Adding movement to your wet fly swing: Lift it like Leisenring

Once you're through the main drag-free-drift area, it's never a bad idea to try to impart some motion in your flies. The Leisenring Lift is a great way to accomplish just that.

Adding movement to your wet fly swing: Lift it like Leisenring
You could find a few places to swing a wet fly here. Photo by Kadir Celep / Unsplash

A recent comment on fishing wet flies on one of Kirk Deeter's must-read 'Fly Fishing Jazz' columns (where he explores every ridiculous nuance of this chock-full-of-idiosyncrasies sport) mentions the practice of the Leisenring Lift.

The comment links to an old newsletter page from our pals at Front Range Anglers about the practice, originated by a notorious wet fly angler named Jim Leisenring.

It's a dynamite technique to try out when you're swinging wets, so I'm going to mirror it whole here rather than just an excerpt. (The page on Front Range looks like it might fall off the Internet at any time.)