|
|
| |
Long Distance Fly Casting Techniques
By: Randy Kadish
To be able to fly cast 80 feet or not.
Does it matter?
No, argue many dry fly anglers. After all, since we
fight drag by having slack line on the water, we cant
mend or set the hook with 80 feet of line out.
But wait, insist streamer anglers. Since we feel strikes
by having tight line on the water, we can set the hook
with 80 feet of line out.
Well, like they say: there are two sides to every
argument.
And sometimes a third or fourth.
Consider this scenario: Your fishing a fast, rocky
river, so instead of wading your making long casts. But
you keep missing your targets. And even though its the
first day of your fishing trip, your already exhausted.
Is there any way around these problems?
I'll answer the question this way: you show me an angler
who can cast 80 or 90 feet, and Ill show you an angler
who can accurately and almost effortlessly cast 50 or 60
feet.
And so for many frustrating and often discouraging years
I experimented with long-distance, fly-casting
techniques. Now that I have dramatically increased my
casting distance, Id like to share those techniques with
you.
But before I begin let me say I'm well aware of the
Open-Stance method or way of long-distance fly casting.
My purpose is not to compete with that way, but simply
to describe another. In the end, I believe each caster
should experiment with as many techniques as possible
and see what works for him or her.
GETTING STARTED
Use a short piece of string or yarn for
a fly. A long, 9-foot leader will help reveal some of
your casting defects. During each practice, try to focus
on one technique. Don't worry about putting all the
techniques together until you feel good at each one.
POWER STANCE AND GRIP
(Ill assume your right-handed.)
Start with your feet about shoulder-width apart, a
little closer for more power, a little wider for better
balance. If your casting vertically put your left foot
forward about eight inches and point it at the target.
Point your right foot about 30 degrees to the right of
the target. If your casting off to the side, point both
feet a little more outward. With your shoulders facing
the target, bend your knees and put your weight on the
ball of your front foot. To make a long-line pickup,
bend forward and hold the line just behind the stripping
guide. Point the rod at the water, with the rod tip
about an inch above the surface. Grip the rod lightly
with a slightly bent thumb on the side or on the top of
the handle.
LONG-CAST SEQUENCE
As a general rule, casting slightly
upward will help keep your loops tight; so, if there is
no head or tail wind, aim your first back cast upward
about 30 degrees. Aim your next false casts and your
presentation cast at a slightly lower angle or parallel
to the water. (Aiming your presentation cast too high,
especially if you are casting a long-belly line, will
cause the belly to pull your cast down and kill it.)
For maximum distance, your back and forward cast must
form a straight line (180 degrees).
If your casting weighted flies or sinking lines, aim
your false casts upward about 20 degrees.
And remember: apply maximum force only at the end of
your presentation cast.
However, at least four basic casting defects will cause
your cast to lose power, and therefore change your
intended trajectory: 1. Starting your cast after, or
well before, your cast has unrolled and, in effect,
shortening your casting stroke. 2. Accelerating your
back cast haul too slowly. (Because there is no
back-cast wrist snap, your hauling acceleration should
be faster on your back casts than on your forward casts.)
3. False casting, especially a weighted fly, too hard
for the length of the line you have out. (When the line
unrolls it will snap like a rubber band and create
slack) 4. Shooting line without increasing the
acceleration of your casting stroke and your haul. 5.
Your back and forward cast form a angle greater than 180
degrees, and you therefore lowered the rod tip from the
target line. As a result, your fly rod unloaded too
early.
ANGLE OF THE ROD
Some casters argue the vertical cast
is the most efficient. Others disagree and cast with the
rod tip pointed outward. Besides, they say, this is a
safer way to fish that makes it easier especially for us
older guys to turn our heads and watch the back cast
unroll without turning our shoulders, and inadvertently
moving the rod.
Maybe so, but the important point is that if your cast
is not under powered, and if you do not move your rod
hand in a convex motion and lower the rod tip from the
target line, the fly will not hit you or the rod. The
following casting defects will cause you to move your
hand in a convex motion: 1. Pulling your elbow back.
(Your elbow should move back because of your rearward
body rotation. To me, making a back cast is more of a
lifting or a flexing up motion than a pulling back.) 2.
Beginning your forward cast with your elbow behind your
rod hand, and therefore being unable to lead with your
elbow during your loading move. 3. Breaking your wrist
more than halfway during your forward-cast power snap.
