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Christopher Rownes
FFF Fly casting instructor, Demonstrator and International
fly fisher
"It
is not the fly, it is the driver".
G.S. Marryat
Fly-casting is one of the most exciting and challenging
aspects of fly-fishing. Better Fly-casting not only dramatically
improves your success on the water; it unifies the art and
science of fly-fishing.
The ability to cast a perfect loop should be the goal of
all fly fishermen. A perfect loop leads to greater casting
accuracy, better fly presentation, efficient line control,
and greater casting distance.
My fly-casting workshops offer original, innovative and
above all effective instruction tailored to the specific
needs of each student, beginner through advanced.
Tight
loops
Christopher Rownes - FFF Certified Fly casting Instructor
GETTING
STARTED
SUNGLASSES
Safety is paramount at all times while fly-casting and fly
fishing. Polaroid sunglasses will not only help you when
you are fishing but also protect your eyes against wayward
flies.
THE
ROD
I recommend a 9-foot, 5 or 6 weight rod, an excellent all
round rod. One which has a progressive action is ideal,
a progressive rod loads more deeply from the tip down the
more power you apply, for short casts we just flex the tip,
for long casts we load it right down to the butt.
THE
REEL
The lighter the reel the better, it should be large enough
to hold the fly line plus 50 yards of 20 lb backing.
THE LINE
Use a good quality floating weight forward fly line; it
is absolutely essential that the line balance with the rod
of your choice. Choose a bright coloured fly line. This
helps you to see the form of your casting loops while practicing
and fishing. Remember bad casting scares fish not bright
coloured fly lines.
THE
LEADER
Usually the leader is the most neglected part of the fly
casting system, the leader must have a design and length
which transfers energy smoothly and efficiently from the
fly line right to the fly. With a nail knot, attach a tapered
leader of about the same size as your rod with a tip strength
of about 2x, to the tapered leader tie on a piece of 3x
tippet about half the length of the rod with a three turn
water knot. To that, tie on a small piece of yarn for practice.
FLY
CASTING
THE GRIP
Good casting begins with the correct grip. I use and advocate
the extended finger grip, this is obviously personal taste,
but I do believe the extended finger grip helps me load
the rod more efficiently. With my thumb on top of the grip
I can concentrate on directing the energy of the cast in
a straight line. Keep the grip comfortable and relaxed during
the casting stroke. We need a grip, which is versatile,
one, which will let us move efficiently, from casting to
a rising trout on a small chalk stream to casting a wet
pike fly in to a strong head wind.
THE
HAND
Try to vary the gripping pressure during the cast, take
advantage of the power transferred with a firm grip and
the damping effect of a loose grip. Start with a loose grip
when you start the casting stroke, start to increase the
griping pressure as you accelerate gripping the rod hardest
when you stop the rod, releasing the gripping pressure directly
after the crisp stop, this will dampen all vibrations in
the rod thus eliminating the shock waves in the line which
can be seen if we keep a constant pressure on the grip through
out the casting stroke. Varying
the pressure that we have on the grip will also lead to
less fatigue through out a days fishing.
THE
WRIST
Try to keep a firm wrist while casting, a firm wrist transfer's
energy from the body to the rod more efficiently.
a.
With a firm wrist and a progressive acceleration to a crisp
stop, a perfect loop will be formed on the back cast.
b. If we open the wrist on the back cast, a downward travelling
open loop will result.
To keep your loops travelling efficiently towards the target,
make sure that throughout the back cast and front cast that
the reel remains pointed directly towards the target. It
is absolutely critical to keep you thumb on top at all times,
while casting forehand it should be possible for the caster
to look into his or her palm throughout the casting stroke.
a.
Correct wrist position. Keep the reel pointed towards the
target.
b. Incorrect wrist position. If your wrist rotates out wards
during the cast, this will be exaggerated by the tip of
the rod. The line will then follow the arcing path made
by the rod tip and will swing the loop behind you into an
ineffective and dangerous position for the forward cast.
THE STANCE
Stance depends on your particular fishing situation, but
for practice I recommend an open stance, that means left
foot forward for right hander's or right foot forward for
left hander's, this versatile stance allows for free body
movement and a harmonious co-ordination, it also allows
for a longer casting stroke when appropriate. Concentrate
on keeping your shoulders square to the target.
WEIGHT
OF THE LINE
In
fly-casting it is the weight of the fly line that carry's
an almost weightless fly to the target; you have to learn
to use the fly rod's action to cast the weight of the line.
