Does anyone fly cast anymore?

[FlyFlinger2421]

It just occurred to me that most folks want a very fast (read: very stiff) rod these days. It also occurred to me that most everyone I see these days is slingin' lead (okay, titanium or whatever). So now I am thinking the two probably go together.
So does anyone remember how to cast like Brad Pitt?:shocking:

 

[silver creek]

Don't you mean the casting double, Jason Borger?

The shadow cast in RRTI could not be made with a bamboo rod. Jason broke two bamboo rods in the attempt, and the cast was finally performed with a "faster" composite fly rod. It was not a super fast rod, to be sure, but it is the caster and not the rod.

 

[gatortransplant]

Throwback! From our own forum from *gasp* 2006!

http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/f...-casting-river-runs-through-jason-borger.html

 

[kglissmeyer1]

Although I often cast multiple nymph rigs and love it and the results, I can't say that I've ever moved away from traditional casting if that is what you're referring to. I find myself presenting dry flies often during the season which requires skill in casting, shooting line, double-hauling, distance, close-up work and delicate presentation. I'm not quite sure where you've deduced that most fly fishing is about stiffer rods and slinging lead? That's part of it, but I don't see where we've moved even slightly away from the beauty of fly casting. And, there is nothing wrong with the stiffer rods, in fact they cast a line quite efficiently, but they're not for everyone. I prefer the moderate-fast action of my old Sage RPL, and the smoothness of a good bamboo rod is just different and will also not appeal to all anglers. I think it's about what works for you.

Kelly

P.S.: Brad Pitt can't cast and never could :grin: Now, Jason Borger, on the other hand, he's a class act and learned well from his father.

 

[fyshstykr]

LSHMSFOMHAIDMT!

I just had a long discussion about this very subject with another member.
It does seem that in some circles it's become a game of "chuck and duck" rather than an art form.

 

[Bigfly]

The beautiful thing to me, about fly fishing, is the breadth of applications, and near endless variety.
Whether hucking a size 20 dry on an overhead cast to a gulper, way...over there.
Or dredging a brown, big enough to ride from raging deep water on a weighted golden stone, or dapping a hopper two feet away to a brook, it's all good.
I have stood on a rock and cast, but generally, it spooks fish.
Always remember, there is a difference between looking good (Hollywood), and catching fish......
Over the years, I've discovered that less casting = more fish.
But a line is pretty in the air...

Jim

 

[Jackster]

So does anyone remember how to cast like Brad Pitt?:shocking:

I remember how it looked while watching the movie but I think very few people in this world could ever cast like that much less remember how to do it.

As for the trend towards fast rods, I noticed that but I think it was largely a fad for a while for people other than salt water and big, windy river fly fishers.
Most every manufacturer has products ranging from soft fiberglass rods to rocket launchers with many choices in between. It's not hard at all to find a rod with the exact action you require.
Since I tend to go with the lightest tippet I can get away with, it's important that my rods offer softer tips yet all sorts of reserve power when I do need to blast a cast out there.
It's nice to be a fly fisher nowadays when rods can be found that serve far more than one single type of action.
Other than the price on premium rods I have no complaints about what manufacturers have to offer theses days at all.

 

[FlyFlinger2421]

Probably what got me started on this line of thinking was going fishing with a relative newbie last month.
He put an indicator on that was actually larger than the pencil floats I used to use to fish for 'gills with crickets! Then a nymph or two with split shot and he would sling the whole thing upstream and let it drift on down below him until the line was tight and then sling the whole thing back upstream.
Who is it that is teaching these people that this is the way fly fishing is done?
This is about the only way fly fishing seems to be practiced any more in the tailwaters I fish here in Colorado.

 

[gatortransplant]

