"W. D. Grey" wrote in message
...
In article , MichaelM
writes
I am an experienced caster with 25 years experience. Lately I upraded my
old
8 foot #3 trout rod with a faster actioned modern #4. I found that I
changed
my casting technique with this rod to use the wrist slightly in a
controlled
manner to work the rod more for its extra distance. I got bad wind-knot
problems and tangled leaders with the really tight loops. I was getting
great distance and speed with the flyline itself, but the leader was
getting
really messed up in comparison with the wider loops from the old slow #3.

Is my technique wrong, or is my flyline too light for the rod? I am
suspecting that the line (SA Aircell 2 Ivory #4 DT) is too light for the
rod
(Missionary 8'3" #4), and hence I feel like I need to work the rod with
slight wrist flex. Wrist flex can put waves in the flyline and mess
things
up at the leader end, so maybe I need a heavier line? I never casted a
fast
rod like this before so don't know what the effect of the blank might be.

Anyhow, my general point is that when I am casting very fast tight loops
with this rod / line / leader, I am often getting tangles. Is this usual
with fast fly rods? If so, how can it be corrected?


Might I guess that the so called "wind knots" occur at time point of
delivery of the fly and not during any false casting? If so I would
suggest you are trying to put too much power into the delivery cast.

Just deliver the fly with the same effort as the false casts. By all
means build up the line speed but don't punch the last forward cast too
hard.

Wind knots forming on the delivery cast is an interesting idea. I think I
understand what you mean; i.e. that the leader fully extends and the fly
still having excessive momentum "springs back" as it tries to stretch the
fully extended leader. This slight springing back of the fly does so
slightly upwards in motion too and falls back through the loop created in
the tippet section.

If I was using a weighted nymph, I could imagine this happening, and it is
interesting to think about. However at the moment I am using hawthorn dry,
and the air resistance of this fly means that the leader never fully extends
at distance at all.

Maybe I misunderstand exactly what you mean by this in the strict sense, if
so, could you explain further about wind knots on the delivery-cast?