Dumb Question...

[ThrowingFlies]

And before anyone says there are no dumb questions, I beg to differ. For as long as I've been fly fishing I should know the answer to this.

So recently I've noticed that I cast with a relatively sidearmed cast. Which seems like it causes my line to naturally drift left towards the end of my cast. I guess I've just accounted for that like a golfer with a slice.

Anyways, I've been attempting to correct this and have been focusing on keeping my rod a little more vertical during my cast. Which has raised a different issue. Before my rod was a lot closer to the water which let my loop unfurl at a good spot. But with my rod higher I'm fishing that my loop either 1) unfurls much to high or 2) if I lower my rod the loop becomes much larger.

How do I counter this? Do I stop my forward cast later so the loop gets directed more towards the water?

 

[silver creek]

If your loop gets larger as you lower the stop point, you are probably not accounting for the lower forward cast stop point on your backcast.

The back cast and forward cast must be 180 degrees apart so the rod tip travels in a straight line. When you lower the forward cast stop point, you must raise the the backcast stop point so the rod tip still travels in a straight line. The back cast must be directed up behind you so the forward cast can be directed the same amount down towards the water.

If you keep your back cast parallel to the ground but lower the forward cast, the rod tip path will be convex and the loop will be wider.

Think of an airplane wing. They are always 180 degrees apart. If the left wing tips down, the right wing must tip up. So if you tip your forward cast down so it unfurls just above the water, tip your backcast up by the same amount. Depending on the distance of the cast, it doesn't need to tip down too much.

As a beginner, if you are stopping too low on your regular backast with a semi-windshield/igloo wiper cast, then the lower front stop accentuates the wide loop. This may actually be the problem. Take a video of yourself and you will see the low stop on the backcast. You may be breaking your wrist on the backcast, which tips the rod tip too far towards the ground.

Loop Control:

YouTube

Accuracy:

YouTube

 

[ia_trouter]

You may be correct that dumb questions do in fact exist, but this isn't one of those times I'll leave the real casting advice to the pros here, but I will mention that sidearm casts are a serious part of my small water adventures due to overhead obstacles. Sidearm in itself should not bust all your casts. At shorter ranges anyway.

 

[spm]

You may be correct that dumb questions do in fact exist, but this isn't one of those times I'll leave the real casting advice to the pros here, but I will mention that sidearm casts are a serious part of my small water adventures due to overhead obstacles. Sidearm in itself should not bust all your casts. At shorter ranges anyway.

Of course dumb questions exist. I am living proof.
But the OP question wasn't dumb.

s.