bluefish, routinely use to predatory advantage (but bonefish will work low-energy shoreline surf, as well). Rolling waves, receding wash, lateral shoreline currents, and wind-chop combine to produce mixed-up water movement. Baitfish struggle in these conditions. Here, a presentation with some slack introduced – and maintained throughout the retrieve – allows your fly to jangle about and appear much more vulnerable in the turbulence than a pattern that’s retrieved powerfully in these conditions.
Game fish engaged in all-out shoreline blitzes create their own turbulence, even during calm surf conditions – in fact, it’s an inherent element of the high-energy blitz strategy. Blitz-feeding is chaotic – fish slashing from every direction blow bait schools apart, generating their own mixed-up water that enhances their predatory advantage. Rather than bringing your fly briskly through the savagery (and quickly right out of the action), a slow, tentative retrieve with a bit of slack rolled in enables your fly to linger in the maelstrom, bouncing about aimlessly for a longer period of time. Blitzing game fish are feeding hard – regardless the “cushion” of slack line, you’ll know when you’ve been hit.
Less energetic surface feeding, such as stripers slurping cinder worms or false albacore snatching scattered baitfish in calm waters, may be characterized as “low-energy” blitz-feeding. These are exciting, but often very challenging conditions. The very surface effects (swirls, boils, etc.) that are visually stimulating in these events also produce perfect opportunity for a slack line approach. The discrete bursts of surface turbulence left behind by one feeding fish often leave bait or worms momentarily vulnerable in a ring of confused water. An effective tactic here is to simply drop your fly right in a surface boil and let in hang there on a slightly loose line. Not with the expectation that the fish that just fed will spin around and eat there again, but rather that a second (or third) nearby fish will move in on vulnerable prey left behind.
There are other scenarios unrelated to turbulence that are also ideal for slack-line presentation. Successfully dead-drifting small shrimp and baitfish patterns through the upper water column, and effective crab and shrimp presentation along the bottom of current-laden flats demands that line and leader drag be minimized or eliminated to maintain a realistic presentation. When tiny prey are carried within currents, dead-drifting sparse patterns on floating or intermediate lines in the upper water column can be deadly. But they must drift unencumbered and drag-free, much the same as trout anglers run tiny nymphs in synch with prevailing stream currents. Many flats we fish seem devoid of water movement, but they’re not; as long as the tide is moving or the wind is blowing there is current. Bottom-dwelling shrimp and crabs neither hold nor advance into moving water – they cling, glide down-current, or perhaps slowly scuttle across it. Game fish, such as bonefish, permit, tarpon and striped bass are acutely sensitive to subtle prey movements . . . drag causes bottom-working flies to appear unnatural and must be managed to fool the fish in these conditions.
Techniques
Slack may be incorporated into your presentation with a variety of methods. Special casts and basic line mending are the most commonly used techniques, but simply stepping forward after the cast is made or reaching out into the presentation by extending your arms, or merely maintaining a high rod tip that allows a foot or two of loose line to hang down to the water’s surface are simple means of introducing manageable slack. Ironically, novice fly fishers often unwittingly incorporate slack into their presentations with unintended sloppy casting or by inadvertently not maintaining a low rod tip. Both “errors” regularly earn rookies fine catches while more experienced anglers fishing nearby mysteriously go fishless . . .
Special Casts –
Slack may be rolled into your presentation right off the bat with technical casts, such as the pile and reach casts. Under-powering the forward cast and dropping the rod tip suddenly to the water before the loop has completely unfurled causes the cast to stop short, allowing the fly, leader a few feet of fly line to collapse and land in a slack-laden pile. Also known as the “dump cast”, this presentation lands the fly with plenty of margin to drift unencumbered and wriggle about on its own – perfect for fishing high-energy blitzes. And it’s ideal for inserting a fly up-current, ahead of holding fish to create an effective down-current dead-drift presentation of lightweight patterns to fish holding and sipping small prey that are carried to them by the tide.
The reach cast is effective for dead-drifting patterns to holding fish when presenting across the current. Here, the fly is directed to the water ahead of holding fish, but the rod is swept down and to the up-current side (right or left) as the cast is landing, rather than pointing it directly at the target. The leader and fly are allowed to freely drift with the current by sweeping the rod progressively down-current in harmony with the flow. A delicate tap or sudden stoppage in the fly line’s down-current drift indicates a strike.
