Casting while standing in water

I am new to flyfishing and after taking a lesson and practising for
hours at the park I thought I had a reasonable handle on casting, at
least to the point that I wasn't wrapping the line around my neck and
embedding a hook in the back of my head.

My instructor showed me how to haul on the front and back false casts
to build up line speed and then "shoot" the line on the final foward
cast. This works a treat at the park because the line gathered around
my feet snakes off down the rod until it bumps the reel softly at which
point I lay the line down and presto.

But alas, there are no trout in the grass. When I try the same
technique while standing in the river, the excess line is swept
downstream behind me in a large loop. There is a lot of weight on the
line from the water pressure and I have to really pull on the line to
recover any of it when I'm hauling and releasing on the false casts. I
can forget about shooting because there is no way I can build up enough
line speed to counter the water pressure on the excess line.

Should I fish from the bank so the line stays dry, or is there a
technique for this? I'm using a floating line.

Cheers.

I would initially forget about hauling until you have the basics-
the 11:00 stop, 1:00stop , 11:00 stop and down to point at your fly -
rhythm and pattern down and the line is constantly
in the air either forming the back loop or unfurling for the front loop
Later on when you want to increase your casts worry about hauling .
Get the basic casting pattern down first.

Also keep down the # of false casts - they are only to let out a
"manageable" amt of fly line

I hope that this helps.

Sincerely
Fred


I am new to flyfishing and after taking a lesson and practising for
hours at the park I thought I had a reasonable handle on casting, at
least to the point that I wasn't wrapping the line around my neck and
embedding a hook in the back of my head.

My instructor showed me how to haul on the front and back false casts
to build up line speed and then "shoot" the line on the final foward
cast. This works a treat at the park because the line gathered around
my feet snakes off down the rod until it bumps the reel softly at which
point I lay the line down and presto.

But alas, there are no trout in the grass. When I try the same
technique while standing in the river, the excess line is swept
downstream behind me in a large loop. There is a lot of weight on the
line from the water pressure and I have to really pull on the line to
recover any of it when I'm hauling and releasing on the false casts. I
can forget about shooting because there is no way I can build up enough
line speed to counter the water pressure on the excess line.

Should I fish from the bank so the line stays dry, or is there a
technique for this? I'm using a floating line.

Cheers.

Wolf wrote:
I am new to flyfishing and after taking a lesson and practising for
hours at the park I thought I had a reasonable handle on casting, at
least to the point that I wasn't wrapping the line around my neck and
embedding a hook in the back of my head.

My instructor showed me how to haul on the front and back false casts
to build up line speed and then "shoot" the line on the final foward
cast. This works a treat at the park because the line gathered around
my feet snakes off down the rod until it bumps the reel softly at which
point I lay the line down and presto.

But alas, there are no trout in the grass. When I try the same
technique while standing in the river, the excess line is swept
downstream behind me in a large loop. There is a lot of weight on the
line from the water pressure and I have to really pull on the line to
recover any of it when I'm hauling and releasing on the false casts. I
can forget about shooting because there is no way I can build up enough
line speed to counter the water pressure on the excess line.

Should I fish from the bank so the line stays dry, or is there a
technique for this? I'm using a floating line.

Instead of letting the slack line drift downstream in the current, keep
the excess line in large loops in your left hand (assuming you're a
right-handed caster). With practice, you can shoot a loop on the
backcast and the forward cast, and maybe two loops on the final forward
cast. It's not easy, but it can be done.

You could also try a stripping basket, but that's cheating. :-)


--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

"Wolf" wrote in message
ups.com...

Should I fish from the bank so the line stays dry, or is there a
technique for this? I'm using a floating line.

Figuring out how to manage your line on the water mostly takes experience.
But basically on land you're probably casting farther than you really need
to. I make a lot of 15-30' casts when actually fishing. 15 feet of line is
pretty easy to control.

On 17 Sep 2006 13:43:12 -0700, "Wolf"
wrote:

Should I fish from the bank so the line stays dry, or is there a
technique for this? I'm using a floating line.

Learn how to cast before you learn how to haul. Most fish are caught
within 20 - 30 feet of where you are standing; no need to haul to
achieve that distance. Hauling is great when you need to punch out a
lot of line, i.e., surf casting, or lobbing big streamers, or when
fishing in high winds. However, as I've said, for your typical fresh
water fly fishing, whether it be with nymphs, dries, wets, or
streamers, the double haul isn't necessary. You should be able to
cast 50 feet without it, and 50 foot casts just aren't that necessary
*most* of the time.