SLACK LINE
Keep
slack line out of the system. The line should always be
straight before the power of the cast is applied, only a
straight line can load (store energy) in a rod, slack line
wastes some of your casting stroke. It is the weight of
the fly line, which causes the rod to bend and load or store
energy, try to eliminate all slack line while casting.
a.
Correct starting position as soon as we move the rod tip
the straight line will begin to load the rod.
b. Incorrect starting position this position of the rod
causes a belly of slack line; the first part of the casting
stroke is wasted straightening the slack line. Only a straight
line can bend and load the rod.
THE
HORIZONTAL PLANE
Concentrate
on keeping hand, wrist, forearm and shoulder in a straight-line.
The tip of the rod should trace a straight horizontal path
while casting. A straight horizontal path of the rod tip
during the casting stroke concentrates all the energy of
the cast towards the target. The tip of the rod should travel
in a direct path towards or away from the target. Along
a horizontal path the rod will work to its optimum. Concentrate
on a straight-line flow of energy. Loop control is achieved
by the ability to control the rod tip during the casting
stroke.
A.
Horizontal path of the rod tip. If we trace a straight horizontal
line with the rod tip through out the casting stroke a Perfect
loop will be produced, one where the top portion of the
line and the bottom portion of the line are parallel to
each other. Along this horizontal path the rod works to
its full potential. Good fly casters have the ability to
cast their loops close to a perfect horizontal plane.
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B.
A convex path of the rod tip. Wide open loops are formed
when the back cast and front cast is separated by more than
180 degrees, this is caused by using a wide casting arc,
usually caused by breaking the wrist on the back cast or
by not applying force to the rod, leaving the rod in an
unbent (unloaded) state during the casting stroke causing
the rod tip and line to travel in a half round convex path.
We must force the rod into a bend and then force it back
out again with a positive stop. An open loop, one where
the top and bottom portions of the loop are widely separated,
disperses energy in to many directions, the energy is not
concentrated towards the target and the line goes nowhere.
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C. A concave path of the rod tip. Tailing loops are formed
when the back cast and front cast is separated by less than
180 degrees, they are caused by using a casting arc which
is too small for the amount of bend (LOAD) in the rod or
by applying to much force at the beginning of the casting
stroke. Match the amount of rod bend in the rod to the casting
stroke and progressively increase the velocity during the
casting stroke, finishing with a crisp positive stop. Remember
- All tailing loops are caused by a concave path of the
rod tip.
THE POSITIVE STOP
It is absolutely imperative that we finish both front and
back casts with a positive stop, it's not always in the
same position because of the varying line lengths we use,
but it should always be there. A
Crisp positive stop combined with a progressive application
of power is the key to good fly-casting.
THE
SHORT AND LONG
To keep the rod tip tracing a horizontal line path we need
to match the amount of bend (load) in the rod to the casting
stroke, the deeper the flex in the rod or longer the length
of line the longer the casting stroke must be.
a. Short length of line, short stroke
b. Long length of line, long stroke
A
fly rod is a flexible lever it bend's and loads during the
casting stroke, the more force we apply the greater the
rod bend's or loads, it is important to remember that a
fly rod is not rigid, it is possible to cast tight loops
with both short and long casting arcs if we match the casting
stroke to the amount of bend in the rod.
A
SMOOTH APPLICATION OF POWER
We need a smooth and progressive application of power and
velocity finishing with a crisp positive (STOP) at the end
of the casting stroke. This abrupt STOP releases energy
from the loaded or flexed rod into the line and forms the
loop.
A
smooth Progressive application of power and finishing with
a crisp positive stop.
THE
PAUSE
Wait
for the line to fully straighten before you begin the forward
or back cast. We need a long pause for a long cast and a
short pause for a short cast. Keep your shoulders square
to the target, watch your back cast from time to time to
see if the line is fully extended before making the front
cast, make sure you just turn your head not the whole body
as this will swing the cast behind you. You can also judge
your timing by watching your front cast unroll and waiting
for the same amount of time on your back cast. This visual
help ensures perfect timing. Remember we can only make a
good front cast if we make a good back cast. Work on the
back cast; concentrate on a positive stop, a tight an efficient
loop on the back cast sets us up for the perfect front cast.
THE
BASIC CAST
The
back cast
Split
the cast into two parts start with the back cast.
First,
find an area with a lawn, try to find a place free of distractions,
do not start on the water, you need to concentrate on your
movements, the last thing you need is to think about is
avoiding trees, bushes, water currents, etc. And remember
something worth doing is going to take practice.
