"George Adams" wrote in message
ps.com...
On Mar 1, 2:26 pm, (Steve Thomas) wrote:
When you cast, should the line hit the water first, followed by the
fly?

Or should the fly hit the water first, followed by the line?

Steve Thomas

Too many variables. Air resistance of the fly, length of the leader,
size of the tippett. As long as you aren't slamming the line down on
the water, I wouldn't worry about it.

The objective for many dry-fly anglers is to practice good
presentation skills. Matching the leader/tippet size and length to
the size of the fly is indeed very import. It's good to have these
skills because you may need to use them.

I fish a little different from most of my friends. They seem to enjoy
rushing to wader-up, jump right into the water Some even have
cigars dangling from their mouths as they forcefully wade through
the water to get to their spot only to blind cast.

I like to scout the area first, look for prime fishing areas, and watch
for fish on the rise, even before I get my waders on. I would also
observe the hatch, or surrounding flies that I think fish are hitting on.
I look for the closet fly I have in size and color. I also enjoy fishing
from the bank so I have a less chance of disturbing or spooking the fish.

There were times when I had my gear ready to cast, saw a fish on the rise
and cast within a two foot circumference of that area. Fly touching down
first and a fish hitting it before a second ticked off.

I'm fortunate enough to have an outdoor casting pond near by to practice
these skills. I've been practicing presentation of the fly for quite awhile
now, trying to get the fly to land as softly as I can without a hint of
splash and fly hitting the water before the line. It's more difficult than
one could imagine. One of the things I've learned, and why I emphasized the
follow-through, is if you don't follow-through, there's a slight pull back
on the fly when it lands on the water and it causes a tiny wake, enough to
spook the fish. Probably not as critical if you're casting up stream and
letting the fly drift, but in the cases I described above, it may be
critical.

Usually when I'm practicing my presentation skills at the casting pond, I
see many anglers trying to cast as far as they can. I suppose they think the
farther they can cast the better fly-fisherman they are.
However it's very difficult to get the fly to land correctly at 90 feet or
so. A poor presentation of a fly splashing at 90' isn't any better than
splashing a fly at 30'.

Don't get me wrong, I not one who catches fish every time I go out, I really
have to work at it, but I try to give myself the best opportunity to catch a
fish.
fwiw,
-tom