The beginning fly fisher will undoubtedly face a multitude of challenges when it comes to hitting the surf or jetty for the first time. A pounding surf, wind in your face, and ominous rock piles are but a few of the obstacles that add to the complications that the fly fisher needs to be aware of.

For the most part and rightly so, your greatest challenge will be casting a line so that you can catch fish. But once this is accomplished what comes next?

As a guide I have noticed that many beginners will fail to be cognizant of what their line is doing immediately after the cast. This is that brief transition time; as you position your rod and hands, in order to begin stripping. After the cast most beginners immediately focus their thoughts on stripping to catch a fish. It is however during this transition time that your line can become hopelessly entangled in the jetty rocks or swept away by encroaching or receding waves.
There is a mental process or checklist that the beginner should go through immediately after the cast to mange their line properly that will prevent mishaps from happening. There are also different conditions that will produce different outcomes as to what is going to happen to your line when the cast is done.

An awareness of these particular conditions is necessary and are usually learned with experience. But for many this awareness comes only after a line is lost and the damage is done. Let’s address these situations so as to shorten your learning curve and to avoid a lot of frustration that can come after the cast.

Problem One
The first major problem after the cast that the fly fisher must be cognizant of is losing line from your basket. This is especially important when you are fishing from a jetty. A lost line for a budget conscious fly fisher will immediately put you in a hole even before any fish has put a bend in your rod.
If you are wading in the surf this problem of losing line from your basket doesn’t carry the same monetary consequences but can still be a constant headache. Because of the lack of structure that is present to catch the line you don’t have to worry about losing it. But it will undoubtedly wrap around your legs or ankles as the incoming waves sweep it away. This will prevent you from effectively shooting your next cast.

Cause One
The wind is a nemesis that we all have to face when it comes to casting but it can also wreak havoc after your cast in done. As you begin to strip a head-on or crossing wind can push your line over the outside of the basket and drop it to the rocks, water, or sand below. Once your line is hanging out of the basket each successive strip that goes into the basket will be pulled out by the weight of the line that is hanging down from the basket. By the time you realize what is happening a good amount of line will already be in the rocks or in the water.

The Solution
To prevent the wind from blowing the line out of the basket you will need to make sure that your first couple of coils are laying flat in the bottom of the basket around the basket inserts. To ensure that this will happen allow your hand to touch the bottom of the basket on your first series of strips rather than just letting go of the line from several inches above the basket bottom.

Changing to a wider and deeper basket will also aid in preventing the wind from blowing the line out. And as simple as it may sound, your best preventative measure is to take a look to see that the line is in your basket and not failing out.
When crossing winds are strictly the cause for line drop you can also move your stripping basket so that it is slightly to the downwind side of your body. This will allow your body to act as a natural barrier or shield that the wind will have to diffract around. As a result the airflow around your basket will be minimized. If you are use to stripping line directly in front of you and don’t like the feel of going to the side than you can look to reposition your entire body to block the wind as an alternative.

Cause Two
A second cause that will pull line out of your basket after the cast are oncoming waves. Even if there is no wind oncoming waves can still be present as wave energy reaches the shoreline or jetty rocks from prior offshore wind events. Oncoming waves will wreak havoc mainly for the jetty angler that has their eyes focused on only the part of their line that is in the water out in front of them.
From a jetty your height above the water’s surface will be a factor in producing a belly in your line that extends from your rod tip to the water. The higher up you are the more line belly there will be. You should also notice that as you lower your rod from the final casting position to your stripping position your line will drop straight down. It is during this repositioning time that one wave is all it will take to sweep your line back into the rocks. This is particularly true on rough days when waves and whitewater keep rolling in.

The Solution
In this case your solution rests in part in being cognizant of what this section of line is doing as you prepare to strip. It will take slightly more time in seconds to position your reel under and just behind your armpit for a two handed strip than it does to begin a singe hand retrieve.
In both cases however hand speed in maneuvering your rod into position to strip, along with developing good hand and eye coordination to find your line, are important. It is also important in situations like these to quickly come tight to your fly. This will remove any slack or belly from your line and give you more line control. It will also eliminate any chance of line being pulled out of your basket by sweeping waves.

Other solutions
Another technique that you will need to learn from a jetty is the ability to time incoming waves or pushes of whitewater as they move passed you. Once this is learned you will be able to throw a cast so that it lands on the backside of a wave and not in front of it. Additionally you can also throw a mend in your line over that first oncoming wave. Your mend should lift and place your line on the backside of the wave. Both of these techniques will give you additional time to pick up your slack and to get ready to strip.

Problem Two
The belly of your line that extends out beyond your rod tip poses an additional problem for the jetty jock when fishing quick sinking lines. In this case the problem arises in the additional wait time that is needed for your line to sink to the depth that you are trying to achieve. Water hitting the belly of the line at this point will pull your line back or keep it from sinking to where you want it to be.

The Solution
To manage your line in this case you will want to hold your rod tip high immediately following your cast. This will keep your line up off of the water and eliminate any drag that may result from an oncoming wave. As your line is sinking begin to slowly lower your rod tip while extending your arm slightly outward. This will allow more line to be taken below the surface. If a current is moving your line you will need to feed line from your reel at this point while holding your rod tip out.

Problem Three
Finally if your line does drop from your basket after the cast and gets caught in the rocks don’t try to retrieve it by pulling from the back of your line that is near the reel. Pulling on this end of the hanging loop will just burying your line more deeply in the rocks. It will also pull your line across any mussels or barnacles that may be present. These will act like tiny little razors and fray the line.

The Solution
Rather if safety permits try to grab the front part of the line loop that is just below the first stripping guide. Try to position yourself over where the line is caught and pull upwards on the line as you work it back towards you. This method will pull the line over the rocks rather than through them.
It always brings me great joy to see a beginner lay out a line and hook into and land a nice fish. It brings with it a sense of accomplishment, success, and self-sufficiency that is personally rewarding for my client and myself. But to see a beginner attain an awareness of those little, often overlooked, line management factors only adds to this satisfaction, as this awareness graduates you to the next level.

Editor’s Note: Jim Freda is author of “Fishing the New Jersey Coast” and co-owns and operates Shore Catch Guide Service (www.shorecatch.com) in Manasquan, New Jersey. 732-528-1861