Fly line mending techniques

To effectively repair your fly streak, you need to throw a certain part of your fly upstream. Mending a fly streak is not easy, it is hard to have the fly streak move up and down the river and that is why most beginners end up dragging their flies underwater when mending. To avoid this, lift off the section of the fly streak that you are interested in mending off the water, leaving the un-mended part of your fly streak on the water. Here are five keys to good fly streak mending:

1. The first technique is mending as soon as the fly drops down before the streak bonds with the water’s surface. By doing so, you will avoid pulling your fly under the water.
2. Mend with your bar tip near the surface of the water. With this technique, your slack will be aided to hang from the bar tip thus enabling movement of the slack and not the streak on the water. Ensure that you pick the slack before you mend.
3. Keep the hinging point. Hinging point is the point where the mended streak meets the un-mended streak. The hinging point should occur at the seam between the different speed currents. Be cautious since if you mend too much streak you can mistakenly pull your fly out of the trout’s feeding lane.
4. Another technique is to lift your bar tip high over your head. With this technique, you have an opportunity to pick up more lines thus avoiding pulling the streak across the water.
5. Lastly, mend with expertise. A poor mend will not move enough lines. Lack of expertise will make you over-mend for the first few times mistakenly throwing your fly upstream with the streak. With some training, you get to learn how much energy is essential to move the streak want to move without unsettling the fly.

As you fish constantly watch the fly and streak position. As the fish’s relationship to the streak changes, correct the streak by mending it in the appropriate direction. Optimally, the mending goal is to keep the streak, leader, and fly in a straight line. Mend out the cast and retain the straight alignment.