How Far?

[csangler]

So in preparation of my first saltwater trip I took the weekend to practice casting with the new rod. It took some time to get used the the rod but today I was throwing it pretty decently but still need some work. There wasn't much wind where I was practicing but it seems that about 60 -65 feet seems to be my limit. I basically took the taper color and the leader length to try and judge the casting distance. My casting needs some work but I'm concerned about having enough distance especially in the wind for saltwater fishing. I was not very accurate today since I was trying for distance so I need some work there as well. Realistically where does one need to be in terms of distance and accuracy to enjoy saltwater fishing? I'm fine with always trying to improve but just trying to gauge where I need to try to be. My loop is still wider than what I like so need to work on that as well. Any suggestion for practicing to get more distance and tighter loops?

 

[silver creek]

So in preparation of my first saltwater trip I took the weekend to practice casting with the new rod. It took some time to get used the the rod but today I was throwing it pretty decently but still need some work. There wasn't much wind where I was practicing but it seems that about 60 -65 feet seems to be my limit. I basically took the taper color and the leader length to try and judge the casting distance. My casting needs some work but I'm concerned about having enough distance especially in the wind for saltwater fishing. I was not very accurate today since I was trying for distance so I need some work there as well. Realistically where does one need to be in terms of distance and accuracy to enjoy saltwater fishing? I'm fine with always trying to improve but just trying to gauge where I need to try to be. My loop is still wider than what I like so need to work on that as well. Any suggestion for practicing to get more distance and tighter loops?

S&S and Riptide are the saltwater fly fishers who can answer your question.

This is what I think but I could be all wrong.

There are main types of different situations. One is fishing to bonefish, tarpon, and permit and the other is fishing from a jetty or the shore to bluefish, stripers, etc.

If you are going for bonefish, tarpon, permit, etc.; I think more 60 - 65 feet is more than adequate. What is more important is the ability to do it with one false cast and be accurate. You also need to be able to spot the fish that the guide is pointing out. The fish may be moving and being able to spot the fish and cast accurately with minimal false casts is the skill you need. If you need 3-4 false casts cast to the fish, that will take too long.

How far do you need to cast to catch bonefish | Bonefish on the Brain

If you are fishing from shore or a jetty, then distance is an advantage and accuracy less so since you are rarely targeting a single fish.

What say SweetandSalt and Riptide?

 

[driftless22]

If you are fishing in the Everglades City/Chokoloskee area, most of your casts will be 60-65 feet at most. The clarity of the water is lower than it is in the Keys or the Bahamas. Also, the fish are less pressured.

 

[csangler]

If you are fishing in the Everglades City/Chokoloskee area, most of your casts will be 60-65 feet at most. The clarity of the water is lower than it is in the Keys or the Bahamas. Also, the fish are less pressured.

I was thinking of doing a Bahamas trip next year. How far do you need to cast there?

 

[Rip Tide]

60 - 65' is fine in my book and I'm good with open loops too
Big air resist flies require open loops so that's not something I worry about

One thing that you might want to work on is getting your cast off with maximum of two false casts
Often that's much more important than distance or line speed

 

[camelbrass]

Sight fishing from a boat, as has been said, requires relatively shorter casts made quickly, particularly in dirty water, but when the water is clear and the fish spooky the further you can land the fly accurately away from the boat the better. Walking the flats and sight casting you usually have time to position yourself to make the cast and providing you can keep a low profile you can cast surprisingly close. Blind casting in the surf or working a popper along a reef requires that you cover as much water as you can. In those circumstances, generally the guy that casts the furthest catches the most fish.

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[karstopo]

Saltwater fly fishing gets lumped into one category as if it’s almost one basic thing, but as the previous responses allude to there’s a huge diversity of settings, structures, methods, water and fish. Even when the subject is just one species of fish, such as a redfish, that fish could be found on a variety of structures behaving in a variety of ways that would require a different approach in each situation.

I think the skiff and boat guides here in Texas and nearby Louisiana are generally poling people pretty close to the fish, well inside the OP’s aforementioned 60-65’ range. When I’ve been out in the kayak (I stand in mine) or wading fishing shallow bay and other areas, the bulk of my casts are inside of the 60-65’ range.

The times out in the saltwater where I’ve had the most numerous catching have been when I was able to stake out, anchor or wade/walk to a spot and make relatively short casts to fish concentrated on a structure. In those situations, the fisherman simply dials in the distance they want to cast, within reason, so that it might be 40 or 50 or 60 feet.

