Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[DanJohn]

Got my Rod and Reel on Friday, went and got her all spooled up, picked up some oil and grease, a few flys, and off I went! Practicing casting on my front lawn. Only got one comment from a passerby (Any luck? Hurr durr durr!) and then I hit the Fraser in Delta just to get my line wet, and see what I could do. I think I am worrying about distance too much. I find myself false casting 10+ casts before I drop the fly, and instead I need to focus on getting the line down softly, and evenly. Getting better at keeping loops tight. I think tomorrow I might hit Green Timbers. With the path around there being so close to shore, will be good to force me to practice the roll cast. I guess Im on my way to a never ending battle of knowledge, form, and fish! I have to say though, the couple hours I was on the Fraser, with zero expectation of fish, was almost as fun as my best day gear fishing. ALMOST!

[Tex]

Congrats on picking up your first combo!  Welcome to the addiction!  lol

One of the biggest mistake ANY fly fisher makes when casting is to make too many false casts.  It gets easier as you get more practice, but really focus on picking up the line, making no more than 3 false casts, and then laying the line down.  Don't worry about "one more false cast for that extra 10 feet", it usually only buggers up the cast.

Some tips:
Keep the rod high throughout the cast - this will keep your cast tight and your line off the ground.
Keep your elbow relatively tight to your body (ie. don't flail your whole arm around) - this will keep the cast tight and tire you out less.
When casting forward, accelerate forward with the rod, then stop sharply - this is the WHOLE BASIS of the casting stroke, as I see it.
When casting backwards, do the same, and actually turn your head over your casting shoulder and WATCH the line straighten out.  You'll learn a lot about your cast this way.
Don't rush the cast... on your backcast, watch the line straighten out, and FEEL for the rod to gently pull back before you start going forward.  This will eliminate "cracking the whip" to a degree.

Pick one or two of these a day to focus on, and your casting will improve.

Good luck!

Tex

[steelie-slayer]

and if its windy angle your rod to the side a bit.
and like tex said the less false casts the better just let it sit behind you for a secon or two, youll get the timing down then fire it forwards and it will cast out all your extra line you have at your feet. Try and aim for one false cast then your main cast. an remember to slow your casts down, it will be alot smoother and farther.
sorry if that made little sensce

[Speychucker]

Congrats on the fly rod setup .....and welcome to the dark side. Now get out there and catch some fish!

[DanJohn]

Thanks guys. Ive read and watched so much already, and Im needing to get out and focus on a few key things at a time. Although when at water, I have no intention of catching fish, I still find myself trying to do all the right things at once, rather than learning the right way to do a single aspect of the cast/presentation and then incorporating it into the whole dance. So at least now I know that, I can keep moving forward. I am actually surprised. I am by no means good, decent, or anything positive, but I think I am doing quite well for only having a rod in my hands for a few days. Timing is great, I seem to be a natural at knowing the feel of the back cast, and the tempo differences at the amount of line being false casted. Shooting line, I either do perfectly, or totally fail on. I need to find the proper feel of the rod when to release, vs when I think I should. Focusing on keeping the rod tip moving in a straight line through my casts, and the feel of the rod loading. As I said, Im not doing horrible, but I need to really calm down, and focus on a couple things rather than picking up the rod, and trying to put the fly on the water properly. Its a lot of fun though. Although the only thing I need, is either a fly fishing friend who knows what they are doing, so I could just watch them, see how they do things from the time they step out of the car to the time a fish is released, or a video. I cant seem to find a single Fly fishing video that is of someone just fishing. Sure it would be a little boring, but I want to see the REAL fishing. Not turning the camera on for a nice cast, or 3 seconds before a fish is hooked. No luck yet though. ButIll keep searching and keep on practicing! At this point, I dont even want to catch a fish, I just want to be able to consistently drop a fly onto water. Then I will be really excited!

[Easywater]

There are some basic things to follow when trying to cast and it helps if someone shows you.
I have an excellent casting video (Joan Wulff - Dynamics of Fly Casting).

I think you are in my neck of the woods (from the pinks fishing reports you put up) so if you want to practice as well, we could to that.
I just upgraded my salmon fly rod this spring (was using a very old 6ft fiberglass rod) and can cast pretty well now.

Timing is the most important thing in trying to cast.