Mending –
Mending your cast effectively introduces slack when fishing agitated surf. Rolling a quick mend to left or right after the initial cast is made creates a belly of slack that allows the fly to freely move about within the turbulence, appearing tantalizing and easy to capture. A slow and patient retrieve with periodic re-mending to maintain a loose connection to the fly are all that are needed to maintain natural-looking presentation. When a fish strikes, the aggressive water movement grabs the line and immediately brings everything “tight” . . . you’ll know when you’ve had a take. Floating lines are best for this technique – they’re easy to see (helps with line management and detecting strikes), easy to pick-up for re-casting and they’re carried well by the current, allowing the fly to swim unencumbered to where the water wants to take it, looking very natural in the process.
Repositioning –
Anglers seldom consider utilizing slack when sight-casting on the flats, but it’s an effective technique that enhances presentation of weighted crabs, shrimp and other bottom-working imitations. As mentioned earlier, small bottom prey never advance nor swing within currents – they move gently with them or scuttle slowly across. By stepping forward or reaching out toward a well-positioned fly after the cast has been made, a little “dip” of slack line is introduced. The fly will still respond to stripping, twitching and nudging, but these movements are now tempered, drag is eliminated and the fly has the mobility to shift and glide with ambient water movement, enabling ultra-natural fly “micro-movement”. This is a subtle element of flats fishing. Slight freedom of movement may seem trivial, but game fish are hyper-tuned into very subtle prey movement . . . and your pattern’s “micro-drag”. A similar result is achieved by simply holding the rod tip up a foot or two (or perhaps angling it a foot or two to either side) as you retrieve, rather than keeping it low and directed right at the fly.
High-Sticking –
Though unorthodox, holding the rod parallel to the water when boat-fishing or at a slight upward angle while wading maintains a very high rod tip (a few feet above the water, as when spin-fishing) and introduces a significant “belly” of slack into your presentation. I refer to this method as “high-sticking”. It’s ideal for game fish that are casually picking off slow-moving prey that are spread out and wallowing on the surface. The big cushion of slack really tempers the retrieve like a shock absorber to ensure a slow, enticing presentation. Oftentimes, game fish gently sip or slurp their prey while low-energy surface feeding. Slowing the retrieve helps, but fish in these conditions are not smashing their prey,they’re attempting to just inhale it (stripers and tarpon are notorious).Though flies retrieved excruciatingly slowly may be irresistible to the fish, but a tight line simply prohibits the fly from being “vacuumed” into the fish’s mouth, as the naturals are. A bump or tug is all that’s felt, but nothing more. Worm spawning events (worm hatches – cinder, palolo, etc.) are ideally suited for this approach; floating lines are best for obvious reasons. Dropping your fly immediately in a remnant boil left by one feeding fish often fools a second fish that’s right behind looking to pounce on missed prey whirling about in the turbulence.
Ideal Flies for Slack Line Presentation
Thoughtful fly selection is important when employing slack-line techniques. Though many patterns may suit a given situation as far as prey imitation goes, the best flies for this style of fishing are designed to breathe, undulate or otherwise come to life on their own under the influence of natural turbulence, or while paused on the bottom or immersed in a drag-free-drift.
Pliable, soft fiber materials (long soft feathers, fine synthetic fibers, minimal use of glues and other stiffening agents, etc.) produce flies with lots of inherent movement that are preferred slack-line designs. Stiff, action-less patterns may produce well when swung quickly through fast currents or when briskly stripped through the water column, but they’re not recommended for slack-line fishing. The following patterns exemplify these design concepts and are mentioned merely to help you better understand effective pattern types.
When surf-fishing or working a blitz, I recommend “slinky” patterns, such as Ken Abrames’ Flatwings (the Razzle Dazzle, for example. Joe Cordeiro is a top Flatwing tyer today), or Lefty’s Deceivers constructed with soft, fluffy materials, such as Schlappen or rabbit strips, rather than stiff saddles. Synthetic flies, which are highly effective with all tuna species, tied with long, fine fibers (Super Hair, for example) that enhance movement when fished with a slow, slack-line retrieve usually out-perform rigid, heavily-glued baitfish sculptures constructed with stiff materials. The same principles apply to flats flies; soft designs that breathe life of their own – even while paused on the bottom or barely nudged with the current – generally out-produce stiff patterns when utilizing a slack-line approach. Soft-fiber crab patterns, such as the Diablo Crab and Skok’s Blind Crab are examples, but most weighted, bottom-working patterns constructed with rabbit fur will perform well with slack line presentations.