Strip out about 30 feet of line out of the rod tip and lay
it out straight in front of you, lower the rod tip close
to the ground, make sure there is no SLACK LINE in the system,
hold the rod with the EXTENDED FINGER GRIP thumb on top
of the cork, keep a firm wrist, hold the line under the
middle finger of your rod hand, let the other arm hang loosely
at your side, get your self into a comfortable OPEN STANCE,
left foot forward for right hander's, concentrate on keeping
your shoulders square to the target. Start by lifting the
forearm, lift the rod smoothly starting slowly directly
away from the target, lifting the line to the point where
the leader is attached to your fly line, now lift your elbow
and accelerate the rod directly up and back finishing with
a your hand slightly away from you with your thumb pointing
straight up and level with your right eye with a positive
stop, check that you have not opened the wrist, the butt
of the rod should be no more than two inches from your forearm,
let the line unroll and extend to the rear, stop there and
let the line fall to the Ground, if you want to repeat simply
turn around 180 degrees and try again. You are half way
there.
THE
FRONT CAST
Once you feel comfortable and confident with the back cast
and you can cast a straight line out behind you, advance
to the forward cast. Now instead of letting the line fall
to the ground on the back cast, after the positive stop
on the back cast drift a little up and backwards with the
rod, this slight drift allows you to go with the flow, following
the unrolling loop until it has lost its momentum.
At the moment when the line is just about to straighten
we begin our forward stroke, remember only a straight line
can load a rod. If we wait too long the line will begin
to fall so there is a magic moment just as the line is straightening.
Now concentrate on the specific point you want to cast to,
come forward but this time in reverse starting with your
elbow and finishing with your hand, we want the application
of power to start right down in the handle and to progressively
move up through the rod finishing at the tip, so start slowly
smoothly increasing in speed ending with a positive stop
at about 45 degrees from the horizontal. A loop of line
will form in front of you, as the loop unfurls and straightens
gradually fade the rod down following the unfurling line
down to the starting position. If you have problems putting
both casts together go back to just half casts. The basic
cast is the foundation of all fly-casting, practice it to
perfection, only then will it be possible to master the
more advanced casts.
THE
ROLL CAST
The
roll cast is the easiest cast to learn because it has only
one, forward stroke. I think the roll cast is a great cast
to start with because it develops the feeling of a good
fly cast. The roll cast is the cast we use when we have
obstructions behind us such as trees, banks, etc. It enables
us to present the fly even when we have no space behind
us or when we have a strong tail wind which would blow a
back cast back in towards us or to straighten the line before
a pick up. Always practice the roll cast on water instead
of grass, the surface tension of the water helps us to load
the rod more efficiently. I use the roll cast like a get
out of jail free card from Monopoly, it always helps me
out of tricky situations, for example if I see a fish rising
or a good lie but there's no room for a back cast I use
a roll cast. The roll cast will be shown for a right hander,
left handers should study the concepts and adapt it to their
situation. Let's start by getting our selves into a comfortable
starting position left foot forward. Hold the rod with the
extended finger grip. The most difficult thing for a beginner
is how to get the fly line out of the rod tip in the first
place, start by striping out about 30 feet of line off your
reel now gently stroke the rod from side to side feeding
the line out of the rod tip with your left hand, when the
line is out of the rod tip grip the line under the middle
finger of your rod hand against the cork keeping a firm
wrist. Lift the rod and slowly draw the line towards you,
bring your hand up high, angle your hand away from your
body slightly, keep your elbow in so that the line can move
freely behind you and form a loop of line behind you, this
loop should resemble the letter D, let the line come to
a complete stop. Now aim slightly left of the line in the
water, pulling down leading with elbow forcing the rod to
load or bend, directing the energy of the cast towards the
target finishing with a positive stop about 45 degrees from
the horizontal, a loop will form and extend above the water,
as the loop unfurls and straightens fade the rod down to
the starting position. The Perfect Roll Casting Stroke
PRACTICE
I cannot emphasise this enough, don't wait until you are
on the water to practice casting, It is impossible to practice
casting while fishing, there are just too many other things
to concentrate on. Practice on a lawn or a pool free from
obstacles and distractions, every hour spent practicing
will bring you closer towards fly casting efficiency on
the stream.
These
tips have been put together after years of fly-casting and
fly-casting instruction. Let me stress that these tips are
not the bottom line; there are more ways to teach fly-casting
than there are fly fishermen. Just use what works for you
to make your casting more efficient.
Tight
loops
Christopher Rownes - FFF Certified Fly casting Instructor
Email
Chris
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