The Importance of the Mend

If you ask just about any fly fishing guide the word he says more often than any other word, I would bet that 9 out of 10 would answer: MEND. This is because mending is not only one of the most overlooked skills in fly fishing, it is one of the most important. While a great cast can get your fly out there, that fly is all but useless unless it is getting a good drift. And the key to a good drift is mending your line.

Mending your line is simply the act of adjusting your fly line to reduce or eliminate the drag it is placing on your fly. Sometimes you want to mend your line upstream of your fly, sometimes downstream, sometimes half your line up and half down, and sometimes it even changes during the drift. I realize this sounds complicated, but allow me to explain and see if I can simplify the matter.

Let's take a typical guided trip on a western river. You are in a drift boat, out in the main current with your guide back rowing to slow your descent down the river. You are casting a large grasshopper pattern tight to the bank hoping a large trout comes out and chomps it. When your fly lands close to the bank, your line is out in the fast current of the river while your fly is sitting in the slower water along the bank.

Option 1. If you leave this situation as is, the current will quickly pull your line downstream, and as a result your fly will start to drag downstream and eventually away from the bank. Result: poor presentation and short time in the strike zone.

Option 2. As soon as you fly lands next to the bank, you pick your line up (leader included) and move it upstream of the fly. This will result in your line slowing down, your fly facing upsteam (like a natural bug struggling against the current), and your getting a drag free drift in the strike zone for a prolonged period of time.


Next situation. You are standing in water below a large riffle. The water is flowing over a shallow gravel bar, then after the drop off the water makes a large bend to the left. You are standing in the eddy on the inside of the bend. Therefore, as you cast up to the drop off your fly travels on a large sweeping arc to the left. As your fly lands in the fast water coming off the rocks, your leader and fly are in the fast water. Most of your fly line is in the eddy with you.

Option 1. If you leave the situation as is you will get a descent drift for a second or two, then the line sitting in the eddy will start to drag the fly left and hang it up on the eddy fence (the line between the moving water and the still water. Poor presentation and only effectively fished the top few feet of the run.

Option 2. As soon as your fly lands, mend your line downstream. This will allow you to get a drag free drift right from the top of the run, all the way through the bend and into the deeper slower water below. Result: Good presentation and lots of water fished per drift.


Both the above situations are fairly straight forward as are many situations you will fish in. Sometimes it is not as simple. Often there are various speeds of water between you and your fly. This will require you to read the water and make multiple mends within the same drift. This can get tricky, but if it were easy they call is spin fishing (I'm sure I'll get "feedback" on that comment).

Another important thing to remember while mending is to do it the moment your fly hits the water (I sometimes even do it while the fly is still in the air). The reason for this is that you want to mend the line before it gets sucked beneath the surface tension of the water. Once it settles beneath the surface tension, mending becomes a bit more difficult.

There are many different ways to mend. I often see fishermen try to flip or roll their line to mend it. While this can work in some situations, it often only mends the part of the line closest to you. It leaves the tip of the line and the leader unaffected. I often prefer what I call a box mend. This is a slow motion where you lift your rod way up (thereby lifting all the line out of the water), moving your rod and line upstream (or down), setting the line down, then pointing your rod tip back at the fly. It has the look of drawing a large box with the tip of your rod. This technique tends to mend all of your line and leader, and leave your fly facing upstream.

One question I get often is "is it OK if your fly moves while mending?" The answer is yes. I will typically cast a few feet upstream and a few inches beyond the desired drift area. When I mend my line I can move the fly into the desired strike zone and place it perfectly on the right line. I do this right away, so when it's done the fly is just coming into the desired area on a perfect drift with a perfect presentation.

All of this takes a lot of practice, but will pay huge dividends in your fishing. Keep playing with it, trying new things, and above all, get out there and fish.

Enjoy,

David Ellerstein
Jackson Hole Anglers