Fly hitting my rod!

[sparkie]

Yesterday I was fly fishing with a little popper and it probably hit my rod on the back cast 3 or 4 times. What am I doing wrong? I didn't have this problem when I was using a bigger popper.

[randyflycaster]

Hard to say what's going on from a post. You could be lowering the rod tip from the target line, or the fly line is unrolling before you're generating enough power on your back cast, and your popper is falling. (Also, when the fly line unrolls the popper might be causing the line to snap a bit, like letting go of a stretched rubber band. This will add slack to the line and cause you to lose power on your cast.) Hitting the fly rod with the fly is something I struggled with, so my cures help you.

Techniques For The Long-Distance Fly Caster

Randy

[Crunchbird]

Randy did a nice job going through a few potentials. You might also consider that you are stopping the rod too upright on the backcast or perhaps simply not loading the rod up enough on the backcast and the popper is simply falling. While you don't want too much wrist action, you do need some, so let the bottom of the flyrod develop a 45 to 50 degree angle between your wrist and rod butt on the end of the backcast. This will move the tip just past upright. Also, make sure that you give yourself what Joan Wulf calls a strong loading move on the backcast. This is a slight upward motion with your casting arm and shoulder. As you complete the loading move and break the wrist the line should unfurl up and behind you. On your front cast make sure you take advantage of that loading move and bring your shoulder and arm down first before extending the forearm and snapping the wrist at the end (Joan Wulf calls this the power snap).

Hope that makes some sense!

Also, there is a good site that discusses fly casting techniques at Fly Fishing Tips - Fly Casting - MidCurrent

EXCERPT: Casting Large Flies
When casting flies that are heavier or larger than what your line and rod were designed for, try putting a side-arm motion in your back cast and making a straight overhead forward cast. This is sometimes referred to as a "Belgian" cast and can also help when the wind is blowing over the wrong shoulder. Be aware, though, that this style of casting will also put twist in your fly line. (See "The Belgian Cast.")

[randyflycaster]

Just to add: If the popper is hitting your rod tip you're probably lowering the the rod tip from the target line during your cast. If the popper is hitting the butt of your rod, the popper is probably unrolling and bouncing and adding slack, or because your forward false cast unrolled and is already falling before you can generate enough speed on your back cast. The first defect can be caused because you're casting with too much power.

When false casting long amounts of line I begin my back cast when my fly line - not the leader -is at least three or four feet from unrolling during the forward false.

Randy

[plland]

On the back cast, you should have your rod angled slightly to the side, so your fly rod isn't in the fly's line of flight. Then, on the forward cast, the rod can be more in line with straight up-and-down.