Anyone else just slop it out there?

[jjack]

Time to fess up: I love fishing, and especially fly fishing.

I'll admit, though, that I just slop it out there - free of technique, skill, or beauty. My successful roll cast percentage is lower than Pudge Rodriguez's average with runners in scoring position.

I'm a champion reach caster, swinger, and all-around get-it-in-their general neighborhood BAMN*

My best-laid lawn casting practice plans go awry when I get to the stream and find 20 foot trees on both sides of the bank.

I read the Fonz's book on fly fishing (a good read!) and he said it was okay - just get it to the fish.

If it's okay with The Fonz then it's okay with me.








*By Any Means Necessary

 

[diamond rush]

I used to be like that. But fly fishing is much, much more fun when you can cast well. Trust me on that.

I tried to teach myself and failed miserably. I eventually got it, but if I had learned the right way first, I would have been much more relaxed and caught many more fish during my first year or two of fly fishing.

 

[pszy22]

As with most things in life, there are exceptions; but often times, you don't need to be a great (or good) caster to catch fish.

My wife is a great example, she probably can't cast more than 30', but she catches more fish than probably 80% of the folks who fish on our popular home river.

She is not interested in casting, she likes to catch. She fishes a short, controlled line, and does indeed catch at least her fair share of fish.

Often times there is a difference between casting and fishing. If you spend most of your time seeing how far you can cast, chances are you are going to have a fun time casting, but not necessarily a fun time catching.

I will say what I said above applies to fishing for trout in wadable, moving water. There certainly are situations that require the ability to throw a longer line. So it does depend on where, what and how you fish.

 

[nickj]

Kneeling behind a fallen tree or a boulder or in the grass, fishing with more leader than line, no room for a back cast... there are no style points to be had. If your basic gear includes basketball knee pads, or if you have extra layers of material glued to the knees of your waders... BAMN describes it well, I think.

 

[killem]

I love watching the light touch of a dry fly setting on the water, and the trout taking it almost immediately in a huge splash of water. This is why I practiced my casting in my yard many a days, so that I could win the foolish battle of tiny brained fish vs the far smarter fly caster. I don't do much in the way of long distance casting, so the short distance soft presentation of the dry is where my bread and butter sits.

This is just me though...I would rather beat the fish with the best cast then to just get a hookup and land.

 

[repperson29]

Yes,

But I'm usually trying for the opposite.


Ryan

 

[rott21]

If your enjoying the way you do it, then let er rip dude :frogdance

 

[dwizum]

I definitely slop it, but I think that's mainly because I was self taught as a teenager on small creeks where distance didn't matter and there was literally no room for "good" technique.

Even though most of my fishing in the future will likely be on these same small streams, I'd like to get better at casting, to at least have the skills foundation to fall back on. Even if I go an entire day without the space or need for a basic overhead cast, I'm pretty sure I'd be better off if I understood how to do a really good basic overhead.

I guess what I'm saying is that there's a difference between slopping it because you don't know any better, and slopping it by choice because of the situation you're in. In both cases you may be making essentially the same cast, but in the latter, you'll probably have a better idea how to finesse the presentation and avoid spooking the fish.

 

[hokiehunter07]

This is about as much room as I have to cast in many of the streams I fish. There is no back cast. There is no water loading. There is no steeple cast. There's no time to mend line after it hits the water.

A lot of the fishing I end up doing reminds me of dipping bread in a creek for chubs and daces but I sure do catch a pile of these beautiful brookies.

 

[photoguy]

Overall I seem to be more successful when I'm just 'winging it' than when my fishing is 'considered'. Case in point, last fall I was fishing on a local river using a copper John. Why? I dunno...it seemed like an attractive fly to me. Not much was happening when another angler asked if he could cut through my spot. I said sure and as he passed we had a brief conversation. I didn't realize it, but my fly was just dangling in the water behind me, when all of a sudden BAM! A huge brookie hit it A minute later when I was struggling to get him in my little net (he barely fit) the other angler said something along the lines of "wow, I've never seen a brookie that big in this river''.

Go figure...

 

[jjack]

I'm jealous of those brook trout pictures!

 

[darkshadow]

I started my fly fishing experience fishing small creeks with plenty of foliage. During the first hour, if my cast landed in front of me without hooking any trees behind me, I considered it a success. I remember the first trout I hooked on the fly, my fly landed next to my leader, next to my fly line. And the sucker didn't care and came up and moved all the line and leader away with his fins to eat my fly.

