False Albacore that took Gummy Minnow
I am a Fly Fishers International Certified Fly-Casting Instructor. I teach fly casting in lakes or rivers. Additionally, I teach salt water casting techniques. This blog will be dedicated to fly fishing and fly casting. I will also write about rods and reels and whatever takes my fancy in the fly-fishing universe.
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Phone 361 9032846
Casting a fly from a sitting position is vastly different from casting standing up as the body movements are restricted. Furthermore, the elbow movements are restricted in a kayak (or a belly boat) impacting the ability to haul. The seat is lower, and the line will be closer to the water’s surface making long carries problematic.
Let’s consider the rod – the line – and the casting technique.
THE ROD
Longer rods will get more height but as they get longer, they become more difficult to use. A 9.5 ft. rod is easier to cast than a 10 ft. rod but has less height advantage etc. I can’t one hand a fly rod that’s longer than 11 ft. and it will become difficult to net a fish as the rod gets longer.
THE FLY LINE
You want a weight-forward line. The more weight up front, the better. Remember the loss of height will limit the carry, and it could become advantageous to use a short head (or shooting taper/head) and/or overline to be able to load the rod with the limited carry.
CASTING TECHNIQUE
The casting is going to have to be “just” arm movements. No way around that one as I see it. So, practice that type of cast from a chair. Sitting on a chair in the grass is VERY helpful but preferably use a kayak seat or a low beach-style chair. Even a regular chair gives you a false sense of space between your casts and the water and how cramped the elbows are going to be!
Hauling is much more difficult when in a kayak or belly boat. Practicing from a chair is good advice but that doesn’t hinder hauling as much as a kayak will.
The problem of the water surface proximity will logically be solved by high back casts paying attention to sending the line over the rod tip. Minimal false casting plus the high back casts will lessen the chances of a line slap behind you and you must minimize your carry. Now with these recommendations, you need to shoot the line and any hauling will be a good addition if there is any room for it.
“Why can’t I cast this Clouser?”- is a question I often get. “I am using the #8 rod and #8 line, and I have no control over it.” The misbehaving Clouser usually has big lead eyes and is very heavy. We all have experienced this problem at varying stages of our development.
The way to analyze the situation is first to –
Consider the equipment
The Line;
The line weight must match the fly’s mass. So, it follows that the line could simply be too light (Occam‘s razor). The shape of the fly line especially the front taper. The key point is that any fly that resists moving because it is either heavy and/or very wind resistant requires a significant “pull“. The best way to achieve that is with a heavy line. The front taper must be powerful (short and/or heavy tip) to maintain as much energy as possible to have the necessary oomph to turn over a heavy fly.
The leader;
The leader‘s butt end needs to be thick enough (more mass). The length of the leader could be too long and often is. The leader needs to be massive and short enough to turn over a heavy fly. If the leader is too long there is insufficient energy left in the leader to turn over that fly. So, a shorter leader is better suited to turn over a heavy fly.
https://everyjonahhasawhale.com/blog/your-butt-is-too-small/
https://everyjonahhasawhale.com/blog/the-fly-line-kick/
Considering the casting technique
https://www.thecampflyfishingschool.com/pages/belgium-cast
Technical consultant: Bruce Richards
Starting fly casters are taught to false cast on grass and the casts will be parallel to the ground. But casting parallel to the ground when fishing is an unforced error. When casting straight, the line and the leader will turn over several feet above the surface. It will take the fly time to drop to the water giving the wind time to mess with the presentation.
I noticed at a club meeting when we were doing accuracy that the back casts usually weren‘t high enough.
When you aim at a spot on the water’s surface the trajectory will become downward towards that spot. Because the back cast needs to be 180 degrees opposite to the forward cast for an efficient straight cast it follows that the back cast must be upwards.
Therefore the whole trajectory must be straight (180-degree rule obeyed). So, now the cast must look like this.
So, pick a spot on the water where you intend to place your fly. Now, drive the fly line straight to that point and try to straighten your fly line and leader just inches above that point. Now, the wind has much less room to screw up your cast.
This is a for beginners – the basic description of the casting arc needed for a short cast.
The log on hooking considered a tracking fault i.e., what happens if there is too much bending (radial movement) of the wrist (abduction) in the horizontal plane.
So, it’s logical to consider what happens when we over-abduct the wrist in the vertical plane. The angle between the underarm and the rod then becomes, say 90 degrees. Beginners and intermediate casters do this frequently on their back-casts. This will send the line careening down behind the caster, and thus it will be traveling in a great big loop. When the wrist bending (radial movement – abduction) is kept minimal and the rod is stopped just past vertical, the caster will have a much straighter line behind and now has consequently the foundation for a good forward cast.
Now, on to the forward cast. The same rule applies. The backcast and the forward cast should be symmetric. Therefore, we need to stop the rod high on the forward cast to send the line straight.
