CASTING BULLETS

Fly fishing is nothing but hope without developing accuracy skills. There are many articles and chapters regarding fly casting accuracy. They offer good advice—read them! Presented here are some essentials I’ve learned with study, practice, teaching and fishing.

• Stance, Grip and Rod Plane
  • Stance: Some like to put the dominant foot forward when casting for close accuracy (<40 ft.) However, the terrain when fishing doesn’t always allow this!
  • Grip: Some will change the grip to index finger on top for close targets, such as <30 ft. Try this grip and see if you like it for this application.
  • Rod plane: Accuracy is helped by aligning the eye-target line with the rod-target line. A vertical rod plane helps this. Off vertical rod plane (1 or 2 o’clock instead of noon) often sends the loop to one side of the target or the other, and often makes the leader curve. At distance, a vertical rod plane often requires opening the casting stance (standing more sideways to the target).
• Aim your loop at the target. This simple phrase implies a lot.
  • A narrow casting loop (4 ft. or less, top to bottom leg with a relatively straight top leg) is best. This requires a smooth casting stroke, the right size arc, a crisp stop, and straight tracking of the rod tip throughout the forward and back cast.
  • The nose of that loop must be headed to the target similar to the nose of a bullet headed to a target. This brings up trajectory. The angle of the loop must be such that the loop straightens just above the target and falls in. Since the forward loop is aimed down, the back cast loop must be aimed up—180 degrees from the forward cast. The trajectory will be steeper for closer targets and not as steep for ones further away. I often see anglers using a horizontal trajectory and then try to pull the final forward cast/fly into the target. This usually results in a piled leader short of the target.
  • Use the bottom leg of the loop and a bit of the upturn into the nose as your “gunsight.” Watch for the unrolling forward loop and concentrate on the bottom leg. This should be headed directly at the target, assuming no wind blowing it off course right or left. Once it is headed there, deliver the fly. If you don’t make any false casts you need to imagine the entire rod lined up with your target line.
  • Don’t open the delivery loop. Let the narrow loop take the fly in. If one opens the delivery loop by opening the arc on the final forward cast, the leader is likely to pile, a breeze will blow it off course, or the fly will end up in surrounding brush in tight quarters. Keep that final cast tight, just like the others, and let the top leg of the loop take the fly in.
  • Compensate for wind. When casting to a target with wind going right to left, one may need to aim a bit to the right of the target, for example. In windy situations tight loops are essential.
• Aim small, miss small. Aim for some minute detail of your target and try to hit it, rather than aiming at the whole target. If you miss the minute detail, you will “miss small”—at least be in the neighborhood.
• Estimating distance is a challenge. There are two circumstances.
  • When you can see the fly in the air, you will see it hovering near the target. If you have the correct amount of line past the rod tip to reach the target with the rod tip down to the water, the fly will appear short of the target when hovering near the target on the false cast. This relationship will be the same no matter the target distance from the angler. Try this: premeasure the fly to the target with rod tip on the surface and line straight. The false cast over the intended target—you will observe how it looks a bit short. If you lower the rod tip to the surface as the loop takes the fly in, you will have enough distance. If you are not lowering the rod tip all the way down to the water to avoid different current speeds, you will need a bit more line.
  • When you can not see the fly in the air as you cast one must use a different method:
    • Guessing: Thankfully we humans are pretty good at this, especially with experience.
    • Cast short and measure: the angler intentionally casts short of the target and then adds what she thinks is the correct additional amount of line based on where the fly lands.
    • Cast to an alternate target of estimated equal distance. Then, pick up and cast to the intended target.
• Accuracy v. delicacy:
  • The above instructions may result in a fly that lands hard and may spook fish. If you intend to make a splash with that bass bug, hopper or snook fly, great! If it’s a dry fly for trout or small shrimp for spooky bonefish, it’s not so good.
  • Try this instead. Once you’ve identified where you want the fly to land, imagine a secondary target 1-2 feet above it. Use the appropriate trajectory to get the loop to straighten there and let the fly fall in due to gravity. This will offer both accuracy and delicacy.

I'd like to encourage you to reach out to me at jonathan@clearcreekflycasting if you have questions or want to discuss casting accuracy further.

I GET QUESTIONS

Does the welded loop on the fly line where the leader connects affect the cast? If so, how? My friend says I should cut it off and use a nail knot, is he right?

This is a question that I’ve not seen any data on. Frankly, I’m not sure how one would collect such data scientifically. That said, here is my take. It really boils down to personal preference. Welded loops and loop-to-loop connections may have some adverse effect, but it is small. For most fly anglers, they work just fine. If they didn’t fly line manufacturers would stop putting them on fly line tips because the majority would be cut off. People who don’t like welded loops hold this opinion tightly. They claim it affects energy transfer and accuracy. (I have a friend who jokes it’s akin to spin casting—I can’t print what he says about tippet rings!) In my own experience, the welded loop fails long before the fly line. It must be cut off and a nail knot replaces it. I have not noticed any difference in accuracy or leader turnover either way. As an instructor I have also seen clients cut off the welded loop, blaming it for casting troubles. When I look at their casting the welded loop is obviously not the problem source. Another source of poor leader turnover is using a leader/tippet inappropriate for the fly or flies. Heavier flies require a stouter tippet and often a shorter leader. Longer leaders often require longer stroke length (linear movement of the rod without rotation) and a crisp stop to transfer energy efficiently. So, when (when, not if) your welded loop fails, attach the leader with only a nail knot and see what your opinion is!

Got questions that I haven't answered? Drop me a line at jonathan@clearcreekflycasting.