single haul

[calftail]

All this talk of the double haul but seldom do I hear much about the single haul. I learned it first before I could pat my head and rub my tummy (lol) preforming the DH. It's a great technique for putting some juice in your back cast after a roll pickup ; or making a correction to a lazy mistimed forward or back cast.

Anybody else?

 

[mcnerney]

I agree, that is the best approach, at least for me it was.

Larry

 

[Ard]

I don't talk too much about casting because this is an internet discussion not real time encounters. When I examine my casting techniques I'm quite sure they are not normal but I seem to manage with the fishing part of all this.

When a double haul or distance thread comes up it tends to bring with it so many views that I almost always abstain from posting. Ever since I was young I've always taken notice to (usually older) fellows who seemed to cast effortlessly. It was them that I wanted to emulate and not anyone who looked as if they were putting a lot of work into it.

Now it's 2 handed rods and casting because I believe I have the traditional single hand thing down pretty well. Here in Alaska there are not any of those old timers casting the 2 hand rods for me to study so I've been left to my own devices. I try to limit the range / distance I cast and opt for a style that more closely mimics my single hand casting. Once the casting demands an increase of effort and energy I know I am beyond my comfort zone and I shorten the game.

I don't double haul cast very often at all. When I was beginning I did because I thought that distance was the hallmark of a good caster. I don't disparage people from learning distance casting because once in a while I find a situation where I need to utilize the skill but more often I seek to get closer to the target as opposed to flailing away at range. I think that if there is a negative aspect to distance casting while fishing a freshwater stream it is that the caster may very well be lining over countless fish in some situations. It's not just age that shortened my casts, I've been meticulously separating waters into grids and working with care since the late eighties and it has worked out well.

So, yeah I'm a single haul kinda guy

 

[wjc]

Good one Calftail ! You're right, there is little need for double hauling in most river fishing, and, in fact, it is generally counter productive to be a long ways from the fly in the first place. And as Ard says, lining fish is all too easy to do.

So that may be one reason why it's talked about so much. Guys don't normally learn the technique at an early age, then they hear about it when they decide to try salt water and don't know anyone to show them the technique except on youtube.

So it gets talked about a lot on the forum.

 

[calftail]

I'll offer this, I think the single haul is a subtle move in casting, not the dramatic moves for the double haul, where the hands are moving all the way to the reel and back to the back pocket, but it's a tug with the left hand. a short tug and the hands go back to there normal position maintaining the rhythm and the slack between the hand and the stripping guide. (right hand casters)

My tug is about 6 inches, and then my hands follow each other back and forth in the normal rhythm of the cast. My hands never stay in one stationary position from the forward cast or the back cast but move with stroke.

Anyone have a description for the single haul they want to pass along for the new guys to give them another perspective?

 

[guest61]

Great post Ard!

I think to a certain extent I single haul ALL the time. Unless Im doing something delicate. I often do a pretty aggressive haul during roll casts and single hand spey. It loads the rod a little deeper and rips a weighted fly out of the water nicely.

 

[jr2525]

Well said Hardy..

 

[wjc]

I just did a quick youtube search and here is video of the single haul. It is typically done only on the backcast, and the demonstrator uses an exaggerated motion to clearly illustrate it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTqoN00hUeQ

I watched another where the guy was actually unconsciously double hauling with a small tug on the forward cast as well as the backcast, and yet another where a guy was hauling on the forward cast, which I would call an atypical, or reverse single haul.

It takes a conscious effort for me also to not give a little tug on the forward cast once I get a fair amount of line in the air - so I can understand why the other two guys on youtube were having trouble on their videos doing the single haul.

The lengths of the haul have nothing to do with whether they are single or double.

 

[vgb]

I put a single haul into my back cast, even at fairly short ranges on small streams, to pick up line speed quickly and minimise the number of false casts that I have to make. From my own unscientific observations, it seems to result in less spooked fish.

 

[matthew l]

I use the single haul all the time while small water trout fishing. It really is a overlooked quick cast that adds distance

 

[flymart]

Fly Fishing Store Fly Mart Canada

We found this site helpful to your question.
Fly Fishing Store Fly Mart Canada - Beulah Switch rods