In my capacity as a fly school instructor the one thing I find myself repeating the most to the students is rod tip positioning when fishing dry flies upstream. After I have made my cast, and my rod is at about ten o’clock I immediately lower it and point it at the fly. This does two things; one it helps you track your fly. Many times, beginners have a hard time seeing their fly on the water and by pointing the rod tip at it when it lands it helps them spot and follow the fly. The second thing it does is it gives you a greater strike arc. This means when you raise your rod tip to set the hook you are moving the fly much further than if your rod tip was at say 11 o’clock. This drives the hook in much harder and results in more positive hook sets. Often you hear the phrase” keep your rod tip up,” well this applies only when you are fighting the fish. Keeping your tip low and pointed at the water and following your fly will result in more positive hook sets and then you will be hearing “keep your tip up”.