I'm relatively new to fly fishing, in that I've only had my rod since either the end of August or the beginning of September. I have certainly dove right in and fished as much as I can and learned as much as I can, but I'm still definitely new. The indicator fishing as you describe is certainly popular, but yes, to some, it is not fly fishing. There's weight attached, the casting is of the sustained anchor variety rather than the nice aerial loop and cast (but so is spey casting?), and the indicator, which I presume was a thingamabobber or something similar, appears to be quite large. I've ran this set-up in my two months of fishing with (Heaven forbid) an egg pattern suspended under said terminal tackle. However, I have also dead-drifted stone flys with no weight besides the beadhead(s) of the fly itself and swung streamers in the current. For me, fly fishing is not about how much weight is attached to your leader, the presence/absence or size of your indicator, or the fly attached to the end of your tippet. It is about the fact that you're holding (and potentially even casting) a fly rod, your line is spooled on a fly reel, and the thing tied on to your tippet is made of fur, feathers, and a hook. It's certainly not spin-fishing, something you certainly realize once you get a fish on the reel, if you hadn't already realized it in getting your fly to your target. Whether I'm fishing an egg pattern under an indicator, swinging some obnoxious articulated streamer, or stripping a wooly bugger, it's fly fishing to me, and I absolutely love it.

 

[Ard]

Bigdog & Anyone Else,

I have written a rather long essay regarding this very topic and IF you PM to me requesting a copy to read I will send one to you. The document is too lengthly to fit on the forum or into a PM so Please include your e-mail address with your message and I will send copy in the form of a Word attachment.

You may find it interesting,

Ard

 

[webrx]

he would sling the whole thing upstream and let it drift on down below him until the line was tight and then sling the whole thing back upstream.
Who is it that is teaching these people that this is the way fly fishing is done?
This is about the only way fly fishing seems to be practiced any more in the tailwaters I fish here in Colorado.

I agree that this is not dry fly fishing, but for nymphing the river here, when it is fast, or the temps are dropping, this is actually a pretty effective way to nymph. During the winter, I fish using a water loaded cast (similar to what you described) quite a bit, it minimizes stripping line in and also minimizes ice in the guides, and when you are using weighted flies or multiple split shots to get the fly down to the bottom, this is a pretty effective way to cast the rig back upstream or cross stream.

Dave

 

[randyflycaster]

I believe that recently there has been a trend away from stiff rods for several fishing applications.

(I like nymphing with a moderate-action rod.)

IMHO, when it comes to dry fly fishing, especially on bigger rivers, fly casting will always be a big part of the game, as it was for George M. L. La Branche in his classic book The Dry Fly and Fast Water.

So many times we're over concerned about matching the hatch and about the width of our tippet, and not concerned enough about the presentation of our dry fly.

I don't see how an angler can be a good dry fly fisherman if he or she cannot make accurate casts.

And certainly when it comes to saltwater fly fishing there's no way around it: an angler must be able to cast.

Randy

 

[wjc]

Bigdog,

What you describe sounds like fishing on the Salmon River in Pulaski, NY - whether for Great Lakes steelhead or king salmon - which I did once. It was not fly fishing to me - more like bait fishing in a subway terminal - and I never went back again.

I also used to fish for large brook trout right after ice out using what was called a Hi density sinking line back then, and caught a lot of big brook trout on black ghosts and an ocassional landlocked salmon. But though that was effective, it was not the fly fishing I like - more like spin fishing with a fly rod.

I like to see or hear the fish and watch the bite or at least the boil - so I have simply tailored my fishing to that by picking the times that I fish. I can't remember catching a single bass my entire life on anything but a popper, dahlberg diver or a dry fly by accident when fishing for trout in areas that got invaded by smallmouths.

I do throw streamers and lead eyed flies for some species, but for those that will take on top, my go to's are invariably poppers, gurglers, divers, or crease flies. Curve casts around lilly pads or up against shorelines with weeds between me and the "channel" are great fun. That doesn't work so well with heavy clousers.

But I've no problem with recreational fishing in any manner so long as bait fishermen don't introduce invasive species. To each his own.

Ard, I've sent you my email address. I'd love to read your article.

 

[Jackster]

Just this summer a friend gave me thanks for showing him a nymphing technique that I didn't even realize I did and didn't realize he picked up on by watching.
I would nymph with weight up stream and, instead of letting the rig drift past me for a water-load lob, I simply allowed it back enough to form a D-Loop behind me, did one roll cast to get the rig up and did a traditional overhead cast back into the feeding lane.
When I watched him do it it was a nice looking technique that borrowed from both the traditional and the new way of getting the job done.

 

[crittergetter]

Just this summer a friend gave me thanks for showing him a nymphing technique that I didn't even realize I did and didn't realize he picked up on by watching.
I would nymph with weight up stream and, instead of letting the rig drift past me for a water-load lob, I simply allowed it back enough to form a D-Loop behind me, did one roll cast to get the rig up and did a traditional overhead cast back into the feeding lane.
When I watched him do it it was a nice looking technique that borrowed from both the traditional and the new way of getting the job done.

