Fly Casting Technique: 5 Essentials in Fly Casting
The 5 Essentials in Fly Casting Essential #1: Eliminate Slack Line Line should be kept in tension throughout the cast. You can start to load the rod as soon as you life the line. This allows casting to begin earlier. Left: Slack line Right: No slack line With slack line the rod needs to be moved further to eliminate the slack line before casting can begin. It will reduce the casting stroke and there is no tension to load the rod. —————————————————- Essential #2: Timing At the beginning and the end of the cast, there is a pause to allow the line to straighten out before proceeding to the next cast. Pause is directly proportional to the length of line outside the rod. LONG LINE = LONG PAUSE SHORT LINE = SHORT PAUSE Tips: 1) Look over the shoulder to see if the line has straighten before proceeding with the forward cast. 2) Too short pause – hear a snap, break the fly / tippet off 3) Too long pause – the fly line falls to the ground due to gravity If timing is right, you will feel the line tug. —————————————————- Essential #3: Vary the Casting Stroke & Casting Arc Casting stroke = the distance the rod tip moves during a cast Casting arc = the angle the rod moves during a cast LONG LINE = LONG STROKE = LONG PAUSE SHORT LINE = SHORT STROKE = SHORT PAUSE —————————————————- Essential #4: Smooth Power Application Smooth power application (Start Slow, End Fast) The line speed allows the line to shoot out when the rod tip stops. Smooth power application can eliminate a concave tip path. Concave tip path will cause tailing loop. (We will look into this in tailing loop section) Crisp stop – when the rod stops, the momentum carries the line beyond the rod tip and create a loop. —————————————————- Essential #5: Straight Line Path (SLP) The line always follow the path of the rod tip. Straight Line Tip Path + Rod Tip Stop at SLP = Narrow Loop Convex Tip Path / Rod Tip Stop BELOW SLP = Wide Loop Concave Tip Path = Tailing Loop —————————————————- SUMMARY