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TIGHT LOOPS


A quarterly newsletter from Clear Creek Fly Casting LLC.

Your source for efficient, controlled, effective fly casting

Spring 2021



Welcome to your newsletter. I hope you are all well in these crazy times. I am still teaching, although it is facemask to facemask with social distancing out of doors. It’s really no problem and lessons are still effective. I have a wide-open schedule, so contact me or simply go to my website to set up an appointment. Now that the snow is melting, I’m teaching fly fishing on water again. This is a 6-8 hour introductory class, two 1.5 hour sessions in the park and then half day on water. Also, don’t forget that I offer virtual instruction and see the description below. I have tailored lesson plans or can do a custom set of lessons based on your needs!

My topics for the 4 newsletters this year will be casting with weighted flies and lines (WINTER ISSUE), accuracy (THIS ISSUE), presentation, and single hand Spey. I hope you enjoy and get benefit from each one. If you have suggestions for topics or questions to cover here, simply drop me an email and I will work it in. This newsletter is for you!!



EVENTS AND SERVICES

New Service: Remote Video Instruction

I now offer remote video casting instruction. If you don’t have a certified instructor nearby or want to work specifically with me, this is a way to do it! It is lower cost than in person lessons and does not require much hardware other than a smartphone. Most importantly, it is effective. Contact me for more details! You take the video, send it to me, I analyze it and discuss it with you by phone or video conference.See my website for more details under Lessons/Presentations at www.clearcreekflycasting.com.

Individual and Group Single Hand Casting Lessons:

I still offer lessons for groups and individuals while complying with safety guidelines for the pandemic. If you’re a beginner, why not get started right? If you are more experienced, we can work out problems and learn new skills. If you are going on a trip and don’t want to struggle while you are there, this will help. (I’ll even contact the guide service and find out specifically what casting/fishing skills will help you the most!) The pandemic has markedly reduced the number of lessons I’m doing so I have great availability. Call or go on-line to book today. The cost is $60/hr. or there are lesson packages available for cost savings.

Casting from a Drift Boat:

I have a curriculum set up for this that takes about 3 hours of instruction. There are specific challenges casting from a drift boat. Efficiency (read that minimizing false casting), good shooting skills, accuracy and presentation are among them. Why pay for a guided trip and waste fishing time learning to cast? Learn before you go! Learning these skills will improve all of your casting. Even if you own your own boat and drift with friends, you will benefit. Or buy the package for a friend/partner/spouse so they can benefit! The cost is $150 for 3 hours of instruction.

Fly Fishing instruction:

I do teach fly fishing on water. A great way to introduce yourself to the sport is my 8 hour Introductory class. We spend two 1.5 hour session in the park learning casting and gear basics, and then half day on the water applying your skills. Or, get ready for a trip you may have planned by taking casting skills learned and apply them to fishing situations. Whether a beginner or intermediate, you will benefit from time, instruction and feedback from me on tackle and technique. It will improve all your fishing and complement any guided trips you might have planned. Instead of spending time learning basics from the guide during the day, why not learn ahead of time and have a more productive day with the guide? Call or contact me for details.

Saltwater Casting Instruction:

I have a curriculum set up for this that takes about 4.5 hours of instruction. I developed the course from my own experience and advice from guides in Belize, Florida and Mexico. I do recommend starting about 2 or more months before your trip to give yourself adequate time and fair-weather windows in which to practice. Practice between 90 min. sessions will help you get the most out of it. The cost is $220/person, which is a $20 cost savings over three 90 min. lessons. Contact me or go to Booking on the website.

Two Hand (Spey) Casting Instruction:

I offer basic two hand instruction for those that want to learn to use a Spey rod, be it for trout or salmon/steelhead. Most instruction is done on water. A recommended beginning set of lessons is two 90 min. sessions or a total of 3 hours for $150. A Spey rod set up can be supplied for use during the lesson. If the lessons are for a scheduled trip, I do recommend starting 1-2 months before so you have adequate time and fair-weather windows in which to practice.



CASTING BULLETS

What would fly fishing be without accuracy?
Mostly luck! Sure, we do not always sight fish, but we still aim at something. It is not that hard to be accurate enough to catch fish. So, this is about the basics of getting the fly to go where you want! It is not an exhaustive treatise (thank goodness!) on accuracy.

