casting

[basher]

when your in your back cast for me the line hits the water and i have to pull the line out of the water, how do i cast so that it won't do that

[Davo]

basher
If the line is hitting the water behind you it could be that you are making ark with your casting stroke. Your casting stroke should be on a flat plain. Try to have your rod tip travel in a straight line as if you were painting a ceiling with the tip of your rod. Don't let it dip down toward the water on either the back stroke or for stroke.

An inexpensive video to help you out would be the "The Essence of Flycasting" by Mel Krieger and his other video "Flycasting Faults and Fixes".
You can get them at Amazon.com.

[Joni]

That was exactly what I was going to say Davo. Sounds like you are going too far back or breaking your wrist. Try wrapping something around your wrist and the butt of the rod. Long sleeves makes this nice cause you can stick the butt in your cuff.
Also try casting slightly sideways so you can see your cast. Shorten the stroke and add more power for distance. Double hauling is very important.

Plus LINE can be a problem also.

[OregonStreams]

Originally Posted by basher

when your in your back cast for me the line hits the water and i have to pull the line out of the water, how do i cast so that it won't do that

Well my line does not hit the water, but the darn bushes and trees here in OR actually dart INTO the river, snag my fly and RETURN to the shore No matter how quickly I turn and peek back I have never actually seen this happen, so this is not substantiated fact, but clearly a logical conclusion based on analytic thought.

[Frank Whiton]

Hi Basher,

The obvious faults have already been stated. You may also be picking up your fly line before you have all the slack out of the line. By the time you get the slack out of your fly line you don't have enough momentum to cast the line behind you. Make sure that before you start you back cast that you have stripped the slack out of the line on the water and the tip of the fly line is moving. Once you reach the point that your fly line tip is moving, start your back cast. As a beginner you should be using a short casting stroke and not moving you casting arm behind your back in an open arm cast. You could also have too heavy of a fly line for your rod.

It is more than likely that you are breaking your wrist and are throwing the fly line into the water behind you. A good way to practice is to do what is called pick-ups and lay-downs. Pull out 15' to 20' of fly line and get on the water in front of you. Lock the fly line between your pointing finger and the rod grip so you can't introduce slack into the line. Now do one pick-up trying to through the line behind and above you. It helps to watch the line unwind behind you. Now do a lay down casting the line forward. There is no false casting. It is an exercise to get your timing right.

Frank