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What is the "soft loop"?

2K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  peter-s-c 
#1 ·
Peter-s-c,

What is the "soft loop and lift" you referred to in the prior thread?

Thanks,

CK
 
#2 ·
Instead of holding a tight line, you leave 12" to 18" of line hanging between the reel and your top hand. You hold the line very lightly so if a fish hits, he pulls the line out of your fingers. As the line tightens up against the reel, you lift the rod nice and smoothly and you don't clamp down on the line with your top hand. The fish not only can draw the line out of your fingers but it also can pull line against the drag. It allows the fish to make the turn and set the hook in the scissors. Done right, you end up with a nice, solid hookup.
 
#4 ·
Ya, it's an Atlantic salmon technique. I thought about trying a soft loop when I had all sorts of difficulty keeping fish on at Penns Creek this year, when swinging wets and streamers. When I asked around, I found out that it's an old technique that the East coast lads have used for years. I'm not sure if I heard some one else term it a "soft loop" or it's something I called it to describe the very light grip on the line.
 
#6 ·
Fred - still problems though

Last weekend, I fished for browns on the Grand, swinging wets on the end of about 60' to 70' of line. I was using my new trout Delta and spey casting with a single hander. Even though I used the lightest grip I could get away with, the fish couldn't pull the loop out on the take at the end of all that line. I must've missed 15 fish or so in the space of three hours -- not a single decent hookup in the bunch. I'm starting to be of the opinion that long, swung lines and smallish fish don't mix.
 
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