Salt Water casting

"Jeff Miller"

Casting a nine-weight and a heavy fly for distance isn't pretty,
especially in the wind, and even more especially in a kayak in the
wind. The kayak puts you lower above the water surface, so you can't
get as much distance as when shallow wading or when casting from a real
boat while standing.

Indian Joe actualizes- thanks all for casting suggestions--took my kayak
out this AM and could not find Red Fish so decided to try your suggested
methods of casting a nine weight fly rod while seated in a kayak and came to
a probable solution - either get out of the kayak and stand in water--use a
six weight and hope you don't catch a big fish--or toss your fly as far as
you can then paddle in a circle around fish and hope one of them becomes
hungry.

So i pulled over in weeds-had a beer- put a 3" shrimp gulp plastic lure {
outfishes live bait,dispenses scent and flavor better than live bait,more
exciting action and colors than live bait ,100% natural ingredients } on the
end of my spinning line and fished my way home.

Scored a grand slam plus one !!! A small flounder in the hole under a
dock-a trout in the middle of the creek- a small puppy drum off some
oyster shells- and just as I arrived at dock a bluefish in the inland
waterway joined the party.

Headed for mountains next weekend and plan to spend my 75th birthday
climbing rocks and fishing a small stream just east of
Ashville --sure hope each of you are enjoying life as much as this elderly
citizen.
Joe

"Joe McIntosh" wrote

them hooks are really BIG and I still have memories of catching my
tongue
one day

Disclaimer: I am FAR from a good caster.

I do a little Striper fishing with big flies from a kickboat or even a float
tube and this helped me. Assuming you are using shooting heads, get one a
couple sizes too heavy for your rod ( I got 10s for an 8 rod ). Now, rig
it all up with a short leader and fly like you want to use on your rod.
Next work out some line and keep varying the amount in the air until it
'feels right' to you, i.e. you think the rod loads well and should shoot
well with a haul and throw ( no need to actually 'cast' you only want the
rod feeling good with the amount of line out, ready to shoot ). CAREFULLY
mark the amount of line OUT of the tip and then cut it back to that length,
re-rig and go fishing. You end up with a shorter line to keep in the air
but one that still works the rod and shoots well. I've also found that
timing is the key, the casts that shoot like a rocket and threaten to jank
the rod out of your hand as all the loose shooting line is used up are not
the "big muscle" efforts, rather the ones that get the haul at the right
split second .... about one cast in 43, for me ..... the haul to the rear is
also very important.

Read these;

http://www.danblanton.com/casting.html

http://www.flyfishinsalt.com/article.jsp?ID=37585

http://www.activeangler.com/articles...air/lines4.asp

TL
MC

Joe McIntosh wrote:
and I still have memories of catching my tongue
one day with a size 16 humpy while mountain fishing with Daniel and Jeff
Miller.
Daniel please send me your snail address.
Joseph

Now that's a funny mental image!..........I wonder, is tongue a good
fighter?

RW makes a good point about using the water to load the rod. As long as
the fish aren't spooked by it, give it a try. With the water loading a
9wt., weight forward line, you should be able to shoot a reasonable
amount of line. It's not pretty, but it should give you desirable
results. For topwater bugs, that Crease Fly should be one of the easier
ones to cast.

brians

briansfly wrote:

Joe McIntosh wrote:

and I still have memories of catching my tongue one day with a size
16 humpy while mountain fishing with Daniel and Jeff Miller.
Daniel please send me your snail address.
Joseph


Now that's a funny mental image!..........I wonder, is tongue a good
fighter?



it was most humorous...and i think joe laughed about it more and louder
than the rest of us present at the time. (he also caught the most fish
though) it did make his diphthongs quite unique ...

you've got some good links and tips but a question, what type of line
are you using?
how long a leader? if you're fishing in clear water for spooky fish,
and if you are then
using a long leader (longer than 7 ft) than you really need to make
sure it is
tied right (stiff butt and good transition to the tippet), and matched
to your fly, in
order to turn over the fly properly. However, for a crease fly, I'm
guessing you're using a floating line? The problem with crease flies is
usually their wind resistance (that and they often spin too dang
much...)

what I've found is that I try to cast much to quickly, not allowing the
rod to bend (load)
properly on the backcast, especially when I get tired, and I don't get
enough line
speed . Then it's a real, and dangerous, mess on the forward cast.

re-reading your post, catching the water behind you makes me think that
you're just not stopping your rod properly and as others have written,
diagnosing
a bad cast is tough without seeing you in action.

however, my gut says you need some work on mechanics: double hauling
etc, to
get the line speed up properly, then you won't have problems with the
tailing loop
on the forward cast.

lastly, as a veteran lip-hooker myself, and as you doubtless are awa
go barbless!
to avoid unnecessary danger at night, I really open up my cast and
have a modified stroke (based on a suggestion from a fried) that keeps
that barb far away from me on the foward cast. It sacrifices some
distance, but the thought of another trip to the emergency room sort of
eases the pain.

-- Rob