I've got a question to ask the list. Since I normally fish water which holds a decent abundance of fish but very few large ones, I've gotten into the habit of retrieving line by hand when bringing in a fish. Having spent so many years fishing with spinning and baitcasting reels prior to picking up on fly fishing, I don't really see any sort of mechanical advantage in the use of a fly reel (at least not the lower-quality reel I've got on my rod) since the drag is all but non-existant. Therefore, my reel is more or less just a place to store my line when I'm not using it.
I'd like to get an idea of what the generally used method is. If I've got 15 or 20 feet of line laying in the water in front of me, do I really have the time to take up all that slack on a reel with no mechanical advantage (i.e. no improved gear ratios to speed the uptake)? Generally speaking, I also fish the lightest tippet I have available - normally 7x or 8x. I've never had a fish break off (although once or twice the fly has come untied, but that problem is on me). Anyhow, whats the verdict? When a fish can be landed just as easily by retrieving line by hand, do you all pull it in or reel it in? Thanks for any comments! John
