Initial Contact: Effect of Leader and Cast

[Alain Barthelemy]

This is especially important in faster water with smaller fish; the same fish that are hard to keep hooked.  I believe many of the small fish we lose due to poor hookups, we lose due to imperfect contact early in the drift.  I tried it purposely today, on a pod of bluegills in a local river.  I purposely "pile" cast and watched the leader for a strike.  With a pile cast, it was very hard to detect, early in the drift.  I then switched to a better straight cast and saw the leader move right away.  The fish were hitting within one second of the splash.

When the leader is piled up, movement of the fly is unlikely to register further up the leader.  This results in poor strike detection and lousy hookups.

Consider this aspect if you are losing lots of small fish.  Hope this helps you.