beginner casting problem

"beach_snookin" wrote in message
ups.com...
I've been learning to flycast for about a week now and am having
success at short distances, but after several minutes of casting, my
tapered, 10 lb. 8 ft leader becomes severely twisted and knotted.
After straightening it out, the tapered end is permanently crimped. I
know this can't be right and must be severly weakening the leader
material.

Can anyone point to a likely flaw in my casting technique that would
cause this?

thanks in advance.


http://www.sexyloops.com/index.shtml

On Oct 23, 9:30 am, "asadi" wrote:
"beach_snookin" wrote in message

ups.com...

I've been learning to flycast for about a week now and am having
success at short distances, but after several minutes of casting, my
tapered, 10 lb. 8 ft leader becomes severely twisted and knotted.
After straightening it out, the tapered end is permanently crimped. I
know this can't be right and must be severly weakening the leader
material.

Can anyone point to a likely flaw in my casting technique that would
cause this?

thanks in advance.

http://www.sexyloops.com/index.shtml

I think the answer lies in the power response earlier. I am not
really having trouble forming
nice loops most of the time, in fact a lot of the times, my loops
tail, or tangle with itself at the
end of the cast. Granted, I am not casting very far, but with 20 or
30 feet of line out, I can pick up
the line, make a few false casts with some nice loops and lay it back
down again. I practice this for
about 15-20 minutes and my leader tip is a mess.

"beach_snookin" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Oct 23, 9:30 am, "asadi" wrote:
"beach_snookin" wrote in message

ups.com...

I've been learning to flycast for about a week now and am having
success at short distances, but after several minutes of casting, my
tapered, 10 lb. 8 ft leader becomes severely twisted and knotted.
After straightening it out, the tapered end is permanently crimped. I
know this can't be right and must be severly weakening the leader
material.

Can anyone point to a likely flaw in my casting technique that would
cause this?

thanks in advance.

http://www.sexyloops.com/index.shtml

I think the answer lies in the power response earlier. I am not
really having trouble forming
nice loops most of the time, in fact a lot of the times, my loops
tail, or tangle with itself at the
end of the cast. Granted, I am not casting very far, but with 20 or
30 feet of line out, I can pick up
the line, make a few false casts with some nice loops and lay it back
down again. I practice this for
about 15-20 minutes and my leader tip is a mess.


Beach,
just for the heck of it, try a 9 1/2 ft. 4x tapered leader, and just tie on
a small piece of yarn on the end of the leader. Don't add any tippet
material yet. By a short piece of yarn, take a 1" piece of yarn and tie it
right in the middle, then flare out the yarn. Trim the remaining length to
3/4".

It sounds like you have the casting stroke down, maybe except for the
follow-through. On the forward cast, after you stop the rod, gently lay it
down. If you don't stop the rod before you lay it down, you won't get the
correct follow-through, or turnover of the fly, causing the leader to not
fully extend.
-tom