[gr8johnson]

What does it mean when they talk about fly line mending? I saw some lines that mended good. I assume this does not mean repairing them when they break.

Also this is the dumb one. What is tailwaters?

[Salmo Nella]

In a previous post, bigcliff talked about having your fly float naturally without being drug through the water by the fly line. "mending" the line involves re-positioning the fly line on the water (after the cast usually) in order to keep the line from putting drag on the fly so that it can float naturally for longer. There are lots of techniques for mending in different situations. Some lines are easier to mend than others because of their taper or how well they float. Mending is not easy to do well. Doug M. may be able to describe it in words but I will not even try.

Tailwaters refer to rivers that exit below dams. They typically have a different ecology than an open water river (undammed) in the same area.

Both good questions, by the way.
Keep em coming.

[dougm]

Salmo is right on! Both are good questions…

Mending is nothing more than a casting technique for the standard overhead forward cast that delays the belly of the line from overtaking the fly on a downstream drift. Simply follow this guide: once the fly has passed the rod tip and the rod has been stopped, you are free to simply lay the rod over to the upstream side. The fly will continue onwards to its target. Don’t forget the rule: where the rod tip stops, the fly will follow. With the belly now upstream of the fly, you will be drag free longer. Repeat the mend as necessary to prolong the drift.

At the end of the drift, allow the fly to swing down and across stream. Many times this is where the trout will take the fly.

Find yourself some water and practice this technique to develop your timing.

Doug

[BigCliff]

I knew this would come up soon but didn't mention it in the last post because I didn't want to bombard you with too much all at once.

Doug's explanation of mending is dead on and is the best way I know of to use mending to achieve a good drift, but you may have read some things that make mending sound like something altogether different. Many anglers wait until the fly line is already on the water before they start "throwing mends" into their line. These mends are also used to control the speed of the fly's drift, but all take place after the cast.

I think the type of mend Doug mentioned, which can also be called a "reach mend" or a "reach cast" is the easiest and most effective type of mend. I say this because once your line, leader, and fly are on the water, its very easy to move your fly while in the process of trying to get your line into a shape that will make your drift work better, thus totally defeating the purpose of mending to begin with. Having your line positioned for a good drift before it hits the water makes it easier to get a good drift, and usually also helps make mending easier and more effective once the line is on the water. (which basically consists of flipping line upstream with your rod tip)

Once you've got the reach mending/casting technique down, you are now inducted into the world of trick casts and all their wonders. Next you'll be asking about pile casts, bounce casts, tuck casts, and stack mends. I'm still working on getting stack mends down muhself.