leader pile up

o.k., so i can cast my line out in a nice straight line fairly consistently,
avoiding "pile up", but my leader is piling up. i just put new leader on
day before yesterday, and it is pretty curly. is it because of that, or is
it related to my casting- or maybe something else? any ideas?

fished with my new blue winged olive today- a very cool fly- it got *lots*
of bites, but i didn't hook anything. i'm sure it was because i tried to
compress the barb, in an effort to make it easier to remove the hook. my
disappointment at losing so many fish is at odds with my effort to be as
humane as possible, and my desire to protect myself from injury, while
indulging in this endeavor :-(
but damn that fly got a lot of "hits"

snakefiddler

snakefiddler wrote:
o.k., so i can cast my line out in a nice straight line fairly consistently,
avoiding "pile up", but my leader is piling up. i just put new leader on
day before yesterday, and it is pretty curly. is it because of that, or is
it related to my casting- or maybe something else? any ideas?

If your leader is curly before you cast it, it will be curly after you
cast it. What you need to do is stretch it to get the curls out. There
are various ways of doing that, but I usually just squeeze it tightly
between my thumb and index finger and pull it through. This process can
warm things up a bit but your by a stream, just dowse your finger in the
stream to cool them off. :-)


Russell

snakefiddler wrote:
o.k., so i can cast my line out in a nice straight line fairly consistently,
avoiding "pile up", but my leader is piling up. i just put new leader on
day before yesterday, and it is pretty curly. is it because of that, or is
it related to my casting- or maybe something else? any ideas?

Carry a piece of inner tube or leather to straighten the leader. You can
do it with just your fingers, too. The idea is to use friction to heat
the leader, and then pull to straighten it.

fished with my new blue winged olive today- a very cool fly- it got *lots*
of bites, but i didn't hook anything. i'm sure it was because i tried to
compress the barb, in an effort to make it easier to remove the hook. my
disappointment at losing so many fish is at odds with my effort to be as
humane as possible, and my desire to protect myself from injury, while
indulging in this endeavor :-(
but damn that fly got a lot of "hits"

My guess is that they were teeny, tiny fish that were too small for the
hook size. :-)

When you hook a fish, keep tension by stripping line, and once you have
control reel up the slack. Keeping tension is especially important with
debarbed hooks.

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

"Russell D." wrote in message
...
snakefiddler wrote:
o.k., so i can cast my line out in a nice straight line fairly
consistently,
avoiding "pile up", but my leader is piling up. i just put new leader
on
day before yesterday, and it is pretty curly. is it because of that, or
is
it related to my casting- or maybe something else? any ideas?

If your leader is curly before you cast it, it will be curly after you
cast it.

that's what i figured....


What you need to do is stretch it to get the curls out.

which i tried, but clearly not to the extent needed :-)

There
are various ways of doing that, but I usually just squeeze it tightly
between my thumb and index finger and pull it through. This process can
warm things up a bit but your by a stream, just dowse your finger in the
stream to cool them off. :-)

thanks-
snake



Russell

"rw" wrote in message
m...
snakefiddler wrote:
o.k., so i can cast my line out in a nice straight line fairly
consistently,
avoiding "pile up", but my leader is piling up. i just put new leader
on
day before yesterday, and it is pretty curly. is it because of that, or
is
it related to my casting- or maybe something else? any ideas?

Carry a piece of inner tube or leather to straighten the leader.

i like that idea


You can
do it with just your fingers, too. The idea is to use friction to heat
the leader, and then pull to straighten it.

fished with my new blue winged olive today- a very cool fly- it got
*lots*
of bites, but i didn't hook anything. i'm sure it was because i tried
to
compress the barb, in an effort to make it easier to remove the hook.
my
disappointment at losing so many fish is at odds with my effort to be as
humane as possible, and my desire to protect myself from injury, while
indulging in this endeavor :-(
but damn that fly got a lot of "hits"

My guess is that they were teeny, tiny fish that were too small for the
hook size. :-)

When you hook a fish, keep tension by stripping line, and once you have
control reel up the slack. Keeping tension is especially important with
debarbed hooks.

thanks for the tip-
i appreciate all the info i can get ;-)

snakefiddler

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

wrote...

"rw" wrote in message
m...
snakefiddler wrote:
o.k., so i can cast my line out in a nice straight line fairly
consistently,
avoiding "pile up", but my leader is piling up. i just put new leader
on
day before yesterday, and it is pretty curly. is it because of that, or
is
it related to my casting- or maybe something else? any ideas?

