It's About the "Arc," Not the Reel

Fly Talk’s Kirk Deeter has been fly fishing for stripers in Maine this week and learning how to forget a bad habit — namely struggling to get a fast-moving fish on the reel as soon as possible. Instead, he points out that keeping a nice arc in the rod should be the focus, and delivers some sound advice from guide Peter Fallon: “‘Any fish that deserves to be fought on a reel will eventually find its way to the reel anyway.’ True enough. Any fish that pulls hard enough to show you the benefit of a disc drag reel is going to take care of that slack issue for you…”