How to Strip Fly-Fishing Line

Stripping line in fly-fishing is crucial to bringing in your fish. In order to be able to strip line, you have to shoot some line out. This can be practiced on land until you get the hang of it. Generally, stripping line is used to bring in smaller fish - larger fish are played off the reel.

Things You'll Need

• Fly-fishing Wading Jackets
• Backing/fly-fishing
• Fishing Fly Box
• Fishing Fly Kit
• Fly-fishing Flies
• Fly-fishing Leaders
• Fly-fishing Lines
• Fly-fishing Nets
• Fly-fishing Reels
• Fly-fishing Rods
• Fly-fishing Vests
• Waders

Instructions

1. 

   Lay 25 to 30 feet of line on the ground in front of you.

2. 

   Strip (pull) 8 to 10 feet of line off the reel with the line hand (the hand not holding the rod) and pile it on the ground next to you.

3. Make a few false casts to get the line moving back and forth.

4. 

   Pinch the line between the reel and the stripping guide, between your finger and the grip, with your line hand.

5. 

   Make a forward cast and un-pinch the line with your line hand at the same time, lowering the rod and following through on the cast to the one o'clock position. Be careful not to drop the line with your line hand - just let the excess line thread through your fingers. This should have allowed the 8 to 10 feet of line you stripped initially to go through the rod and out in front of you. This is how you shoot line in fly-fishing.

6. 

   To strip line, use the index finger on your rod hand - the stripping finger - to bring in, or strip, all of the line you just shot. Feed the fly line to this stripping finger and pull the line through in foot-long increments. You should be stripping the line you just shot, not stripping more line from the reel. While stripping line, you can either let it fall to the ground or coil it with your line hand.

Tips & Warnings

• You can purchase a stripping basket to wear on your waist and coil the line into it.