Pro Tips Archive
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Pro Tips
Casting
October 6, 2008
“DUDE, SWEET BACK CAST”
Now, that is something you don’t hear often when one is perusing the rivers of the Pacific Northwest. More along the terms of “just a little farther”, mend it, and so on and so forth. Yet when it comes down to it, the perfect back cast is the single most important unheralded and under scrutinized piece of the puzzle.
Now you will probably ask why? Justifiably, so I have some reasons. The picture of a perfect effortless backwards stroke of a fly rod-one with the line flying out the tip at mach two, the thumb and wrist cocked ever so slightly at just past 2:00 clock gives me a chill-one that I usually reserve for when my Elhew locks up in full stride, head forward, nose in the air and tail straight to the sky, waiting for the rooster to bust. Casting a fly can do that sort a thing to man. Albeit a little weird but none the less you get my drift.
If Einstein was a fly fisherman and I was a betting man I would venture outside the box to say he would have been a hell of a caster. Physics as much as many of us hate it, and I for one could care less about E=MC2, is essential to one part fly rod and one part fly line. If one is heavier than the other for which it was intended, it can have effects-Some good, some bad.
I always tend to lean the way of the rod, change the taper of the fly line, not the grains or line weight it was designed for. That is the key to success with casting and more importantly a SCOTT fly rod. Every model has a sweet spot and they are designed for the line weight that is appropriately marked.
Eventually all things merge into one and actually a sweet ‘lil river does run by the factory. So if you ever get the chance to kick it in Colorado, stop in and say that “Tyler sent you”, you might get a “dude, sweet, right on, or let's fish! But one thing's for sure, you will see some sweet back casts.
Yee-Ha, Now get out there and fish.
Tyler Palmerton
October 2, 2008
CASTING THE HEAVY LINES
You've just purchased that casting machine S4 9 Ft. 9 Wt. and now you have to cast a lead core shooting head that weights 375 grains and a huge black over chartreuse whistler fly that is nine inches long and weighs a whopping 110 grains to catch that lunker 30 pound striper lurking in the deep.
Don't panic, you do not need to wear a football helmet and there’s no need to put extra padding around your butt. Take a deep breath and forget all about the 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock dry fly casting stroke. Just load your fly right off the water with one or two easy casting strokes until the shooting head has cleared the tip of the rod. DO NOT LET OUT LINE ON YOUR BACK CAST!
On your final approach use a simple double haul and make sure you open your casting loop on your back cast. A slower back cast helps your timing as the line and fly are going to load a lot quicker than a 4 Wt. line with a size 16 caddis. On your forward cast shoot for the stars and watch as 80 feet of line shoots out of the end of your rod. Even the fish will stand up to applaud!
You've just purchased that casting machine S4 9 Ft. 9 Wt. and now you have to cast a lead core shooting head that weights 375 grains and a huge black over chartreuse whistler fly that is nine inches long and weighs a whopping 110 grains to catch that lunker 30 pound striper lurking in the deep.
Don't panic, you do not need to wear a football helmet and there’s no need to put extra padding around your butt. Take a deep breath and forget all about the 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock dry fly casting stroke. Just load your fly right off the water with one or two easy casting strokes until the shooting head has cleared the tip of the rod. DO NOT LET OUT LINE ON YOUR BACK CAST!
On your final approach use a simple double haul and make sure you open your casting loop on your back cast. A slower back cast helps your timing as the line and fly are going to load a lot quicker than a 4 Wt. line with a size 16 caddis. On your forward cast shoot for the stars and watch as 80 feet of line shoots out of the end of your rod. Even the fish will stand up to applaud!
September 8, 2008
Spey casting tip 1: Lining up your anchor
Many Spey casters have difficulty getting the end of their line and leader to turn over properly. Some blame the design of their lines, others blame their leaders, still others blame their rods. Sometimes these much-maligned components of kit are the problem, but more often than not, the culprit lies in a simple casting flaw.
By definition, a Spey cast is a cast where the backcast is made under the rod tip and the end of the line and leader are allowed to touch down on the water transiently, immediately before the forward cast is made. Simple enough, but not enough people pay attention to how the line lands on the water. The end of the line and leader form the anchor or grip, and essentially freeze the momentum of the line on the backcast so that the rod can be made to bend (or load) against it for the forward cast. If the anchor is not formed properly, casting distance will definitely suffer, as will line turnover.
One thing that separates good, consistent Spey casters from wannabes is the way good casters always line up their anchors in the direction of their forward cast. The anchor shape is also linear, not crumpled or bent. By focusing on improving your anchor shape and direction, your casting consistency and line turnover will rapidly improve.
Tip 2: Casting Stroke Length is Proportional to the Belly Length of Line Used
Many Spey casters learn with short belly lines, like the Scientific Anglers Short Head, Rio Windcutter, or Airfo Delta. All of these lines have short bellies (around 55 feet). Although relatively easy to learn Spey casting with, these short belly lines often lead to the development of bad habits or arrested casting development, especially when the budding Spey caster wants to use longer belly lines.
The casting stroke is determined by when the rod tip starts moving at the beginning of the cast to when it stops. Between these two points, during any cast (forward or back), the rod tip should be accelerated, with the tip speed steadily increasing until the casting stroke is abruptly stopped, ending the casting stroke. The distance that the rod tip travels between stops is the stroke length.
Using a short belly line and a long rod (14-16 feet) mandates a short stroke length (a longer stroke length will often cause the anchor to skip out of the water, killing the cast). When advancing to longer belly lines, remember that if you are carrying more line out the tip of the rod, you will have to increase your stroke length, both on the Spey backcast (making the D loop) as well as on your forward cast. One easy way to increase your stroke length and simultaneously improve the efficiency of your casting is to start using your torso. By rotating your torso back during the backcast, and forward during the forward cast, you can increase your stroke length by up to two feet, while simultaneously adding power without additional arm strain.
