**NOTE** This is Part Three in a Troutbitten Short Series about weights and measures. You can find the full series at the link below. READ: Troutbitten | Category | Know Your Weights and Measures Beginning anglers probably don’t give much thought to the overall...
**NOTE** This is Part Two in a Troutbitten Short Series about weights and measures. You can find the full series at the link below. READ: Troutbitten | Category | Know Your Weights and Measures I performed a single haul on the back cast, and the fly rod flexed a bit...
**NOTE** This is Part One in a Troutbitten Short Series about weights and measures. You can find the full series at the link below. READ: Troutbitten | Category | Know Your Weights and Measures Fishermen are bad with numbers. We’re notorious for embellishing the size...
You might think it would be intuitive. And I guess I did. How to hold a fly rod never seemed like an important point to make, until recently. But the more I guide good anglers, the more I pick apart the intricacies of their game. I learn, and I teach. We all know that...
A steady and balanced sighter is important from the beginning, because effective tight line drifts are short. But there’s one overlooked way to stabilize the sighter immediately — tuck the rod butt into the forearm.
Here’s how and why . . .
Rod tip recovery is the defining characteristic of a quality fly rod versus a mediocre one.
Cast the rod and watch it flex. Now see how long it takes for the rod tip to stop shaking. Watch for a complete stop, all the way to a standstill — not just the big motions, but the minor shuddering at the end too.
Good rods recover quickly. They may be fast or slow. They may be built for power or subtly, but they recover quickly. They return to their original form in short order.
Here’s why . . .
The pre-cast is a simple motion that lifts some (or all) of the fly line off the water and gets the leader moving. It’s an elegant solution to a common problem.
When the dry fly drift is over, simply activate the line and get it moving before starting the backcast. The motion of the pre-cast pickup breaks the hold of surface tension. And that’s the key. Once the surface lets go of the line, it is easily lifted off the water with minimal disturbance . . .
For better casting, for more options after the power stroke, for more available adjustments regarding where the line will end up, shoot most or all of the necessary line on the backcast. And if you’re really good, do it with no extra false casting . . .
Here’s how and why . . .
In my early twenties I drove a delivery van for a printing company while finishing the last few semesters of my English degree. Life was pretty easy back then, and I spent much of my leisure time playing guitar and fishing small backcountry streams for wild trout. It was a tight-quarters casting game. And making the transition from the five-foot spinning rod of my youth to a much longer fly rod gave me some trouble. Until, that is, I received one of the simplest and most transformative pieces of fly fishing advice . . .
But, what about that pretty magazine pose? What about those videos of nymph fishermen with their arms high and extended, reaching the fly rod out to maximum length? It’s silly. It’s unnecessary. And it won’t last for long.
Reaching is an unsustainable body position at any age. Reaching the arm takes power from the forward cast. And by keeping the elbow in a natural and relaxed position, casting accuracy and delivery options improve dramatically . . .