I left the fly shop where I had bought my set up with 2 dozen flies. I went out to a local creek the next day and after a few hours, I was down to 6. So, naturally, I visited my local fly shop again, and it went like this.

Them: "You keep hooking trees?"
Me: "Yep."
"Try not hooking trees."
"How?"
"Did you try roll casting?"
"Roll what?"

Day 2 was much better now that I had an actual method to cast with shrubbery behind and above me. There came a sense of satisfaction when I made casts where my leader actually landed straight and my fly landed without a huge commotion.

While my technique isn't perfect, I feel my casting has been the ticket to getting fish to go that I wouldn't have if I didn't have a well placed cast.

So while I still feel that I slop it out there, I think my roll cast is finally adequate enough, and my regular casting still needs a lot of work, and I must look like an idiot flogging the water at times.

 

[Unknownflyman]

I roll cast a ton, more than anything I bet but over the years I developed a good overhead cast so yeah, I slopped it out there for years and learned after many hours of performing less than perfect casts. I learned from other fishermen I met and absorbed what they told me. I got better cause I wanted to.

I think the key to hooking fish is slopping it out there in a line way above the fish and getting the drift together way before the big trouts hole or where it`s last rise occurred.

Fish the way that makes you happy.

 

[ia_trouter]

At times I absolutely do fish sloppy when the bite is on and the stream situation exceeds my skill set. But I believe that I limit my future progression if I accept it. I may not have the fly fishing experience to know these things for sure. But I think I can draw from my extensive hardware fishing experiences....

-casting skills do matter
-fly (lure) selection matters
-reading water matters
-proper gear for the situation matters
-the ability to repeat what worked before may matter again soon

Not willing to accept my mediocre skills on the fly, and that's what drives me to improve. Throwing a random fly to a random place for a random fish isn't acceptable fly fishing for me. That said, there is nothing wrong with that if the results bring YOU satisfaction. That is why we all fish right?

 

[jjack]

Interesting answers everyone

 

[Unknownflyman]

I`m curious what`s interesting about the answers?

 

[jjack]

I`m curious what`s interesting about the answers?

I'm curious about why you're curious about what I find interesting.

 

[silver creek]

I'm curious why you are curious about...... oh never mind!

---------- Post added at 02:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:48 PM ----------

I guess what I'm saying is that there's a difference between slopping it because you don't know any better, and slopping it by choice because of the situation you're in. In both cases you may be making essentially the same cast, but in the latter, you'll probably have a better idea how to finesse the presentation and avoid spooking the fish.

^^^^^^ Rignt On with a provision.

GB always says fly casting is spelled C-O-N-T-R-O-L = CONTROL

The difference beween the two situtations above is that the first cast is without control, and the second cast is made with control. So both casts are not really the same. The first is unintentional, and the second is intentional.

It is the difference between throwing a baseball and pitching a baseball. You'll fool a lot more batters (fish) when you are a pitcher than if you are a thrower.

 

[bigjim5589]

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not an expert & my casting could improve. Sometimes my sloppy casts are due to inattentiveness on my part, but sometimes too not always done unintentionally.

Yes, there are times that wind, trees, brush or whatever else may interfere with my casting, however I know I've developed enough skills to adjust to such annoyances most of the time. Again, I can still certainly use some improvements.

I like to believe that I can cast well enough for any fishing I do or situations I may encounter. That may not necessarily mean I can drop a dry fly 80 ft across a current, and behind a boulder & achieve a drag free drift, but I can get a streamer or bass bug in most places 60 ft or less away from my casting position, if I can keep from hanging the fly in those annoyances previously mentioned. That's one reason I don't fish dry flies, I'm not very good at it.

There certainly is a difference between masterful casting for the sake of casting, and being able to cast well enough to catch fish. I endeavor to improve not only my casting skills, but also my fishing skills which are intertwined. You'll never witness me challenging Steve Rajeff to a casting competition, that's for sure!

As Silver has stated, control is the important part of casting. Perfect casting technique, although desirable doesn't always make a better angler, but I've learned that at least trying to strive for such lofty goals helps improve my chances of catching more than the tree behind me.

My casting is not perfect, but I won't settle for simply slopping it out there unless that's the only way I can manage to get the fly where I need it to catch a fish in a given situation.

 

[fredaevans]

I was really surprised, given the book, rolled my eyes.

"I read the Fonz's book on fly fishing (a good read!) and he said it was okay - just get it to the fish.

If it's okay with The Fonz then it's okay with me."

Turned out to be a fun read.:secret: