The Value of the Hand-twist & Figure Eight

There are a lot of ways to retrieve a fly and every retrieve has it place: a fast and erratic two-hand, a slow strip with pauses, full arm swing strips, the jerk-strip,  rod-tip lead... the list goes on and on. But one retrieve I use a lot and don't see as utilized as much by fly fishers in the northeast is the figure eight retrieve. It did not take me long after I started fishing still waters to figure out that a lot of fish were more likely to eat a fly retrieved at a continues pace with no substantial pauses, and though this can be achieved by lifting the rod at a steady pace when a short cast is made and by doing a slow rolling two hand retrieve on a long cast, but my choice retrieve when fish want a fly that never stops completely is the figure eight or hand twist. I rarely ever do a proper figure eight though, I just make a loop. With the line through a loose loop made by the pointer and thumb of my rod hand, I hold my hands close together, then pinch the line between the thumb and pointer finder, wrapping it around my pointer, then pull a loop into my palm with my other three digits. I then drop that loop while repeating the motion to make another. And over and over and over.... if that's hard to visualize, just try to do it anyway. If you can't figure it out, just keep trying... I did. I did until I found what worked for me and sometimes I did it for so long my hand would cramp severely from so much repetition. But I'm glad I figured it out because I've stood right next to other fly fisherman doing a different retrieve and caught fish consistently while they struggled to get any.

One scenario in which I'd be pretty much lost without this retrieve is early spring walleyes. The slow steady retrieve not only produces strikes but the constant contact with the fly makes it difficult to miss the extremely subtle bites. Often, all I feel is a vague sense of tension. I'll accelerate the retrieve then lift the rod and only then get a true sense of the fish's weight. These big predators eat tiny streamers with a subtlety akin to a brown trout eating an emerger.

To the point that these takes are subtle... walleye fights are all too frequently regarded as boring. That isn't typically my experience. The take does not match what follows. Do they hold up pound for pound compared to many other species? I have to say, some species, no, but you can't just skate them in on the surface either. They're big sweeping headshakes and short dogging runs never fail to get my heart pounding. So don't take what people who have only ever trolled walleyes say as gospel, they can indeed pull pretty hard.

Given their genetic closeness to walleye it shouldn't be surprising that yellow perch are duped by the hand-twist retrieve too. Actually, though in a different family entirely, it was white perch on which I perfected this methodology. And today, for my money, it remains the way to catch them. But I would be so lost without it fishing for trout in stillwaters, stripers feeding on small shrimp, crappies, bluegills, smallmouth... the list goes on for a while. This is a necessary tool in my arsenal and I infrequently see it utilized by other fly fishers in this part of the world. I never understood why.

Until next time,

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

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