Carry a piece of inner tube or leather to straighten the leader.

i like that idea

You shouldn't because it is the *worst* thing to do IMO. You can
pull the leader straight using just enough force to not break the
leader/tippet. You then slowly release the tension on the
leader/tippet and it will straighten. You may have to actually try
it to believe it.... I was really skeptical at first until I saw it
done and then did it myself. It works way better than the old inner
tube/leather trick because it doesn't abrade the leader/tippet IME.
--
Warren
(use troutbum_mt on earthNOSPAMlink dot net to respond via email)
Clave Info:
http://www.geocities.com/troutbum_mt...nConclave.html

"snakefiddler" wrote in message
...
o.k., so i can cast my line out in a nice straight line fairly
consistently,
avoiding "pile up", but my leader is piling up. i just put new leader on
day before yesterday, and it is pretty curly. is it because of that, or
is
it related to my casting- or maybe something else? any ideas?


While not stretching the leader may be part of the problem, my guess it is
not all of the problem.
The leader is not turning over and presenting the fly. Some of it may be
your casting technique, as this in not an uncommon newbie problem. I think
the major culprits beside straightening the leader are 1. how the leader is
attached to the fly line and 2. the leader is not "matched" to the size fly.
1. For a new caster there should be a "stiff" piece of monofilament approx
2/3rds the thickness of the fly line attached to the end of the fly line. At
the other end, either using a loop connection or a blood knot should be your
tapered leader. the butt end of the leader should not be thicker nor stiffer
than the mono it is attached to. A freshwater fly line leader is a series of
different thickness monofilament ending with a thin "tippet" end. Too many
new folks get tied up in the "lb test" of the leader. The size tippet you
are using should be approx 1/4 the size of the fly. If you are fishing a
size 18 blue winged olive dry fly, you would divide 18 by 4 and select a
4-5x tippet. I tie many of my own leaders but when I use a commercial leader
I buy a 7 1/2 foot 3X leader and then add 4X or 5X as I need or want using a
blood or surgeon's knot. But if you have a small fly and a big tippet the
fly will not turn over and the leader will pile.

Take these hints into consideration with the stretching of the leader. If
the problem persists, change leader brands (for some reason I had this
problem consistently with the Orvis super strong brand of leaders and
tippet). lastly revisit a casting instructor because you are probably not
transmitting enough power into the forward cast if the other things do not
work.

My thoughts anyway.

Wayne

PS...straight line casts are pretty cool when practicing on the grass but
for rivers and streams, you often want some s curves or slack when
presenting the fly to minimize drag on the fly.

If you release stroke on the forward cast is too "wimpy", the

"Wayne Knight" wrote in message
...


If you release stroke on the forward cast is too "wimpy", the


that last incomplete, incoherent "sentence" was supposed to be deleted,
sorry

A lot of times, when you think you have a 'bite' (more commonly referred to
as a strike) what you have is a refusal.

A smile, a nod of the head, and at the last minute - all you see is the tail
swooshing back and forth as she sashays away.....

....not to be confused with a strike...

john
(or even a spare)
"snakefiddler" wrote in message
...
o.k., so i can cast my line out in a nice straight line fairly
consistently,
avoiding "pile up", but my leader is piling up. i just put new leader on
day before yesterday, and it is pretty curly. is it because of that, or
is
it related to my casting- or maybe something else? any ideas?

fished with my new blue winged olive today- a very cool fly- it got *lots*
of bites, but i didn't hook anything. i'm sure it was because i tried to
compress the barb, in an effort to make it easier to remove the hook. my
disappointment at losing so many fish is at odds with my effort to be as
humane as possible, and my desire to protect myself from injury, while
indulging in this endeavor :-(
but damn that fly got a lot of "hits"

snakefiddler

"Wayne Knight" wrote...
"snakefiddler" wrote...
o.k., so i can cast my line out in a nice straight line fairly
consistently,
avoiding "pile up", but my leader is piling up. i just put new leader on
day before yesterday, and it is pretty curly. is it because of that, or
is
it related to my casting- or maybe something else? any ideas?


While not stretching the leader may be part of the problem, my guess it is
not all of the problem.
The leader is not turning over and presenting the fly. Some of it may be
your casting technique, as this in not an uncommon newbie problem. I think
the major culprits beside straightening the leader are 1. how the leader is
attached to the fly line and 2. the leader is not "matched" to the size fly.
snip
As an addendum to #2, and IMHO, I've found that many of the store bought tapered
leaders don't have a stiff enough butt section or a wispy enough tippet for
casting small dry flies. Once I started tying my own based on LeaderCalc, I've
been more pleased with the presentation. You can approximate the same action by
buying a larger and shorter tapered leader and then tying some good tippet onto
that, but I'm much happier with the presentation of the hand tied leader.
--
TL,
Tim
http://css.sbcma.com/timj