My oldest grandsons can double haul just about the entire fly line
(about 90 feet), and they do it simply because they *can*. When they
stop fooling around, they catch their fish within 10 - 30 feet of
where they stand, just like their grand daddy.

Dave

"Wolf" wrote in message
ups.com...

My instructor showed me how to haul on the front and back false casts
to build up line speed and then "shoot" the line on the final foward
cast. . . . When I try the same
technique while standing in the river, the excess line is swept
downstream behind me in a large loop. There is a lot of weight on the
line from the water pressure and I have to really pull on the line to
recover any of it when I'm hauling and releasing on the false casts. I
can forget about shooting because there is no way I can build up enough
line speed to counter the water pressure on the excess line.

Before you shoot line (i.e. add mass to the airborne
line) you should practice orthodox casting until it
becomes instinctive, so that your muscles and nerves
are retrained to place the fly exactly where you intend
without thought how this should be done. This process
of training requires careful line control (holding
the line in your non-rod hand) so the mass of
airborne line does not change (until you release
it on the forward cast for that extra yard and
the most gentle presentation.)

Timing is the essence and timing usually
deteriorates with repetition. So you should
not false cast more than twice except by
deliberate decision and for a conscious reason
(e.g. to place the fly on a particular target.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

"Wolf" wrote in message
ups.com...

I am new to flyfishing and after taking a lesson and practising for
hours at the park I thought I had a reasonable handle on casting, at
least to the point that I wasn't wrapping the line around my neck and
embedding a hook in the back of my head.

My instructor showed me how to haul on the front and back false casts
to build up line speed and then "shoot" the line on the final foward
cast. This works a treat at the park because the line gathered around
my feet snakes off down the rod until it bumps the reel softly at which
point I lay the line down and presto.

But alas, there are no trout in the grass. When I try the same
technique while standing in the river, the excess line is swept
downstream behind me in a large loop. There is a lot of weight on the
line from the water pressure and I have to really pull on the line to
recover any of it when I'm hauling and releasing on the false casts. I
can forget about shooting because there is no way I can build up enough
line speed to counter the water pressure on the excess line.

Should I fish from the bank so the line stays dry, or is there a
technique for this? I'm using a floating line.

Cheers.


All of those tips were very useful, it shows this group can all pull
together when necessary.
I would also recommend forgetting about the hauling for now and concentrate
on the presentation of the fly within 20-35 ft.
One of the items missing in presentation that I didn't see is the "mend",
you may want to do a search on this matter and practice it in the moving
current.

There is no need to fish on the bank to keep the line dry. The line will
float even when wet. As far as casting it makes no different whether the
line is wet or dry. The weight on line from the water is common. To
compensate this, "raise the rod" before you pick it up the line. The line
should be free from drag before you can make the start of the backcast.

One of the cast I use the most is the "roll cast". If your instructor
hadn't shown you this, you may want to learn it.
fwiw,
-tom


I

Hi All,

Thank you for your responses, I really appreciate all the advice.

I think I'm trying to cast too much line at once with too many false
casts. It might be a leftover instinct from spinning, where the basic
idea is that further you cast the better.

I'll try working with less line and getting the basic casting rythm
with a couple of false casts instead of trying to fish the entire
length of the river with one cast.

Good luck out there!

"My biggest worry is that my wife (when I'm dead) will sell my fishing
gear for what I said I paid for it." -Koos Brandt

I'll try working with less line and getting the basic casting rythm
with a couple of false casts instead of trying to fish the entire
length of the river with one cast.


A great teacher I took a lesson from would always say was "fish the
water closest to you first" this is something else that gets overlooked
when attempting hero casts. There could be a big fish 7ft from you that
you're going to scare away.

-Will

In article ,
"Fred Lebow" wrote:

I would initially forget about hauling until you have the basics-
the 11:00 stop, 1:00stop , 11:00 stop and down to point at your fly -
rhythm and pattern down and the line is constantly
in the air either forming the back loop or unfurling for the front loop

11-1-11 huh? How fast is your rod? I dont know how well that would work
with a slow dry fly rod??