Okay, so I’ve been practicing casting / double hauling etc. Got a few questions about it though.
When sight casting to a fish, I know you don’t want to land the fly on top of him. How close do you want to be, though? In other words, what is too close, and what is too far?
Another thing, I know you want the fly to land softly. However, when throwing a long distance, I have found that the fly hits the ground pretty hard, especially when throwing into the wind. How softly do you want the fly to land, and how do you get it to land in such a way?
Sorry to keep throwing out the questions, but I want to be as good as possible when wading time rolls around next Spring.
It takes some practice but adjust your cast so the line straightens over the water instead of hitting the water on the end of the roll. A lower back cast will result in a higher shooting line (forward cast) that will be easier to control in the air. When you cast your line “rolls over” like a rug being rolled out straight the centrifugal force of the line and leader unrolling is speeding up the fly and causing the heavy splash that spooks some fish and seems to attract others. Once the line is in the air and over the target slow it to a gentle stop and it will straighten in the air and fall with less commotion. By the way the trout are killing the fly right now. I’ve caught well over a hundred in the last three days fishing for an hour or two after work. The fly will outfish grubs or live bait right now, but it may change tomorrow.
If fish are working one spot I like to put the fly 3-5 feet in front of them. It’s close enough to get their attention but not so close that they run for cover.
If they’re cruising I like to lead a little extra
FishinFrenzy- I would use the tip provided by Marshmellow. It sounds as though you are pushing/punching too hard with your arm, people have a tendency to do this a lot into the wind. To compensate try to reverse your cast, cast with the wind- so your back cast is headed up wind, you will get distance and line speed on the forward false cast and then when your back cast is extended into the wind drop you rod tip to lay it down. It takes some getting used to but it works.
Though I was using a size 2 green and white clouser with 1/50 lead eyes, it really hasn’t mattered as long as it sank slowly. The fish were suspended at the three to four foot level in about eight to ten feet of water. They would hit it on the drop every time. Folks throwing grubs around me caught darn few. One fella wanted to see what I was catching them on. When I showed him I don’t think he was impressed. This cold front will put them back down on the bottom in deeper holes I would imagine. I didn’t get to fish this weekend due to company but plan to hit it hard the next two weeks. Merry Christmas and tight lines!