I was reading a post from a guy who was expressing concern about the cast collapsing a bit as it reached the terminus. His post ask whether people thought the running line was part of the problem. In his case he was throwing a Skagit with mono running line behind it. Contrary to what you may think I'm familiar with Skagit heads and casting and have not ever thought the running line had anything to do with whether I made a good cast or a poor one. Of course if it gets tangled that will stop the action but otherwise they all seem to fly.
The poster mentioned that his tip and leader fell sometimes in a pile and he felt this was poor presentation.
Generally my comments on topics such as this are not overly popular but here goes. It has already been ask but there was no answer as of yet. How far or long of a cast are we talking about here?
Many years ago I made shooting heads and fired them off with flat mono running line. Flat because it had less memory than standard lines. It was a nightmare to manage and that fad wore out in 2 seasons. I use integrated Spey lines with fused vinyl coated running lines following the heads. Several of these lines are rather short head types like the Super Scandi 47 foot heads I've gotten from Steve G. which are 600 grain lines. With a line like that on a 13'6" Sage One rod I can comfortably fish at distances between 60 and 80 feet while getting good turn over and having some level of control over the floating line. Longer casts are possible but when using weighted tube flies and Z-12 on the head the effort must be dialed up and turnover may suffer. With proper management of the running line it is possible to shoot out as much as 25 or 30 feet behind the heads. All things considered when I figure rod length, leader length, head length and running line I'd say I reach out pretty far.
Regarding turnover; unless you are fishing dry flies I have never allowed the fact that some casts are not as pretty as others to be a bother to me. In essence I have acquiesced to the point that when fishing wet flies like tubes or any steelhead / salmon fly having the fly and leader land in a heap can be beneficial. Beneficial how one may ask? A benefit in that as the line begins drifting on the current soon after landing the fly is not under tension, not being pulled along by the natural arc that forms in the line between the fisher and point of impact of the fly. During that short interval of time between my fly landing and the line exerting tension on it due to the arc my fly has gained valuable time in which to sink.
Think of this perhaps, unless you were to hold the rod tip down so that it touches the bottom there is always a difference in elevation between the tip and the bottom. Your fly, sink tip and line will be in a constant quest to rise to the same elevation as the rod tip which is the anchor point of that line. The arc pulled into the line acts as the elevator and the fly slowly climbs through the water until it reaches whatever height is obtainable factoring the amount of weight we have at the very tip of the line.
Does that make sense? Hoping some are seeing what I've tried to describe; lets return to those casts that don't turn all the way out like the ones on videos. More depth regardless of what head, what running line you use is almost always a good thing. Many people who have fished with me may have heard me say that "if it lands in the river it's a good cast". That's how I fish, some of the nicest fish I've ever caught hit a fly delivered by a cast that for all intent was ugly. My affinity for heads between 45 and 55 feet is related to my need to feel in control so I'm willing to sacrifice some things including 110 foot casts for more control over the fly.
Regarding the truly ugly cast; I believe one of the worst habits a fly caster can develop whether dry fly or streamer fishing is to be so bothered by a cast that lands badly that you immediately rip it back up to try again. On dry fly water this seems common sense to let it drift far away from where you intended before picking it up. I'm presuming that you have cast to where you expected a result so let it float away from that spot before doing anything. When throwing streamers the only time I would say you can safely rip a cast right up and try again would be in very choppy water conditions. Here we're thinking that the surface is already so rough that a little more disturbance can't do too much harm. Otherwise I think it's a bad thing.
Today's fly fisher & Spey casters can view videos, so many beautiful casts that you may think they are all perfect except your own. Remember that those videos are edited down to the presentation and if they are about casting then only the cream of the crop make the cut. We can't all be like Jack LaLane and we won't always make great casts. While you must be able to cast in order to fish please don't become so focused on the casting that you aren't fishing smart. If it lands in the river it's a good cast.
The poster mentioned that his tip and leader fell sometimes in a pile and he felt this was poor presentation.
Generally my comments on topics such as this are not overly popular but here goes. It has already been ask but there was no answer as of yet. How far or long of a cast are we talking about here?
Many years ago I made shooting heads and fired them off with flat mono running line. Flat because it had less memory than standard lines. It was a nightmare to manage and that fad wore out in 2 seasons. I use integrated Spey lines with fused vinyl coated running lines following the heads. Several of these lines are rather short head types like the Super Scandi 47 foot heads I've gotten from Steve G. which are 600 grain lines. With a line like that on a 13'6" Sage One rod I can comfortably fish at distances between 60 and 80 feet while getting good turn over and having some level of control over the floating line. Longer casts are possible but when using weighted tube flies and Z-12 on the head the effort must be dialed up and turnover may suffer. With proper management of the running line it is possible to shoot out as much as 25 or 30 feet behind the heads. All things considered when I figure rod length, leader length, head length and running line I'd say I reach out pretty far.
Regarding turnover; unless you are fishing dry flies I have never allowed the fact that some casts are not as pretty as others to be a bother to me. In essence I have acquiesced to the point that when fishing wet flies like tubes or any steelhead / salmon fly having the fly and leader land in a heap can be beneficial. Beneficial how one may ask? A benefit in that as the line begins drifting on the current soon after landing the fly is not under tension, not being pulled along by the natural arc that forms in the line between the fisher and point of impact of the fly. During that short interval of time between my fly landing and the line exerting tension on it due to the arc my fly has gained valuable time in which to sink.
Think of this perhaps, unless you were to hold the rod tip down so that it touches the bottom there is always a difference in elevation between the tip and the bottom. Your fly, sink tip and line will be in a constant quest to rise to the same elevation as the rod tip which is the anchor point of that line. The arc pulled into the line acts as the elevator and the fly slowly climbs through the water until it reaches whatever height is obtainable factoring the amount of weight we have at the very tip of the line.
Does that make sense? Hoping some are seeing what I've tried to describe; lets return to those casts that don't turn all the way out like the ones on videos. More depth regardless of what head, what running line you use is almost always a good thing. Many people who have fished with me may have heard me say that "if it lands in the river it's a good cast". That's how I fish, some of the nicest fish I've ever caught hit a fly delivered by a cast that for all intent was ugly. My affinity for heads between 45 and 55 feet is related to my need to feel in control so I'm willing to sacrifice some things including 110 foot casts for more control over the fly.
Regarding the truly ugly cast; I believe one of the worst habits a fly caster can develop whether dry fly or streamer fishing is to be so bothered by a cast that lands badly that you immediately rip it back up to try again. On dry fly water this seems common sense to let it drift far away from where you intended before picking it up. I'm presuming that you have cast to where you expected a result so let it float away from that spot before doing anything. When throwing streamers the only time I would say you can safely rip a cast right up and try again would be in very choppy water conditions. Here we're thinking that the surface is already so rough that a little more disturbance can't do too much harm. Otherwise I think it's a bad thing.
Today's fly fisher & Spey casters can view videos, so many beautiful casts that you may think they are all perfect except your own. Remember that those videos are edited down to the presentation and if they are about casting then only the cream of the crop make the cut. We can't all be like Jack LaLane and we won't always make great casts. While you must be able to cast in order to fish please don't become so focused on the casting that you aren't fishing smart. If it lands in the river it's a good cast.
