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Casting technique

Started by Wildfisher, April 27, 2006, 03:53:11 PM

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haresear

QuoteCasting is at the very heart of fly fishing IMO. The better you get at it, the better and more enjoyable the fly fishing gets

Totally agree.
Like lots of guys on this site, I learned on wee rivers and burns like the Avon (Lanarkshire) and graduated on to that ball-breaker, the Clyde.
Long distance casting was never warranted. An ability to side cast under trees was more useful.

I then went on a "once in a lifetime" fishing holiday a few years ago (it has turned into an annual event :wink: ). I thought I was an OK fisherman and an OK caster. Wrong.
Faced with a howling downstream wind, when I could see a 5lb fish just a few yards upstream, I found I couldn't get a fly to the fish at all. Simply put, I couldn't double haul. I could do a single haul on the back cast, but like lots of people couldn't get the rythmn of getting the left hand back into position for the forward cast.
I'm talking technique here, not distance. You don't need to reach for the moon when hauling (a few inches goes a long way as I've told my girlfriend).
Since then, I've concentrated on my casting. A friend took a lesson with Eoin Fairgrieve and I learned from my mate. Also started looking at the Sexyloops site, which is great for casting info, even if it gets a bit involved at times. If you want to learn the double haul you could do worse than takea look at the video files on the main site as opposed to "The Board".

I digress, as posh people and writers say. I then took a shared lesson with Eoin Fairgrieve and learned a cast which was a revelation. The snake-roll. Since then, I've taken to occasionally going down the local rugby field and trying for a few grass carp :oops:

First time we did this, we were aimlessly blasting away, trying to see how far we could cast, as you do. After a while it occurred to us that we were crap distance casters and would be better employed to try to be more accurate as this is what our fishing demands.

Now I always thought I could cast accurately.
Try it yourself in a field. Try to put your fly in a basin at various distances. Not so easy.
Having improved my accuracy, by getting the rod more vertical, I then started looking at dropping controlled slack where I want it. Also trying curve casts at various distances, with right/left curves.

Don't get me wrong here. I'm no casting guru. I just try to do things using stuff I've read or seen on video. I usually mess about with this stuff when there is nothing rising and I'm just "fishing the water"
It has brought a whole new dimension to my fishing and I can now tie a sheepshank knot  in my leader without trying :lol: .
Protect the edge.

Bob Wyatt

Excellent post there, Alex.

Those afternoon Nor'westers are really something down there aren't they?
I developed a snappy 'pullback' to kick the fly out ahead of the line.  And I invested in an SA Nymph Taper.  This last trip I actually felt I had a chance in those winds.

CASTER

Hi folks, I'm new to this forum and I can't believe I've never found it before !!!! It's a crackin' place for info and so far seems to be full of courteous and well humoured info exchange.

My two pence worth on casting ..I am not the most refined of self-taught casters but WOW did my my technique improve when I actually spent a bit of the hard earned dosh on a decent rod & balanced kit. This only took me twenty years to accomplish. So for all you novices, get the best you can afford , it will not be money wasted. I struggled with an old Ryobi fibreglass 9 ft 6 in and 4 tonne Daiwa reel loaded with a very early overweight Masterline for years. It made me adopt some strange casting techniques and stances and any soul walking past some of the wee lochans I used to fish must have wondered at the convulsive apparition they beheld on the bank.
Any way, I'm so pleased to have found this place , tight lines to all.
:) Caster.

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