Mending

The dictionary states that to mend is to fix or correct. In fly fishing mending is necessary to fix a cast or correct a drift. Mending can also be a fun way to trigger strikes, and move a fly in magical ways never seen before by man or fish.

            Imagine throwing a figure eight into your retrieve halfway back to the boat. Try swimming a jig down a boat dock, pause it, and then swim it right back in the other direction. Have you ever tried twitching a rapala in a circular motion while it slowly descends in the water column? I have done all this and more with a fly rod.

            When you cast a lure with conventional tackle the lure has weight and carries the line with it. Then you are restricted to retrieving that lure straight back to the rod tip. When I cast a fly rod the line has weight and the line carries a near weightless fly with it. Since my line has the weight I can then cast, or MEND my line in a different direction. My fly will then travel on the path of my mended line instead of straight back to the rod tip. It would be like casting a spinner bait one direction, then attaching a weight to your line and casting it in a different direction. The spinner will then travel towards the weight instead of straight back to the rod tip “Witch somebody should experiment with.” Let’s talk about how mending can be put to use.

            When using a trolling motor, drifting, or fishing current, mending is important to achieve depth. Most fishermen know the larger the diameter of line the slower the sink rate will be. Fly line has a huge diameter, and flies are nearly weightless. A slow fall is deadly, but in a moving boat or when fishing current your fly may never be reaching the strike zone. Tension, caused by moving water on that thick fly line, constantly lifts our fly. I can relieve that tension by mending fly line in the direction of the moving boat, or up stream of the moving current. Thus allowing a fly to reach its desired depth. 

            Mending can be used to achieve depth; it can also be an awesome triggering tool. After making a cast I’ll start stripping my fly back on a straight retrieve. At any point I can mend my line right or left. I’ll give a couple of quick strips and make the fly dart off in that direction. Imagine being able to throw a figure eight into your retrieve half way back to the boat on a musky follow. I can then continue mending in a figure eight all the way back to the boat. Setting up on the right drift you only have to cast once every twenty minuets. Just keep mending line in different directions. The erratic action drives fish crazy.

            Experiment with mending and make it fun. I don’t think I can pull a rabbit out of a hat, but I can pull bass from out of a dock. Cast a fly to the left side of a dock, or any structure. Immediately throw a huge right mend and retrieve your fly sideways paralleling the dock. Once reaching the end mend back to the left, and retrieve your fly back the opposite way. I can run a fly across a boat dock two, three, ten times on a single cast. If that doesn’t work try letting your fly sink while mending it into small circles. I bet you’ll get bit before it reaches bottom.

            Fly fishing can be easy at times and near impossible at others.  Mending to achieve depth or trigger strikes may help when times are tough. Mending can also be fun, making a fly move in ways conventional tackle cannot.

I was fishing a shallow point loaded with vegetation. I had to keep my rod high and my fly on the surface to keep from catching weeds. I started mending right then left in a sort of “walking the dog” motion. My fly looked like a small rodent not knowing witch way to go. I don’t know how a fish can launch himself three feet out of the water when he was only in a foot of it, but a northern pike did. Fish on!