Even in my relatively limited experience fishing for sighted tarpon and snook, in each case I’ve been able to paddle the kayak to a relatively short range, well inside the 60-65 feet mentioned in the OP.

I think if the OP is going the guide route, I’d make sure to have a frank conversation with the guide ahead of time like before booking and get an clear idea of what is expected. Don’t like what you hear, then try another guide. If most all or all of the guides in the area you are interested in are all telling you the same basic thing and your cast isn’t up to the task, then you can try to develop a better cast or find some other setting to fish that isn’t going to require so much distance casting.

 

[okiekev]

60 ft will be more than adequate for most scenarios you will encounter in the tropics. Odds are you won’t be able to see fish much past that on your first trip anyway. I would focus on a couple of things:
1. Work on improving your accuracy as much as possible. Start in the calm and then practice in the wind. I would much rather be able to drop a fly in the zone at 50, than miss by 8 ft at 70 and spook the fish. As mentioned above, this needs to be done with 0-1 false casts.
2. Learn to correctly double haul. This will enable you to more effectively shoot your line in fewer false casts.

I think the best advice would be to spend some time with a good casting instructor. If you are planning on dropping thousands on a trip, a couple hundred with a good teacher is well worth it. They can help identify small changes that can make you way more effective.

Keep practicing as much as you can and you will be ready. The best lessons learned are the ones from actually casting to fish.

 

[bonefish41]

Mark your fly line with black marker 40 feet and 50 feet so with a 10 foot leader that's a 50 and 60 and factor in the nine foot rod that some more feet... practice with fly so that you get a straight shot with the fly not just the line...practice in wind BUT never ever cast through the skiff unless the guide says to do it e.g. you're right handed you pick up a fish coming in or rolling or laid up at 1 or 2 (that's the prime time for a lefty)and start to cast before the guide spins the skiff to make it a 10 or 11 clocked fish...you have hooked guide... unless you can do some of the fancy casts out to 50-60 feet back cast...cross chest etc...or you are a switch hitter...however, there's nothing easier than a 50-60 foot lawn cast or a same distance blind cast but sight casting to an incoming fish or slow rolling or laid up fish that's difficult...buck fever... particularly if you do it only 6 or 7 days a year...don't be discouraged if you're only batting 300 that's major league but if one stands on the casting deck for 50 plus times a year you should be batting 600 or more but then you have just spent 35,000 after tax dollars ...but sight fishing for Tarpon Bonefish and Permit with a flyrod is addictive...and you'll get some shots at Tarpon not giants but enough to get you addicted and the first one your hooked

 

[osseous]

You can catch fish in the Bahamas with a 40' cast. As has been mentioned, if you are fishing from a skiff- minimizing false casts is key. While wading, you generally have a little more leeway here. That 65' lawm cast MIGHT be 40' from a boat deck in the wind you will encounter on the flats. If there is slack when it lands, you aren't hooking anything until you strip out the slack and achieve a connection between your line hand and the fly.

Here's a drill and a tip for you to practice:

Stand with 20 feet or so of flyline out the rod tip, and your "fly" pinched between your fingers (or the end of your leader while on the lawn). Roll this portion of line into the air, and then make your backcast. Shoot a little line on the backcast and then deliver the forward cast. See how far you can deliver a straight cast, with the fly at the farthest point and no slack in your leader. Do it again with one added false cast- shooting line each time. Many people will see their fly land in a pile of leader- or to the left (right handed cast) of the fly line path. This is a common issue for folks going for distance. It happens because on your backcast you are pulling in (naturally) toward your body and creating a curved path to your rod tip. You can see this by letting your backcast fall to the ground- the end will tail in toward you. Straighten this backcast path, and you will straighten the delivery and turnover of your leader and fly. THIS is important to master before adding a haul. You will likely FEEL the load in the rod once you achieve a straight path- and then the world of distance, line speed and accuracy opens up. FORGET the double haul until you can deliver the fly at the end of a straight leader on your longest effort.

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[Hirdy]

csangler, if I were in your shoes, I'd be getting a few lessons before you head to the Bahamas to maximise the value of that trip. There's never a time when being able to cast well disadvantages you. The fact that you're asking the question shows you probably have some doubts about your casting, so here's your excuse to invest in it.