Beginners frequently bring the rod tip too far down instead of stopping it higher. That leads the fly line to form a big inefficient loop going nowhere. What we want to do is to stop the rod tip high and shape the top leg (fly leg) straight.
Now the crucial feat is to make the rod tip travel from the back stop B to the front stop A (orange lines) in a straight line. We can do that by bending the rod against the mass of the line behind it (plus the inertia of the rod itself). We start from a standstill, smoothly accelerate the rod, and bring it to an abrupt stop when we reach the front stop. That will send the line over the tip in a straight line making for an efficient cast. To obtain this straight line we must practice a lot. There is no getting around that one.
If we don’t accelerate and don’t bend the rod, there will be no straight line, but an upward curve, and the loop becomes large and inefficient. For an efficient cast the rod must be stopped at points A and B. To get a straight top leg the tip path must be straight between the stop points. When that happens the cast will be straight and efficient.
Last weekend I was invited to the Magnolia Fly Fishers in Jackson Mississippi. The idea was that I should give a short presentation on salt water casting, since the Magnolias are headed to the salt in April. Then we would practice the various casting scenarios. Head wind, tail wind and cross wind. I have been working with Cynthia Low their president towards certification with the IFFF, hence the invite.
https://magnoliaflyfishers.com
If you check their website you will find this teaser.
“Black Tie, Fish Fry and Fly Tie at First Baptist Church in Byram
Ok, it’s not really a black tie event, but it needed a name so I named it my favorite name. I keep hoping someone will show up in a tux! Cynthia, La Presidenta of our club, has invited IFFF certified casting instructor Jonas Magnusson to come to First Baptist Church of Byram on SATURDAY March 18.
Who wrote this beauty? This blog practically writes itself. I am not Swedish but my paternal grandmother was, and I speak that lingo, so what the heck.
I started late Friday with Cynthia on roll casts, and we had a nice little pond to practice on. She has put in the hours, and she is nearly where she need to be (see pics).
Cynthia forming loops
Cynthia is getting there
Then on Saturday – I give Cynthia the podium;
“Jonas says he’ll travel anywhere in the world to teach…even Mississippi USA. Yes, we have fly fishers. Yes, we fish all species and for a short 4 hour drive we have access to some of the best fishing in the world, the Gulf of Mexico.
Imagine a small town church tucked away in the wilds of rural Mississippi, light breeze, cloudy sky, and a deep fryer of oil warming for our fried catfish lunch that awaits us after the sessions with Jonas. Club members give fishing reports, present future outing details; the meeting a bit sluggish then “UP! Let’s go cast” like a sergeant barking orders wakes the crowd. Every man and two women head for the field, rods in hand.
We line up like soldiers. Southern accent communicating with Scandinavian accent; everyone listening intently to every word and instruction. Jonas moves person to person with a tip here and an instruction there. Next are group commands. Once again we line up. Now let’s cast to the wind. Wind changes, another command, and we line up again. Lunch! That fried catfish is calling. We take a break. Jonas eats like a bird, said one. That’s why he has his figure and we have our figure; we like fried catfish, slaw, hush puppies, turnip greens with fatback, ketchup. Onward!
Jonas continues with his individual students who booked an hour. Club members being club members, the one on one became one and a gallery. The afternoon whiled away as student, teacher, gallery became one unit. Each member helping the other as knowledge and understanding grew. Prodding, poking, laughter, and challenge punctuated the afternoon. Success! We had worked off those fried catfish calories.
We had a fun day and Jonas’ personality added to it. Great sense of humor, said some. He knows what he’s doing, from others. Mr. C, who just turned 90 said, “Cynthia, I learned something today. I learned I don’t know how to cast.” Our long distance caster and salt fisher said, “He identified a tracking error in my back cast I don’t think I could have ever figured out by myself. That and he showed me what he called his no-stop cast which is how Paul Arden generates his wind punching V-loop. I think I can start busting the 100 foot mark regularly now.”
Jonas survived Mississippi and made it back to Florida. He’ll go anywhere to share his passion and love of the sport. Every club should have an event that includes a certified instructor. It’s worth every penny and the benefits last a lifetime. If you’re not in a club, consider joining. It’s an enriching, encouraging, supportive experience.
PS We don’t always eat fried catfish. There are wonderful chefs in the area.“
Crazy Cat Fried Oysters
Glen Davis gave me his stripping basket that looks very promising. You wear it on your left hip and strip into it. Will get back with you on that one when tried.
Glen also wrote about my teaching.
https://samuraiflyshop.com/2017/03/22/build-a-bucket-workshop-casting-fun/
Well there it is and I thank the Magnolia Fly Fishers for inviting me, and I surely learned a lot more from them. The best way to learn something is to teach it.
Jonas Magnusson
Jonas Magnusson
Jonas Magnusson
Sigurbrandur Dagbjartsson