Points from the video:
- pull the line in and then rod up until the line/leader join is just leaving the water
- on the backcast, wait until the rod stops "shuddering" (line unrolling) before starting the forward cast
- you have to let 2 to 5 ft of line out on each forward cast
- you have to learn to "double haul" - preload the rod by tugging on the line with your free hand
- don't go too far forward or back, there has to be tension in the rod from the weight of the line

PS: more on the video
Found some of her stuff on YouTube.
Some of her DVD here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peQIVe5vJio
The whole YouTube collection: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=joan+wulff&aq=f

[DanJohn]

There are some basic things to follow when trying to cast and it helps if someone shows you.
I have an excellent casting video (Joan Wulff - Dynamics of Fly Casting).

I think you are in my neck of the woods (from the pinks fishing reports you put up) so if you want to practice as well, we could to that.
I just upgraded my salmon fly rod this spring (was using a very old 6ft fiberglass rod) and can cast pretty well now.

Timing is the most important thing in trying to cast.

Points from the video:
- pull the line in and then rod up until the line/leader join is just leaving the water
- on the backcast, wait until the rod stops "shuddering" (line unrolling) before starting the forward cast
- you have to let 2 to 5 ft of line out on each forward cast
- you have to learn to "double haul" - preload the rod by tugging on the line with your free hand
- don't go too far forward or back, there has to be tension in the rod from the weight of the line

PS: more on the video
Found some of her stuff on YouTube.
Some of her DVD here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peQIVe5vJio
The whole YouTube collection: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=joan+wulff&aq=f

Yes! I was down in Delta this evening, and I live in Guildford. So if you are around here we could hit the river and muck around a bit! I will shoot you an email tonight.

But I was on the fraser at a nice, seemingly unpopular (More so with the pinks gone, only 2 people stopped by yesterday and none at all today!) where I know there is either bull or cut throats. Seen em jumping once or twice. But never the less, I just go cause its quiet, shallow, and deserted. But I realized a few things I was doing wrong. My forward cast was good, but my back wasnt letting the line settle enough. I decided to try waiting an extra half to one and a half seconds on the back, and bam, things fell into place so amazingly. Depending of course on the amount of line out on that cast. Also, I realized rather than trying to set the fly down gently, which lead to not enough power to keep the line parallel to the ground, and it floating down on the fly, I need to recognize the horizontal and vertical plane relationship. In my mind I was worried about the vertical delicate-ness, where as I need it to be shooting forward while falling, and not too hard. All in all, I think I made 3 or 4 really good casts, where I had tight loops, shot the line properly, and had the leader and fly roll over properly. 3 or 4 in 3 hours! PROGRESS! I also learned I was shooting line at the wrong time. By the time I realized and felt how to do it properly (I think properly, what the hell do i know!) it was just getting dark. I wanted more time to ingrain it into the muscle memory! Oh well, I think I am gonna be going out tomorrow after work. Maybe stop and grab some more flys, as I am TOTALLY massacring my Elk Hair Caddis and Adams. I honestly cant believe how fun this is. Maybe because fly fishing usually is held in high regard and has a little mystique around it, but just doing something that looked, felt, and seemed right, was like OH WOW I DID IT!!!

Also, Im not sure if its because Im doing something right... Well, right-er, or if my shoulder is getting used to it, but Ive hit the water 3 days in a row, 2-3 hours each day. The first 2, my shoulder hurt on the drive home. Not horrible, but enough to need to stretch it out real good. Today, not a single thing. Had a slight tightness just now, which reminded me, hey, it doesnt hurt today! But only being 3 days, I think its because I used a little different style, and did less work.

[StillAqua]

I honestly cant believe how fun this is. Maybe because fly fishing usually is held in high regard and has a little mystique around it, but just doing something that looked, felt, and seemed right, was like OH WOW I DID IT!!!

It's fun isn't it DJ? I only picked up a fly rod a few years ago and haven't pulled out my hardware gear since. When you hit your first trout, it's a huge rush. Something about spend an evening just pretending to be a bug in the water that never gets old.....

[DanJohn]

It's fun isn't it DJ? I only picked up a fly rod a few years ago and haven't pulled out my hardware gear since. When you hit your first trout, it's a huge rush. Something about spend an evening just pretending to be a bug in the water that never gets old.....

Hahaha I cant wait til I get that first one. I had a scare today. After I casted and waited a minute, all of a sudden, THE FLY DROPPED! I was in shock, and didnt really know what to do. After a second I just stripped the line, and then I realized its because my fly was waterlogged. But it made me realize how I really dont expect a fish right now! FISH ON... now what? Glad to hear you havent looked back. I cant see myself going back to spoons and spinners. But maybe, who knows!