If you really want to test what you can do now, lay out a tape on a windy day and try to hit a hoola hoop at 50' with a large "fly" in less than 10 seconds. If you can't do it 8 times out of 10, you may struggle in the Bahamas.

Cheers,
Graeme

 

[dennyk]

So in preparation of my first saltwater trip I took the weekend to practice casting with the new rod. It took some time to get used the the rod but today I was throwing it pretty decently but still need some work. There wasn't much wind where I was practicing but it seems that about 60 -65 feet seems to be my limit. I basically took the taper color and the leader length to try and judge the casting distance. My casting needs some work but I'm concerned about having enough distance especially in the wind for saltwater fishing. I was not very accurate today since I was trying for distance so I need some work there as well. Realistically where does one need to be in terms of distance and accuracy to enjoy saltwater fishing? I'm fine with always trying to improve but just trying to gauge where I need to try to be. My loop is still wider than what I like so need to work on that as well. Any suggestion for practicing to get more distance and tighter loops?

Hi csangler!
I'm sure you factored this into your casting distance, how are you gauging it? Are you including the distance from your stance? Meaning the line through the guides and including leader length? Assuming you are using a 9' rod and a 9' leader add another 18' to your 60-65' casting distance.

Good Luck with your upcoming adventure!

Denny

 

[sweetandsalt]

I was thinking of doing a Bahamas trip next year. How far do you need to cast there?

I love the Bahamas, do you have ideas about where and when? At a lodge with guides (recommended) or DIY? Others have stated a truism with which I concur; advancing your casting skills is always a good thing. The water is generally exceptionally clear in the Bahamas as well as shallow. Bonefish, though challenging to see, can be seen far off. Your guide, from the vantage of his poling platform, may spot fish a couple of hundred feet away and pole to met them and put you in position to make the cast. He has seen you cast and knows what you can and can not do. Bonefish are born spooky and the boat makes sounds; the slap of tide against the chines, the crunch of the push pool, your movements in the boat and your profile is tall. The further away you can effectively and accurately make a presentation, the less likely the feeding fish is going to be aware of your presence. If you have illustrated the ability to cast well at 75 - 80', that is when he is going to encourage you to cast now. As distances shorten, odds worsen as sound and movement are more apparent. Wading a flat on foot you can get much closer to bonefish but in both cases you have one good shot, subsequent casts have dramatically diminishing potential to be eaten.

You want to form aerodynamic tight looped, high line sped casts. You want to straighten out your line and long leader fully. When to fly lands on the water you want to drop your rod tip to the surface and make a slow, long strip to pull out any undue slack. You want to be in direct contact with you fly. When the bonefish eats, you will make a long hard "strip strike" till you are solid to him and then lift your rod, holding the slack line lightly in your fingers asway from your body as the line from the deck shoots away through your guides. Strive to stay calm, listen to your guide, understand that flats fishing from a skiff is something of a team sport. And, in this vision intensive, high performance version of fly fishing, the quality of your polarized eyewear is of equal importance to the performance of your rod, reel, line and leader.

 

[brokeoff]

I'm fairly new to saltwater and flats fishing so this might be helpful just in that I have recently been where you are. I wrote this in another forum but it might be helpful to you:

Regarding casting distance and casting practice I'd like to add something that I wish I knew when I just started out.

If you will be doing any sight casting, which has been talked about here, I think it would be helpful for you to practice casting starting with the fly in your hand. I spent my first year working on distance. My second year I worked on accuracy. Now, in about my third year, I am trying to also practice my distance and accuracy from the ready position.

I have been in many situations wading or on the bow where I think, "wtf, I KNOW I can make that cast!" What happened? I figured out that if I practice casting to a bucket at 50ft and I make the same cast for 30 minutes, I am only practicing for one scenario. When it was time to make a 50 ft cast starting from 0 ft, all of a sudden it was harder to get the line out, judge distance, cast well, have the appropriate casting stroke to match line out, etc.

So now, in general I practice that 50 ft cast, but I also practice casting starting with the fly in hand, quick casts, 20 ft casts through 90 ft casts, various flies, all wind speeds, all wind directions, back casts, off shoulder, side arm, distance without looking back, distance with looking back, no haul short shots, no haul long shots, crouching, kneeling, sitting, handstands, cartwheels, etc. I also try and practice some of the 5 fundamentals of casting in each session. If it's not a specific drill then I try to at least be aware of what they are while casting.