I agree with Jackster. I rarely have the chance to back cast. Tree and tandum rigs kill my back cast (sometimes I side arm back cast). And when I have opportunity to teach people I tell them they don't need to be Brad Pit to fly fish. Just make the D and flick your wrist at the end of a slow steady stroke.

I use a 10' 5wt rod it is med-fast. To me the stiff rods for the killer distance cause breakoffs and issues when nymphing.

Gatortransplant Ditto's to what you said.

Crittergetter

PS.. Fly Casting DVD Video ROLL CAST / Switch Cast Excerpt from 'Casts that Catch Fish' - YouTube Here is the roll cast I learned. I also learned from a friend the "Jump Roll" That is as close as I get to Hollywood. However, if you have a chance to use it it really does get a heavy fly and line off of the water quickly.

 

[vitesse304]

Probably what got me started on this line of thinking was going fishing with a relative newbie last month.
He put an indicator on that was actually larger than the pencil floats I used to use to fish for 'gills with crickets! Then a nymph or two with split shot and he would sling the whole thing upstream and let it drift on down below him until the line was tight and then sling the whole thing back upstream.
Who is it that is teaching these people that this is the way fly fishing is done?
This is about the only way fly fishing seems to be practiced any more in the tailwaters I fish here in Colorado.

I'm not sure I understand what your beef is. Is it that he's using a large indicator? Is it the 2 nymph rig with shot to get it down? Is it his casting?

I say use what works. On most tailwaters, I'm nymphing unless there's a hatch and surface activity. 2 or 3 nymph rigs with shot get the flies down to the fish. Plus, I'm usually fishing small midges, 18-22 so you need the weight since these aren't weighted flies.

I use thingamabobbers all the time now, great indicators, and the larger ones show the subtle strikes better...so use as big of one as you can until the fish get spooky. Yep, not traditional, but it works.

His cast seems rudimentary, but it gets his rig back upstream. A nice roll cast might seem more elegant, but you said he's a newb...it took me a while to learn a good roll cast without tangling up a 2 or 3 nymph rig.

Sounds like he's adapting to what he's got. Sure, it's not "artistic" but he's trying to catch fish.

Come fish with me. I'll show you what works!


Everybody fly fishes different. People prefer different rods lengths, actions, compositions, all that will eventually suit their own casts. Some people fly fish for the "art" of it and prefer to dry fly fish, some people love hucking huge streamers, and some nymph deep, it's all fly fishing and it works.

 

[mikel]

How about we all just fish the way we want? Personally, I don't think the odds of hooking up are very good while my flies are in the air, so I try to keep them in or on the water.

Dry fly fishing from my tube I primarily roll cast because I'm accurate and can deliver the fly just about as far as from the air. Nymphing I'll use a water load or a lob or whatever works to get those bugs into a feeding lane quickly.

If you're fishing from a moving boat and put your bugs in the air (my opinion) you'll float right by fish with your bugs out of the water.

As I think about how I fish, the only times I aerialize (sp?) my flies is when casting a sink tip, I line or shooting head...otherwise, I'd prefer to roll cast or otherwise get my bugs in the water quickly.

2 cents worth, maybe....-Mike

 

[williamhj]

How about we all just fish the way we want?

We can all just fish how we want, amen. How I fish is a combo of how I want to fish that day and what the fish want.

 

[FlyFlinger2421]

gatortransplant:
Your last sentence makes mypoint! You don't mention ever casting a dry fly!
Don't get me wrong, I use egg patterns (never the plastic ones, though!) and my favorite go-to nymph/streamer pattern is a wooly bugger tied on a jig hook, but I know how to present a #20 BWO on the end of a tapered 6X tippet using a double tapered line. Why a double taper? Because it is easier to mend because of the extra weight in the midsection. Which brings up another thing: do they teach folks how to mend a line anymore? The people I have watched never seem to have learned.
Now about knots........

 

[lthrnk03]

I'm a rookie when it come to fly fishing and I am all about letting people fish the way they want to fish. Having said that....Any schmuck can chuck and duck. Anyone can pick up a spinning rod and throw a conventional lure.

Fly fishing is an art. It takes time, dedication and perseverance to master this craft.