Watch this short video for basic tips on stripping line- how and why.

One of the most important skills in fly fishing is stripping line. Think of it like this, for every cast you make, your line will have to be stripped back in, to some degree. It’s even more important when euro nymphing because stripping line is the key to a good dead drift while elevating line off the water’s surface. In euro nymphing good stripping skills removes the right amount of slack from rod tip to fly- essential to an effective ESN dead drift.

One key thing to note here is that stripping slack line from tip to fly doesn’t mean that your line goes tight. It means that most of the slack is removed. If all the slack is removed your line becomes tight which will drag your fly. A slight bow in the line allows your fly to dead drift naturally. This is the desired fly presentation when euro nymphing.