Losing hooked fish

[burnie]

I lost another Salmon on thursday,whilst fishing for sea-trout in the gloaming,tiny fly held for a few minutes but then it came unstuck and I was giving it some stick to keep it out of the sea-trout pool,failed on both counts.

[Inchlaggan]

Lots of wise words here but I doubt there is a perfect "system" for every situation.
Some thoughts, but no solutions!
Loose line at your feet (or in the water) makes for easier casting, as you do not have to draw the line from the reel (against the drag) on each false cast.
Generally, we require a false cast, and cast more frequently than we catch.
So, line at your feet is a good idea, just don't stand on it.
When a fish takes the flee, the lift or strike will be "by hand" rather than "by reel". With the line firmly trapped by the forefinger, it is the rod that sets the flee.
Now what?
Yards of line at your feet, even to begin to play the fish off the reel, you are going to have to recover this situation. That means doing two things at once -at the height of the excitment of the hook-up and at a crucial point in the landing process.
Effectively you will be single-handedly playing the fish by rod and finger, whilst reeling in line with the other hand, watching rod bend, fish, water and the tangles at your feet, all at the same time. It can be done, but it takes practice and a cool head.
When not being stupid (i.e. 3% of the time) I play the fish by hand until convinced that I am sufficiently in control (hook set and solid, fish in clear water etc.) before recovering the line onto the reel.
And then play by hand or reel as the situation requires.
As an undoubted expert in RAD,  and IC&R (Instantaneous Catch and Release), this advice is useless to anyone who actually wants to land a fish.