Lake fishing - leashed or unleashed?

[stillreleasing]

Trying to up my lake game and am curious as to whether or not our people are using a rod leash. And if so, what are you using?

I fish out of a frameless pontoon and currently do not use a leash, but am only taking 1 rod.

 

[Triggw]

A few years ago my buddy flipped his pontoon boat on the Green (the Utah one), I rescued him and the boat. He had his rod tethered with a length of parachute cord and said he was thankful that it saved the rod. I thought he should have been thankful that he didn't become entangled in it and drown. Less of a problem on lakes, I suppose, but nonetheless.

 

[dirty dog]

I lost a rod once when I had left the fly in the water when I set my rod down to row up on the shore.
Yep, a big trout grabbed my fly, and the rod went right out the boat.
A leash would have saved the rod, but I see the leash as just one more thing to mess with.
I pack enough stuff around with me when I fish. I don't need a leash.
Lesson is don't leave yer fly in the water unless you get that rod in yer hand. Or anchored some how.

 

[Porter2]

It’s a bad day when you lose your 389 LL and Bauer MSL1. I haven’t had that bad day, at least not yet. I have done both with and without leash. Prefer without, but sometimes I still leash up depending what gear I’m using. It really doesn’t bother me, it’s loose and I manage to keep it out of the way most of the time. When it comes down to it I do not trust myself not to have that moment where I will put my gear in a compromising position, ( you know for a second or two, I mean what can really happen?) This is strictly for float tube fishing. I do not leash in pontoon or boat.

And always when float tubing remember to lash up your back rest on the chair, nothing worse than starting your 6am fishing day launching off and leaning back in to your chair and quickly staring straight up at the sky as a cold river runs down your backside…yep. Good fishing day but man that was an uncomfortable couple of hours. Wet ass fishing for sure.

 

[Salmo_g]

I generally don't use a leash because I set my rod down with the reel behind a thwart, and that has worked well. As a precautionary measure though, I made a leash that has a carabiner on one end. It makes the "on-off" action easy and fast. Yet I still don't use it very often. Maybe that's because I'd rather not troll. I do troll, or harl, a fly, but only when I'm moving from place to place on a lake.

 

[Engee]

Trying to up my lake game and am curious as to whether or not our people are using a rod leash. And if so, what are you using?

I fish out of a frameless pontoon and currently do not use a leash, but am only taking 1 rod.

The only time a leash might have been handy was when an angry Carp yanked my 8 weight out of my hand and headed for deep water in the Columbia. I instinctively dove headfirst into the river and luckily got the rod by the very end of the grip, and low and behold, I landed the Carp. Buzzy can attest to the story. I wish it was on video.

 

[Buzzy]

The only time a leash might have been handy was when an angry Carp yanked my 8 weight out of my hand and headed for deep water in the Columbia. I instinctively dove headfirst into the river and luckily got the rod by the very end of the grip, and low and behold, I landed the Carp. Buzzy can attest to the story. I wish it was on video.

That was really a funny thing to see: Engee waded up to his knees casting to a carp that smashed his fly and took off for Wanapum jerking the rod out of his hand. Without a second to think, he dove into the river to retrieve the rod (and fish). Totally funny, but who needs a leash on a rod when wet wading? Only Engee.

 

[Capt Insano Emeritis]

I tend to most enjoy lake fishing. Relaxing . Force fins - one rod in a few uboats over the course of ( wheever Bucks bags first showed up) and a couple other Fish Cats. Mylegs and Force fins are always busy and hands on my fly rod. Never really could see need for another thing in my tube pockets.