In addition to the above, I would suggest you get a tripod so you can video yourself. I can find the problems in my cast but I have an expert to help me with solutions for the problems. Get some in person lessons and take the time to find a good one that you really like.

I can tell you I've seen a surprising number of stripers, a few bonefish and permit (important to note that I am battling 0 against these monsters) at less than 40 ft. How do you hit a fish at 9 o'clock 25' with your fly in hand? It's not the most comfortable shot but if you've practiced it a dozen time it might work when it's game time. I practice a bunch of these little flips and a bunch of long ones too. So my bread and butter is 40 - 60' but I've practiced plenty from 20 - 40' and 60 - 80'.

 

[csangler]

Hi csangler!
I'm sure you factored this into your casting distance, how are you gauging it? Are you including the distance from your stance? Meaning the line through the guides and including leader length? Assuming you are using a 9' rod and a 9' leader add another 18' to your 60-65' casting distance.

Good Luck with your upcoming adventure!

Denny

The line im using has a 50 head that is blue so when all of the blue head was through the last eye on rod i knew that was 50 feet of line out plus the 10 foot leader. Then depinding on how much of the yellow section was out i would add that. I didnt add the line that was not through the last eye on the tip.

 

[csangler]

I love the Bahamas, do you have ideas about where and when? At a lodge with guides (recommended) or DIY?

It will probably be next year. There is a flyshop I go to in Western NC and they schedule a trip to Andros each year in February. This year was full but was planning on going next year. I have been going to the same shop for 30 years and they are great people so it would be a fun trip and they all fish salt quite a bit. I figured i could start fishing locally this year and it would give me time to learn before doing the more exotic and expensive trips.

 

[karstopo]

Don’t know how far you are from the saltwater, but, yes, if you can get down to the estuaries along the coast there that will likely give you a taste of dealing with the wind and saltwater set ups. Might even be worth it to find a skiff guide that sight fishes there in coastal Carolina and book a day, sort of a check where you are at casting and line handling wise off a deck in real live conditions. Or go and find a shallow flat to wade. Fish won’t be bonefish, obviously, but any spot, stalk and shot skills you develop there in NC will help no matter where you go.

 

[Rip Tide]

So far I haven't seen the OP say that he's fishing with a guide or even out of a boat, so I'm going to assume that he'll be walking the shoreline, fishing coastal rivers, creeks, estruaries and perhaps open beaches.
While the ability to boom out a cast halfway to France would be nice, being able to read the water is far more important
A lot like trout fishing, you're looking for currents and seams. Structure, ambush points, drop-offs and bars, channels, rips and riffles.
You need to be aware of the prevalent baits and what areas fish best at what stage of the tide.
Rather than worry about distance, practice making your cast on your second back cast and always expect the wind to be blowing.
A stripping basket will be a big help in that regard.

In my experience, there are many times where you just can't cast as far as you need to with a fly rod
There are also times, though not as often, where the ability to cast an additional 10 feet would be mighty handy.
But far more often, an average cast is all you need.

I can't tell you how many time someone has told me; "I cast out as far as I could, then stripped it all the way in, but the fish took at the last second, right at my feet, just as I was about to pick up !"
Well... that's not what happened at all. The fish was right at the guy's feet the whole time and the long cast was a waste of effort.
... all part of being able to read the water and understanding the fishery

 

[Bonesonthebrain]

The OP mentioned in another thread that he lives in Coral Springs, FL, so the Western Carolina connection must be from the past or fishing trips. He has a guide booked for Everglades City this month. So his fishing will be out of a skiff, most trips thru a fly shop to the Bahamas are at a lodge with guides using skiffs.

So with that out of the way, my advice is practice where ever you can, but once on the skiff you will find it is very different. Hence, boat time is invaluable. You will find that fishing multiple days in a row on a skiff, the intricacies are quickly learned with the right coaching. Then you can modify your practice sessions to improve.

The advice given by others is great, but until you actually experience it you will not understand it that well. So get some water time, then reread the thread, things will start to click.

 

[okaloosa]

for me the most frustrating thing about fishing with guides in the salt is not seeing the fish when they do....you may be 15 feet closer than your guide but he is elevated above the motor so he has the advantage plus usually younger eyes that do it every day....even if you cant cast 70 feet it is the guide's job to get you closer...I worry more about seeing the fish, knowing which direction it is going, and having good communication with the guide. and whatever you do, dont forget to strip set....