Fly Retrieves

[Aussie Bob]

I finally got round to getting a fly outfit recently. I have been practising casting (on water) and feel I am able to handle 12-15m casts sufficiently well to actually start thinking about fishing now. I have got a selection of flies mainly wets , nymphs , mudeye's (floating and sinking)and woolly buggers.
My question really is I am not sure really on what sort of retrieve I should use ?, I have read about figure of eight e.t.c but I am looking for advise to what sort of speed you would retrieve , should I be looking for short 2-3 inches of retrieves ,little twitches , longer strips of line ? or just vary it all the time ?
I have a feeling I am probably being too fast at the moment. is there any sort of guideline for different fly types ? Any advice would really help at the moment.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Hello bob,

It is a difficult subject to cover in just a few lines on a thread, as there really is no hard and fast rule.

So, take a look at this from our sister site:

Fish & Fly - 09/01 - The retrieve

It covers different typesa of retrieve for both stillwaters and rivers and even goes into the de[pths of "induced takes"

Good luck

 

[keora]

Mainly I use a figure of eight retrieve when lake fishing. The retrieve rate might be a few inches a second for small flies, and a bit faster for bigger flies and lures.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkOuKkDNF9o

If I'm fishing a lure, instead of a figure of eight, I will often pull the lure back a foot, pause a second, repeat.

If I'm fishing with a muddler minnow on the surface, I'll give the lure a quick pull of 2ft so that it makes a disturbance in the water, pause repeat. This routine is best use when there's a strong breeze and choppy waves on the surface.

You can try the roly poly method, which can give a very fast retrieve.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuLallUdnKE

There is a retrieve where the fly is moved with short twitches of a few inches, but I've never had much success with this technique.

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

Like a lot of things with fishing - what works one day wont the next

 

[rubio]

Like a lot of things with fishing - what works one day wont the next

Can you also explain how come I seem to go on the 'won't' days?

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

Can you also explain how come I seem to go on the 'won't' days?

you are fishing the same days as me

 

[Aussie Bob]

Thanks to everyone's help I will ...weather permitting try some these this weekend

 

[keora]

If you want actual retrieve rates, using a figure of eight retrieve and fishing with smallish flies I retrieve at about three or four inches per second.