i polefish (30' pole) with beadhead chiro's on the line....has produced some rather large trout...........

A quick question on retrieves:

When doing the pain stakingly slow hand twist retrieve while working a chironomid pattern on a floating line and long leader(indicator or not), are you:

a) imitating the slow accent of the pupa to the surface?
b) covering an area at the same depth but moving the chironomid slowly towards you so not to spook fish?

I can kinda see a non-weighted pattern SLOWLY sinking to the right depth then rising to the surface with the retrieve because the retrieve is faster than the sink rate(if this is the case).  With a weighted pattern I don't see the pattern rising since the sink rate of a bead head would pretty much keep it at that depth, (unless you're working a full sink line vertically)  thus keeping the fly at the same depth but just moving horizontally in the water column. I've also tried the retrieve then wait technique where you'd make the fly rise, or move horizontally/diagonally then wait for the fly to sink or stop moving sideways. I've never really questioned the various techniques available but was just curious as to what my fly was doing in the water.

Thanks in advance!

Tak

P.S. my favorite technique is w/o an indicator with a bead headed pattern as its so fun "feeling" the take!

Quote

While doing the hand twist retrieve on a floating line with a long leader and no strike indicator...

Question: Would you not dramatically reduce yoru "feel" for the strike having a floating line.   It seems to me a straight path to the fly can be much easier achieved with a wet line.

thanks Trout Slayer! certainly clarifies things.

I've had trout violently strike, gently sip, and simply inhale chironomids.  With a hand twist retrieve you are pretty much constantly removing slack from the line and thus feel even the slightest of takes.  And when it comes to presentation, after a long hard internal battle I have come to terms with the fact that slower IS better(retrieves).  A hand twist retrieve can keep you busy and allow you to accurately change the speed at which your fly is travelling, but since most spinning reels have some very nice ratios to them, a slow retrieve can be quite difficult.
I tried a hand twist in a filled bathroom sink once with a nymph and watched in horror as I saw how FAST I was retrieving!!  As I've seen naturals accend to the surface or swim towards shore before, I slowed my retrieve next outting and it changed things dramatically.
I also frequent a lake where entry into the lake is forbidden. Casting out with an indicator allows me to fish a certain depth but not be physically right on top of where my fly is.

But can it also be done with a spinning outfit? Certainly! You could work a vertical presentation from a float tube or boat but slllllllowly raising your rod tip out of the water and reeling in that raised line while lowering your tip again (kinda gives you a visual as to how fast you're retrieving).  Or if you're super diligent, sllllllowly reel in the line at the speed of a natural.  With a float/indicator presentation, you'd be limited as to how deep you could present your fly as casting will become quite difficult after the leader length from float exeeds rod tip to water clearance.  But you could definitely toss it out there, and just reel in the slack line and wait for the float/bobber to dive.  I dunno if that helps you at all FlyNut LOL

I've read before that you should set the hook with the fly line using the mending hand as opposed to striking with the rod. This allows you to keep the fly in generally the same location in the case that the fish is "slapping" your fly with say, its tail.  I may be confused with dry fly fishing however, because I know fish at times with attempt to "drown" an insect before attacking a second time.  

Anyways, to get kinda off-topic,  I've had to cut off flies due to deep hooking using chironomids.  I feel this may be when the fish are inhaling their food as opposed to sipping selectively.  Or am I simply missing the lighter initial take and setting the hook too late?  I've read that when releasing a fish that is deep hooked it will survive better if the hook is left and the line cut, so that the hook will either natually slip out or rust out, as opposed to goin in for open mouth surgery with forceps and forcefully removing the fly.  
I leave the fly in the mouth and release the fish in hopes that the fish will grow to become much larger and wiser and more fun to catch another day.  Comments?