"Conan The Librarian" wrote


Chuck Vance (now if I could just learn to throw slack line on
purpose)


MY advice ( remember I concentrate on flat waters and 'tough' fish .. slack
casts are a hindrance in many situations, thus the mantra of 'turn over your
fly' ) is to start with a leader you like for the fly being cast ... I
won't detail what I usually use, except to say that a tippet ring is a
great help as it allows you to keep most of the leader uniform for weeks and
only change tippet size and length to suit the fly. Your furled leaders
should be fine, tweaked to a given fly.

This basic leader should, with YOUR casting stroke, 'turn over' the fly
involved when you cast a straight line ... only a little wiggle should be
in the leader at most.
Now throw some paper plates around your practice yard and try to hit them
with your fly ( gently :-) ... the fly may hop out of the hard plate but
it's the original landing that matters. After you hit one at mid
distance a few time, using exactly the same amount of line, try to land the
fly in a plate a foot or two closer to you.

Try aiming a little higher and using slightly less power, lower the rod as
the line falls .. viola, slack .... wiggle the rod tip as the line unfolds
.... slack .... try what would be a tuck cast if you were using a weighted
nymph .. put some plates between you and the target plate and try to snake
the line between them by flicking the rod tip to put bends into the line
..... cast your normal stroke and just as the line goes straight, pull back
slightly All these things ( and more ) will put slack into the line/
leader in different ways. First step it to observe the differences,
second is to start controling slack by the stoke you make.

Now the hard, ( and extremely fun ) part ... when you are on the stream look
before you cast ...decide IF and if so, WHERE slack is needed to fight drag,
BEFORE you cast. Your practice will provide strong clues as to how to
achieve what you need. Note: do not cast slack 'just because' have a
target and reason for that slack or cast normally ... most times, fishing
upstream in a freestone you probably won't cast slack ... much .. indeed
your task is to gather it up quickly as the fly comes back to you

If I could force my aging, habit ridden, and somewhat sluggish brain to do
one thing while fishing it would be to ... each and every single time ...
try and make my FIRST effort my BEST effort ... most anglers ( me too ) fail
in the places that have the reputation as difficult because they cast, see
that it didn't work, and maybe why, and THEN try harder ... respect your
prey more than that ... plan where the line, leader and fly will land ...
not just the fly ...


Tip: You do your best, chuck ( no pun ) it out there and put the fish down
anyway .... stay and recast until you master that lie even though he is long
gone ... you need the practice G