Ok now I need help. I was trying to work on my roll cast, and I cant seem to get it even close to proper. In stead of getting a decent lift of line casting, I get a wheel of line rolling on the surface. It gets the fly out, but not the way I see roll casts being done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFDPIn0L0Uw

I like these guy's videos, easy to watch, follow, and see whats happening. I see that in most shots he is adding a haul (I think) but I dont get anything close to this! Any tips? Also. WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE NIGHT?!? I NEED TO PRACTICE DAMMITALL!

[mistermongz]

hahha last year when i bought my first fly setup i was practicing my casting in richmond and i say bunch of riser small but they were plenty so i threw in my smallest tom thumb and in a matter of few cast i got 1 inch shiner hahah it was a blast. You should have started when the pinks was Running you would have had a lot of fun.

[mk1freak]

hey danjohn, i just started flyfishing again this year as well (last did it in college some odd years ago a place i found good to practice was edgewater bar (i did this when the pinks were in  funtimes
with the coho opened up on the fraser you should grab some coho muddlers and practice out there, if you're not looking to get into a fish there's still plenty of room to cast and "drift" the fly and if you hit a hatchery coho then bonus!

another area i like for fly is the lower alouette, lots of slack water and some active hard fighting chums to get your arm nice and tired and sore, plus a chance to hit coho in there as well (with some springs) I actually just hit a 3lb spring jack on a muddler today fishing out there

in my short experience while casting is an important part of fly, i also believe that stripping techniques are equally as important, i guess with more experience we will know the best presentations based on the fished locations
GL to you!

[dennyman]

With respect to the roll cast, now you are getting into some spey casting techniques. I would say to go slow here as you don't want to get things mixed up when you are learning to overhead cast, because the application of power is different. But if you study the video closely, you will see him talk about the D loop, and line stick. When you are doing your roll cast, watch the size of your D loop. If it is small, try to make it bigger and see how much further your line will go. Secondly, if you have too much line stick, flyline gripping the water, this will rob the forward cast of power as you have to lift the line off of the water.  Watch closely in the video to see that only the leader and a portion of the fly line are making contact with the water as he delivers the forward cast.  Lot of information to take in, but keep at it through practise your mechanics will improve.

[DanJohn]

With respect to the roll cast, now you are getting into some spey casting techniques. I would say to go slow here as you don't want to get things mixed up when you are learning to overhead cast, because the application of power is different. But if you study the video closely, you will see him talk about the D loop, and line stick. When you are doing your roll cast, watch the size of your D loop. If it is small, try to make it bigger and see how much further your line will go. Secondly, if you have too much line stick, flyline gripping the water, this will rob the forward cast of power as you have to lift the line off of the water.  Watch closely in the video to see that only the leader and a portion of the fly line are making contact with the water as he delivers the forward cast.  Lot of information to take in, but keep at it through practise your mechanics will improve.

Solid advice. What I think I was doing was trying to keep the D loop larger, but not going backwards too far. I am practicing at home, and have not been able to get to water lately, but Ive got the idea of the backcast of the roll cast (I think) where you need to slide it back quite a ways. Its not just a foot or two behind you, but really back there to load the road. Correct me if Im wrong here.

Since posting, ive gotten an idea how to present a fly properly (Delicate, proper roll over of leader) but I cant do it consistently. Id say about 20-40% of the time I can. So that is getting better. I managed to figure out hauling. Although I am working on that and keeping the line and loops tight, I do get some tangles and fly (Well, at home, yarn) hitting the line. Not really knotting, but wrecking the cast. I did manage to double haul my entire 90 foot line out. Again, not perfectly, and Id say realistically it was 60 foot or so with the line winding, the fact is I had nothing but backing on my reel! That was exciting. Learned to haul a roll cast too. Again, without water though, I am still expecting to have to relearn it there. Also working on accuracy. Trying at this. There are concepts here I just havent gotten yet, but more and more each day I can hit certain spots when I tell myself too. And then general fundamentals. Just a good, smooth over head cast. Wrist, arm, shoulder, elbow, thumb, all that jazz. Excited to see progress though!

[marmot]

Have fun learning

Don't worry about distance, it'll come.  Adding distance once you have good form is a piece of cake.  The most important thing to do is learn that overhand cast inside and out.

[DanJohn]

Have fun learning

Don't worry about distance, it'll come.  Adding distance once you have good form is a piece of cake.  The most important thing to do is learn that overhand cast inside and out.

'For sure. As I said, Im keeping at the basics, while trying new stuff. But I really need to get a professional, just so then they can say what I am doing right and wrong, so I dont get some really bad habits. I already know I try to push the rod with my shoulder forward which I shouldnt be doing. Ive video'd a bit and that helped to see what Im doing wrong (Or what I think is wrong)

Accuracy as well. Id rather cast 50 feet accurately then 80 to god knows where.