Which comes first?

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

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?

Your line is supposed to hit the water?


Chuck Vance (damn, I've been doing it wrong all along)

(Steve Thomas) wrote in news:45e728a9.15975171
@nntp.aioe.org:

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


As long as you're not slapping the water with your line, it doesn't really
make a diff. The whole shebang should straighten out while still above the
water, and then, hopefully, lightly waft down to the surface. A wind
resistant fly will probably land last.

--
Scott
Reverse name to reply

"Steve Thomas" wrote in message
...
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

The overhead cast, the fly should hit the water first.
On the rollcast there are three variations of cast.
1. The low rollcast, where the line glides along the water, therefore
the line hits the water first.
2. Medium rollcast, line glides in the airs, almost in a straight line,
in this case the fly hits the water first.
3. Arialized rollcast, the fly hits the water first.

To get the fly to land on the water first, it's important to follow
through on the forward cast. By following through, that is to
stop the rod between 10-11 o'clock, then follow the rod to
the water without touching the surface. I usually lower the fly-rod
after the stop to about a foot off from the surface.
fwiw,
-tom

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.

"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

Tom Nakashima typed:
snip
I fish a little different from most of my friends. They seem to enjoy
rushing to wader-up, jump right into the water

Okay. . . I'm with you so far . . .
Some even have cigars dangling from their mouths as they forcefully wade
through the water to get to their spot only to blind cast.

Nope. . . I lost you on this one. Do the cigars have something to do with
the sloppiness of the approach?

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.

Okay, we're back on track, but I like a good cigar in my mouth while doing
so. ;-)
--
TL,
Tim
-------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

"Tim J." wrote in message
...
Tom Nakashima typed:

Okay. . . I'm with you so far . . .
Some even have cigars dangling from their mouths as they forcefully wade
through the water to get to their spot only to blind cast.

Nope. . . I lost you on this one. Do the cigars have something to do with
the sloppiness of the approach?

I don't do cigars because I believe it was our 42nd President who said;
"Cigars are for pussys!"
On a serious note, it's not so much the downwind smoke, but tying your
fly to the tippet after touching the stogie. Fish have a keen sense of
smell.
It was Dave Whitlock who taught me to pick up a rock from the river
and rub the fly in the moss to kill the scent from your hands before making
a presentation to the fish. What this does is actually pick up a natural
scent from the river. Dave does this everytime he fishes. Even hand tied
flies have an odor to them from just the materials used as he put it.
fwiw,
-tom

"Tom Nakashima" wrote in message
...

It was Dave Whitlock who taught me to pick up a rock from the river
and rub the fly in the moss to kill the scent from your hands before
making
a presentation to the fish.

Dries, wet or all flies?

JT

"Tom Nakashima" wrote in message
...

I don't do cigars because I believe it was our 42nd President who said;
"Cigars are for pussys!"
On a serious note, it's not so much the downwind smoke, but tying your
fly to the tippet after touching the stogie. Fish have a keen sense of
smell.

Some fish have a keen sense of smell. Some don't. Among those that do, it
is by no means always what they key on in deciding whether or not to eat
something.

It was Dave Whitlock who taught me to pick up a rock from the river
and rub the fly in the moss to kill the scent from your hands before
making
a presentation to the fish. What this does is actually pick up a natural
scent from the river. Dave does this everytime he fishes.

This is a very bad idea when using most dry flies.

Even hand tied flies have an odor to them from just the materials used as
he put it.

Well, there's your problem. I always stick to machine tied flies.

fwiw,

You should stop putting that at the end of each post. It belies the brash
certainty with which you present everything. Besides, people will likely
decide for themselves what they think it is worth without coaching.

Wolfgang