Tip 3: The importance of a sudden stop:
Many beginning and intermediate Spey casters have difficulty casting tight, efficient loops. Although the slower actions of Spey rods may contribute to wider casting loops, the main problem is usually a fundamental casting flaw. For some reason, even good single hand casters forget that a sudden and relatively high stop is important with Spey casting as well. Maybe it has something to do with gripping a rod with two hands, but it shouldn’t.
The casting stroke is determined by when the rod tip starts moving at the beginning of the cast to when it stops. Between these two points, during any cast (forward or back), the rod tip should be accelerated, with the tip speed steadily increasing until the casting stroke is abruptly stopped, ending the casting stroke. With the increased leverage afforded by two hands on the rod, getting the rod tip accelerating usually is not the problem. Focus on using both hands to abruptly STOP the rod at it’s maximum point of acceleration. This will result in tighter, more efficient and wind cheating loops.
On Rods:
In the past five years, there has been a great leap in Spey casting performance. Over the years, I've had a rare opportunity to cast and fish with most of the two-handed rods from the world's greatest manufacturers. Yet, I still felt that something was missing, even from my favorite sticks. Jim Bartschi, was sympathetic to my concerns, and over four years, has steadily worked towards making what I consider the ultimate series of Spey rods. With the new T2H, he's hit the nail on the head. No longer does a Spey rod have to weigh a ton. No longer do you need different rods to cast short and long belly lines, or to cast floating lines and heavy sink tips. No longer do you have to worry about differing rod actions from one line weight or rod length to another. No longer do you have to pay over $1000 for the best money can buy. These new T2H sticks simply ROCK. Now, I have to figure out what to do with all the other rods cluttering my basement!
Many Spey casters have difficulty getting the end of their line and leader to turn over properly. Some blame the design of their lines, others blame their leaders, still others blame their rods. Sometimes these much-maligned components of kit are the problem, but more often than not, the culprit lies in a simple casting flaw.
By definition, a Spey cast is a cast where the backcast is made under the rod tip and the end of the line and leader are allowed to touch down on the water transiently, immediately before the forward cast is made. Simple enough, but not enough people pay attention to how the line lands on the water. The end of the line and leader form the anchor or grip, and essentially freeze the momentum of the line on the backcast so that the rod can be made to bend (or load) against it for the forward cast. If the anchor is not formed properly, casting distance will definitely suffer, as will line turnover.
One thing that separates good, consistent Spey casters from wannabes is the way good casters always line up their anchors in the direction of their forward cast. The anchor shape is also linear, not crumpled or bent. By focusing on improving your anchor shape and direction, your casting consistency and line turnover will rapidly improve.
Tip 2: Casting Stroke Length is Proportional to the Belly Length of Line Used
Many Spey casters learn with short belly lines, like the Scientific Anglers Short Head, Rio Windcutter, or Airfo Delta. All of these lines have short bellies (around 55 feet). Although relatively easy to learn Spey casting with, these short belly lines often lead to the development of bad habits or arrested casting development, especially when the budding Spey caster wants to use longer belly lines.
The casting stroke is determined by when the rod tip starts moving at the beginning of the cast to when it stops. Between these two points, during any cast (forward or back), the rod tip should be accelerated, with the tip speed steadily increasing until the casting stroke is abruptly stopped, ending the casting stroke. The distance that the rod tip travels between stops is the stroke length.
Using a short belly line and a long rod (14-16 feet) mandates a short stroke length (a longer stroke length will often cause the anchor to skip out of the water, killing the cast). When advancing to longer belly lines, remember that if you are carrying more line out the tip of the rod, you will have to increase your stroke length, both on the Spey backcast (making the D loop) as well as on your forward cast. One easy way to increase your stroke length and simultaneously improve the efficiency of your casting is to start using your torso. By rotating your torso back during the backcast, and forward during the forward cast, you can increase your stroke length by up to two feet, while simultaneously adding power without additional arm strain.
Tip 3: The importance of a sudden stop:
Many beginning and intermediate Spey casters have difficulty casting tight, efficient loops. Although the slower actions of Spey rods may contribute to wider casting loops, the main problem is usually a fundamental casting flaw. For some reason, even good single hand casters forget that a sudden and relatively high stop is important with Spey casting as well. Maybe it has something to do with gripping a rod with two hands, but it shouldn’t.
The casting stroke is determined by when the rod tip starts moving at the beginning of the cast to when it stops. Between these two points, during any cast (forward or back), the rod tip should be accelerated, with the tip speed steadily increasing until the casting stroke is abruptly stopped, ending the casting stroke. With the increased leverage afforded by two hands on the rod, getting the rod tip accelerating usually is not the problem. Focus on using both hands to abruptly STOP the rod at it’s maximum point of acceleration. This will result in tighter, more efficient and wind cheating loops.
On Rods:
In the past five years, there has been a great leap in Spey casting performance. Over the years, I've had a rare opportunity to cast and fish with most of the two-handed rods from the world's greatest manufacturers. Yet, I still felt that something was missing, even from my favorite sticks. Jim Bartschi, was sympathetic to my concerns, and over four years, has steadily worked towards making what I consider the ultimate series of Spey rods. With the new T2H, he's hit the nail on the head. No longer does a Spey rod have to weigh a ton. No longer do you need different rods to cast short and long belly lines, or to cast floating lines and heavy sink tips. No longer do you have to worry about differing rod actions from one line weight or rod length to another. No longer do you have to pay over $1000 for the best money can buy. These new T2H sticks simply ROCK. Now, I have to figure out what to do with all the other rods cluttering my basement!