(To prevent this, try to pretend your hammering a
nail.) 4. Lowering, instead of just rotating, your
shoulders. 5. Stopping the rod too late. (This sometimes
happens because of starting your weight shift before
your casting stroke, or because of quickly accelerating
your back cast, but not abruptly stopping the rod with a
short, upward motion.) 6. Beginning your cast with your
rod hand too low for your intended trajectory. (For
example: if you want to execute a cast parallel to the
surface, you must finish your back and forward casts
with your rod hand at the same level.) 7. Casting with
your elbow too far out from your body. 8. Having your
right foot too far back or pointing too far outward.
But in the real world of fishing, even the best casters
make imperfect casts, so I recommend wearing sunglasses
and a broad-brimmed hat, using shorter leaders, and
casting heavy flies and sinking lines with the rod tip
pointing out to the side.
To simplify my descriptions Ill assume your casting
vertically. (If your casting to the side, adjust your
rod-hand position more outward and less upward.)
BACK CAST
First, remove all slack from line. Aiming
upward, slowly start your cast by slightly lifting your
elbow, and moving the rod in sync with your rearward
body rotation. Slowly tighten your grip. When the rod
butt reaches 12 o'clock to the target line, quickly
increase your acceleration I call this my power
acceleration and execute your haul. (More about hauling
later.) For maximum power, keep looking straight ahead.
When the fly comes off the water, abruptly stop the butt
at about 1 o'clock. Your weight should be on your right
heel if your rod position was vertical, on the outside
of your right foot if your rod position was out to the
side.
Ease up on your grip. If you stopped the rod by moving
it upward, lower your rod hand to casting-level. Turn
your head and watch the cast unroll.
(Some casters feel they increase their power by rotating
their forearm and palm outward during their back cast so
that they can then execute their forward power snap with
a sharp, twisting motion.)
Because you probably wont be able to accelerate your
back cast as fast as your forward cast, begin your next
back cast when your forward loop is about three feet
long. Experiment to see exactly how long. Rotate the
imaginary clock face, and again stop the rod butt at
about 1 o'clock to the target line and your forearm at
about 12 o'clock. If your casting vertically your right
elbow should be a few inches behind your left shoulder,
and point outward at an angle of about 60 degrees to the
target. Your wrist should be at about eye-level.
If your loop turns sideways or swings open, you moved
the rod in a curving motion or pulled your elbow out and
back on your back cast.
HAULS AND DRIFTS
The more line you are false casting
the faster and longer you'll have to haul. To keep your
line from tangling, pull about three feet off the reel.
(If your casting on a weight-forward line, you'll begin
hauling when most of the belly of the line is outside
the rod tip.) During your back-cast loading move, keep
your hands at the same level. When the rod butt points
to about 12 o'clock, begin your power acceleration and
your downward, back-cast haul. Haul at an angle of about
60 degrees to the water so that at the end of the haul
your line hand is at about 8 o'clock. (At the end of your
forward, false cast haul, your hand will point to about
7 o'clock.) To lengthen your haul, execute it at a
steeper angle. Haul hard enough to keep your loop tight.
(You'll accelerate your haul faster than your cast.)
Breaking your wrist as much as possible, snap your haul
hand down. Stop the rod and haul at the same time.
Immediately begin your upward haul, giving back line at
the same speed it is unrolling. (If you still add slack,
you stopped your downward haul too late, or your cast
was under powered.) Do not prematurely move the rod tip
back! When the fly passes you, turn your head, but not
your shoulders, and watch the line unroll. Move your
line hand up to, but not past your rod hand.
Not moving your line hand up far enough may cause you to
then begin your forward cast by moving your rod hand
before or faster than you move your line hand. Because
this will add slack between your hands, you wont be able
to fully load the rod, and your cast might collapse.
And remember: the stronger the wind you are casting
into, the shorter, later, but faster you might have to
haul.
To make a long, presentation cast you must add a drift
move after your last back cast. So, keeping your wrist
stiff, your elbow in place, and your shoulders level,
wait for your back cast to unroll about three-quarters
of the way, then move your rod hand back, but not past
your rear shoulder. Slightly break your wrist back, and
point the rod lower, to about 2 o'clock.
At least three defects will cause you to add slack: 1.
Drifting too fast or too far. 2. Not hauling fast or far
enough. 3. Beginning your forward false cast too late.
On false casts, unless you are trying to change
trajectories, shorten or eliminate your drift, and
therefore reduce the risk of adding slack.
