My Girlfriends First Fly-Fishing Experience

[thedude1534]

Took my girlfriend to Spring Creek this afternoon to try to get her stream-worthy. I went to that spillway section in the Paradise, thinking it would be a great place for a beginner to get used to casting, mending, etc. I started her off with a quick casting lesson in the grass, then tied on a beetle asn started casting for real.

After a few missed strikes on some little guys, she set one on the one that counted, a 17" Brown. As I found myself turning into a drill sargent ("Rod Up!" "Show 'em your butt!" "Strip in line!") we got it in the net, snaped a few pics on my phone and let him free. Talk about beginners luck!...But I'm sure shes just a natural, which bodes well for out future, haha.

I'll try to post a pic when I get it off my phone.....

 

[mattd]

Be careful though, If she's anything like my wife she will be outfishing you in a year. It's great to have a companion willing to try the things you love. Good luck to her and you in the future.

 

CONGRATS to the young lady!!
However............... I think above any and ALL of our "expressions" we so often use on the water, "Show 'em your butt!" SURELY must have made for an interesting "look" when you shouted it at her!?!
The very first time, I made this same mistake while teaching a young, female, student on the stream, she shot me "A LOOK" that melted two zingers on my vest, then she quite seriously told me............ "Show them YOURS, I'm busy with this fish!"

 

[Maurice]

At the risk of embarrassing myself....what does "show em your butt mean?" (Outside of the obvious anatomical reference)

Thanks

 

[JackM]

I join in your potential embarrassment. :-o

 

[fly_N_ice]

I don't know what that phrase means either, but get her off the beaten path as soon as possible.

I took my wife to an easy access-good for beginers spot and now it seems anything over 50 yds. is "too much of a hike."

Hank

 

[Padraic]

Maurice wrote:
At the risk of embarrassing myself....what does "show em your butt mean?" (Outside of the obvious anatomical reference)

Thanks

I have a mental image of this:

I hope I'm wrong. I've always considered that an example of how NOT to fight a fish (although it's a great way to bust a rod). I believe in side pressure, fighting the fish off the butt (which would mean pointing the tip at a about 3 o'clock away from the fish) and using side pressure to lead the fish into the current. Suffice to say, my rod is usually very low. I can't think of a fish I've lost when I fought it that way.

 

[Gone4Day]

Maurice wrote:
At the risk of embarrassing myself....what does "show em your butt mean?" (Outside of the obvious anatomical reference)

Thanks

I vaguely remember the phrase from my past spin-fishing days. The idea when playing a big fish was “let the rod do the work” with a 180º bend. Thus you would essentially be pointing the bottom section of the rod, or butt, at the fish. Its an OK technique for very large fish, but with a fly rod you'd launch the average PA brookie about 50 yards through the air. :-o

 

[thedude1534]

The way I was taught it meant to keep your rod tip pointed away from the fish, engaging the shock absorber and in essentially showing the butt of your rod to the fish. The rod doesn't have the elevated like in the orvis picture, it can be towards the side ("side pressure") or elevated, but I wouldn't recommend having your arms fully extended like in that orvis picture.

Granted I am not nearly as experienced as many of the posters on this board, so I'm not going to lecture anyone about the proper style to hold your rod when fighting a fish based on experience....because that would be disrespectful and arrogent of me.

However........As an astrodynamicist, I have an extensive backround in mechanical physics. I can mathematically prove that you counterintuitively place less tension in the line by "showing your butt" and engaging your shock absorber than by keeping your rodtip down. Thats not to say that it is the end-all be-all way to play a fish (and a bigger fish as that, its not necessary with brookies or many sub 12" fish), but you can't argue with the laws of physics.

Here's an experiment you can do to see my point.

1) have someone hold a fly several feet away from you
2) hold your rod up, so that the rodtip is pointing directly at the other person holding the fly, and pull the line flat (but not tight yet)
3) Holding the line in place with your trigger finger, pull the rod tip up, increasing the tension in the line, till your partner is saying its getting harder to hold onto the fly
4) try the same test, but have the rod at a starting position of about 12 o'clock, and pull the rodtip back, attempting to show your partner the butt of your rod.

In the second test, the shock absorber will be engaged, and you will be surprised how much more you can lean back (actually put some decent weight behind it) on the rod until your parner thinks its getting hard to hold on.

This is because the shock absorber takes tension off of the line. A fish can pull with a certain force, say, 5 lbs. If you fight the fish without engaging the shock absorber, you are placing 5 lbs of tension in the line. If you engage the shock absorber, it will "absorb" some of that tension (its actually dissipating energy, not absorbing tension, but I think the term absorbing tension is easier to understand in this case), so that you maybe have 2 bs of tension in the line, while that other 3 pounds is distributed throughout the rod.

 

[Padraic]

I'm sure you do put more pressure on the fish by "showing the butt". However, you also lose the rod's ability to absorb a sudden surge or head shake that might pop the hook out or a knot. (or snapping the rod)

The trick is to use the butt to apply the "5lbs" of pressure without engaging the tip. That's why I try to fight a big fish off the butt. I'm told that's the way salt water fly anglers fight those big fish like striper and tuna. So, I figure they know what they are talking about.

Anyway, this is getting pretty far afield from the original post. Which was a fun story. I hope you both have a ton of fun fishing together!

 

[thedude1534]

"showing your butt" is all about positioning of the rod, not actually taking an already tense line, then pulling back on it, which is what I think a lot of people are imagining. Yes, that will place more tension in the line, but thats not what "showing your butt" is. It's more like putting the rod in that position right when you've set the hook. Words don't do well to describe it, visualizations would be helpful here.

Also, you are almost never actually pointing your butt directly at the fish. Its just an expression, your not keeping the rodtip back to that extreme. In reality, its more like "show your butt to the ground" or maybe a little bit more...

I understand that a lot of people will not believe me when I talk about it, because its very counterintuitive. Try the experiment I described above and see which rod position places more tension on the line.........

 

[rckrego]

I think that if we all turn to the appropriate pages in "Presentation" by Gary Borger, we will find that experiment recounted. Also, I think if we all read those pages we will find that infact both sides are describing the same method of fighting the fish. If I had presentation next to me (I do not since I'm at work) I'd give the pages to you. But, I'm sure we all have a copy of the bible and can find it quite quickly.

 

[jaybo41]

Sounds like you two had a great time. Good luck to you both and here's to more fishing!

 

[plumbob]

Yep I hope she likes it enough to keep at it, it'll make figuring out where to go on the weekends a lot easyer.