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[halcyonguitars]

Oh I am! Can't wait til I actually catch something:)

[RalphH]

Yes and No however I believe I said it correctly the first time. Single haul is when you pull the line as the rod goes behind you, the double haul is when the rod comes forward.

sorry I have never heard it described other than as I stated. A single haul can be on either for or back.   But whatever ... learning to do it right is the real challenge. A double haul is 4 times harder! Apparently most people use too long a pull with the free hand.

[Animal Chin]

I find the timing on the back haul is tricky, so I just haul on the forward stroke and take it easy on the one just before I cast. I'm likely not doing it totally properly but it helps to lay my leader out straight.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but maybe this will help us both catch a coho on the fly. In moving water .. let's say for coho where you strip ... where do you cast and at what point do you start stripping?

Let's say you're using a 10 ft type three sinktip or polyleader.

Cast at 12' o clock, quick mend, let it swing to 10' o clock and then start stripping? Or do you swing it into the spot you wanna fish (judging by floating portion of line) and then strip from there?

[halcyonguitars]

I play drums and guitar, so doing things independently with my hand is not so hard for me, just need more practice to get the rhythms right.

As for the where to cast, I don't know...

[Animal Chin]

I played the drums too... but I was terrible.. haha. Explains the bad hauling. This video helped me with the rhythm. I just emulated him, fake it till you make it I say..if this screws you over or teaches you bad habits, I apologize in advance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mvpmFyrfwk

[Knnn]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but maybe this will help us both catch a coho on the fly. In moving water .. let's say for coho where you strip ... where do you cast and at what point do you start stripping?   Let's say you're using a 10 ft type three sinktip or polyleader.  Cast at 12' o clock, quick mend, let it swing to 10' o clock and then start stripping? Or do you swing it into the spot you wanna fish (judging by floating portion of line) and then strip from there?

It all depends on water depth and or speed.  I feel that Coho prefer a stripped fly rather than a swung fly, so I will cast at whatever angle is required to allow me to start stripping the fly as soon as possible,AND as long as it has hit the correct depth (i.e. 1-2 foot off the bottom).  So my casting direction and strip will vary depending on my perception of the water depth and speed, and this will often vary within each specific run I am fishing (considering flows and depths  in the head, gut and tail are often very different). In addition to covering the water in quadrants, I will also vary my cast anywhere between 10am and 2 pm if I am unsure of water depth or until I feel bottom.  All the above will also vary depending on leader length, weight and sparseness or fluffiness ( ) of your fly.

So I guess I am more inclined to follow the later approach you suggest i.e. to swing or dead drift (with a high stick) my fly to the correct depth at where I suspect the fish are holding, and then strip, strip, strip.

Some think that learning to cast a fly is difficult.  Unfortunately its not that difficult compared to figuring out how to get the right fly to where the fish are and to figure out what they want.

[halcyonguitars]

Even with a the heaviest versatip, I was never able to get a fly more than a foot deep. The versatip would sag I a 'u' shape, but I could still see the fly at a foot deep. Do I need to buy a sinking line?

[sbc hris]

You likely just need to shorten your leader, and or use a heavier/denser fly.

[Sandman]

Yes, use a short leader in the 3-4 foot range if fishing fast sinking tips.  Use a weighted fly only if that doesn't get you down enough.  Either way, my recommendation is leave the moving water to the gear guys, find some slack water where all the coho are hanging out and have some fun catching fish instead of struggling to get your fly down.  As for when to start stripping, it is really going to depend on where the fish are holding. I like to start stripping when I think the fly is right over the head of the fish.  Too soon or too late and they may not see it clearly or may feel it is not worth the effort to attack it.  You want to trigger that aggressive attack where the energy to chase the fly is suddenly worth it.

[JBB]

Halcyonguitars
        Check out the internet. I was never able to double haul for years and then I watched some instructional videos and went to the park for a few practice sessions. I can now
do a decent double.

[halcyonguitars]

Internet checked thrice daily, would that I could apply practice as often:)

I have about a 6-8 foot leader. What I noticed is that the bright green floating line seems to spook the fishies, so I've been trying to get as much space between it and the fly as I can manage. I see a lot of guys catching fish with completely clear fly lines.

As for finding the right water, I only know of so many places which are what they are, and are different every time. Still super fun!

[Animal Chin]

Some think that learning to cast a fly is difficult.  Unfortunately its not that difficult compared to figuring out how to get the right fly to where the fish are and to figure out what they want.

Thanks for the explanation. Appreciate it.

[milo]

X2

I don't even bother perfecting my cast when fishing rivers...waterload the line, one back cast, one single haul, and presto! Out it goes! So it isn't pretty to watch, so what? It catches fish! Casting smoothly long distances is truly overrated unless you are casting dry flies to finicky rising trout.

[Noahs Arc]

I don't even bother perfecting my cast when fishing rivers...waterload the line, one back cast, one single haul, and presto! Out it goes! So it isn't pretty to watch, so what? It catches fish! Casting smoothly long distances is truly overrated unless you are casting dry flies to finicky rising trout.

Sounds like my river fly casting. Let's just say it ain't pretty but it works.

[Knnn]

Even with a the heaviest versatip, I was never able to get a fly more than a foot deep. The versatip would sag I a 'u' shape, but I could still see the fly at a foot deep. Do I need to buy a sinking line? 

Nope, with the type 6 or 8 versi tip you should be able to dredge the bottom in 4-6 feet of water fairly quickly unless the flow is fairly high.  If you can still see your fly is less than 1 foot deep with the heaviest tip, you may have mixed them up (i.e. put on a type 3 as opposed to the 6 or or you did not buy the heavy one and/or where you are fishing the flow is fairly strong.  If the versi tip is sagging in a U shape, it probably means your fly was overly buoyant and large so that it held up the end of the sink tip.  Also make sure the fly is getting thoroughly wet and not a dry fly (sorry if this is obvious).

My suggestions can all be used in combination to maximize the sink rate to get your fly down; 1) find slower flowing water, 2) use a weighted fly, either lead wrapped, with a bead or dumbbell eyes, 3) use a spare fly which will be less buoyant and sinks faster, especially if it is has a bead, like a sparse rolled muddler, like this:



and 4) cast upstream to let the line and fly have greater time to sink .

If you have a versi tip system then you will also have a clear (slime line) tip which has a slow sink rate in the region of 1 inch/second.  With this line you can get away with very short leaders in the 2-3 foot region, but it does not sink very fast, so only works well on frog water, back eddies etc or in combination with the other suggestions above.  I do not typically use this line if water depth is more than 4-5 feet in flowing water unless the flow is relatively slow.

I doubt the mainline is spooking the fish, its more likely the delivery of the line onto the water surface.  Coho may be easily spooked by the fly line in still water, but remember when looking up they only see a silhouette against a bright sky so the colour is probably unimportant.

The completely clear lines are often called slime lines and are slow to intermediate sinking lines.  They are not used to prevent spooking fish.  I have caught pinks and chum on brightly coloured fly lines with less than 3 feet of 15 lbs leader.  Trust me they are not worried or spooked by your fly line.  Trout in very clear and shallow water may be a different matter, but the colour or clarity of your line is not that important.

If you want to fish deeper in faster water, by all means buy a full sinking line, which you can also use in lakes to great effect.  However, you will need another reel or spool and please note that you will initially find it more difficult to cast as you will need to retrieve all the line to drag it out of the water, rather than flick the main line off the surface, and spend more time false casting it back out.

Hope some of that made sense.