  • Identify your target, and aim small, miss small. Aim small, miss small--we borrow this phrase from hunters and target shooters. Concentrate on your target and pick out a 2-inch (I am not joking!) square at which to aim. Aim small. If you miss you are still likely to be close and probably close enough. Miss small.
  • Aim your casting loop at the target. This simple statement presupposes that you have a loop to aim. The casting loop (or simply “loop”) is the shape the line takes after the cast is made. The usual loop shape desired for accuracy is narrow or 4 ft. or less top to bottom leg with a relatively straight top leg. (If you cannot do this, schedule an hour with me to help. With a bit of time and practice, forming the loop becomes second nature.) Aiming means seeing the nose and bottom leg of the loop headed directly at the target. For targets close in, the forward loop will be aimed down with the back cast going 180 degrees opposite. One may need to compensate left or right for windy conditions.
  • Maintain the loop on delivery, and let the top leg take the fly in. One cannot “pull” the fly into the target with the rod tip, which we intuitively want to do. Make the delivery cast just like the false cast (aiming cast) that preceded it. Make the same forward loop with the same stop position. Once the loop is on its way, follow the bottom leg down to the water with the rod tip. Do not open the loop by pulling the rod tip/bottom leg down. Some anglers tell me they do this to soften the presentation, but often they sacrifice accuracy with a piled leader short of the target. If you want accuracy and delicacy, aim about 1-2 ft. directly above the target. The leader will straighten there, and the fly will fall in due to gravity. (If you want the fly to splat on the water, like a hopper or bass bug, aim right at the water’s surface.)
  • Learn to estimate distance. This can be fun to learn if done in a low-risk way, meaning practice and learn this in the park before you go fishing. Set up a target about 25-30 ft. away. Strip line off the reel. Lay the rod on the ground with the rod pointing at the target. Pull the fly to the target. Go back to the rod and reel up any extra line. False cast and aim your fly at the target. Note the relationship between the fly, as the line lays out, and the target. Most people tell me it looks “short”, and it certainly does to me. However, if you deliver properly, you will land at the target. This is a way of estimating distance when you can see the fly in the air. When you cannot, you may try casting to an alternate target you believe is about the same distance away and estimate distance that way. This is often a good idea anyway because it helps avoid casting over the fish and spooking it. Fortunately, we humans are also rather good at guessing!
  • Obstacles are often present. Ignore them. If you are aiming between the mangroves or willow branches, ignore them. Concentrate on the intended target—the space between. If you are thinking about the mangroves or the willows, that is where your fly will go! Narrow loops help. See? We are back to aim small, miss small and narrow loops!



TEACHING PEARLS

Obey Lord’s Law: I have the privilege of calling Macauley Lord, former LL Bean Fly Fishing School Director and FFI Certified Master Casting Instructor, a dear friend. He wrote an article in the FFI casting journal a few years ago describing direct instruction and coined Lord’s Law: The quality of instruction is inversely proportional to the amount the instructor speaks. Direct instruction is telling the student what to do in clear, simple, concise, and precise language. An instructor’s lengthy descriptions of technique, physics and even fishing exploits have no place in casting instruction. Good instructors need to understand mechanics thoroughly, but not demonstrate all that knowledge and overwhelm a student. Consider that a “need to know” thing!



I GET QUESTIONS

How do I cast in the wind?

For this often-asked question I give 3 answers:

  1. Safety is paramount: Keep the fly (sharp, pointy thing) and line (bull whip) down What would fly fishing be without accuracy? wind as much as possible. Knowing how to cast off the opposite shoulder and making a back cast delivery really help.
  2. Tight loops, high line speed and trajectory towards your target: Become a better caster -- sorry to disappoint, but there is no magic here. Tight loops and higher line speeds, hallmarks of casting skill, are imperative. Just casting harder and faster is not the same. In fact, it usually makes everything worse.
  3. Except for safety, ignore the wind: Wind gets in our heads like getting “psyched out” in sports. It causes us to cast harder and faster with wider arcs, often creating wider instead of narrower loops. Wider loops are less aerodynamic and do not represent good energy transfer from angler to rod to line to target. Good technique wins every time!


Looking for past newsletters? Here you go:

Clear Creek Fly Casting
jonathan@clearcreekflycasting.com
303-981-8116