On your presentation cast, haul as hard as possible, and
concentrate on stopping the rod and letting go of the
line at the same time. (Momentum should force your
hauling hand well behind your front thigh.)
To make an effective back cast haul, I find it helpful
to visualize a loose rope connecting my rod and line
hands. When I stop my rod, I imagine the rope snapping
tight and stopping my hands.
Finally, to become a really good hauler, practice
throwing a ball left-handed.
FORWARD AND PRESENTATION CASTS
We should start them
before the back cast loop opens. (The heavier my fly or
the faster my line is unrolling, the earlier I begin my
cast.) To start your forward false cast, keep looking
over your rear shoulder and push off your back foot.
With your wrist locked, begin your forward cast in sync
with your body rotation. (Watching your rod hand during
the cast will help prevent your casting arm move ahead
of your rotating body.) Move the rod butt perpendicular
to the target line. When your casting arm is extended at
about halfway, begin your power snap and haul. Abruptly
stop the rod and haul when the rod butt reaches about
10:30. Ease up on your grip. Your right shoulder should
be slightly ahead of your left. Your weight should be on
the ball of your front foot.
If you want to finish your forward false cast in
position to increase the length and power of your back
cast you can: 1. Speed up your forward false cast (if
you get a tailing loop slow down your haul) and end your
cast with your weight on your toes and with your right
shoulder well ahead of your left. 2. Execute your cast
parallel to the water so that you'll begin your back cast
with your rod in a lower position. 3. Add a drift move
by slightly lowering the rod tip.
As soon as you finish the cast shoot up to eight feet of
line. (As the line slides through your curled fingers
keep moving your line hand up so you'll be able to reach
your rod hand before the cast unrolls.)
To make a long presentation cast, begin with the rod
drifted back, then push off your back foot. Again move
rod butt perpendicular to the target line. When your arm
is extended about three-quarters, execute your power
snap and haul. Fully rotate your body, extend your
casting arm and stop the rod. (Again, the butt will
point to about 10:30)
Your front leg should now be straight, and all your
weight on your front toes.
To reduce friction between the line and the guides,
immediately raise the rod butt, so that the rod points
to the target line. Do not lower the rod tip from the
target line!
Finally, if you do everything right but you still cant
get the fly to turn over, add line tension just before
your loop unrolls by raising the rod tip, or by
beginning the cast with a little less line off the reel
than you want to cast.
To make a long roll cast, start the cast just before the
line stops moving.
OVERHANG
Overhang is the amount of running line between
the rod tip and the belly of the line. As you increase
your overhang you must also increase the acceleration of
your casting stroke and haul.
If you use too long an overhang your loop will not turn
over. If you use too short an overhang the belly will
pull your line down and cause the head to land in a
ball. Experiment to find the longest overhang you can
handle, but keep in mind: the more long, false casts you
make the more you risk adding slack, so once the belly
of your line is outside the rod tip, try to make your
presentation cast after your second back cast.
To increase your overhang try: 1. A heavier, stiffer
rod. 2. A shooting-head line. 3. A line one weight
lighter than your rod. 4. Practicing shooting line as
your last back cast unrolls.
HOW MUCH LINE DID I SHOOT?
I use the counting method.
For example, if I fully accelerate my casting stroke,
then shoot line for as long as it takes me to say 1,000
I know I shot almost 10 feet of line.
TAILING LOOPS
Some common causes are: 1. The rod tip is
moved in a concave path because too much force is used
early in the casting stroke. 2. The casting stroke is
too narrow for the action (bend) of the rod. 3.
Executing a presentation cast with too short of an
overhang.
WEIGHTED FLIES
Will cause your casting loops to widen,
so increase your acceleration on your casting stroke and
haul and stop your rod butt earlier on the imaginary
clock face. If that doesn't work, shorten your overhang.
Remember: At high speeds, weighted flies, if they hit
your rod tip, can break it. To fish below the surface,
therefore, I like to use lighter flies and sinking
lines.
IF YOU DECIDE
Whether it is necessary to learn to cast
80 or even 90 feet and endure hours and hours of casting
trials and tribulations is up to you.
But if you decide it is, try not to get discouraged.
Long-distance fly casting, like hitting a good tee shot,
is a lot harder than it looks. Luckily, however, studies
have shown that frequently visualizing proper athletic
techniques is often more effective than practicing them.
For us older guys, isn't that something to be grateful
about!?
|
|
|
