Is It Just Me?

[birchy]

Tried casting dries for the first time today with my 6 weight.. boy was that interesting..

 

I could only cast like 25 feet in front of me. Any farther than that and the line just all piled up in the same spot with the fly somewhere in the middle!

 

Part of the learning process?

[SanJuanWorm]

Its just you.

[esleech]

Hmmm. I can cast dries further than anything else. You should try to bring that rod to as an abrupt stop as possible on both ends of the cast. I'm definetely no casting instructor though!

[dryfly]

Either a serious casting error or a badly matched line and rod.

 

Casting is firm. Sounds like not enough power on the forward cast.....

 

Problem: During the forward and back cast, too little power is applied to the rod. Without enough power on the back cast, the line will start to fall to the ground instead of straightening out behind. Without enough power on the forward cast, the line will pile up or the fly and leader will fail to straighten out properly.

 

Solution: Apply more power to both the back and forward casts. Fly casting is delicate, but deliberate power must be applied to both forward and back cast. This solution is hard for people to grasp. It may be because fly-fishing is perceived as being gentle. It’s gentle in that the fly and leader—when dry-fly fishing—normally must land gently on the surface. But firm power must be applied to the back and forward casts to give proper direction to the fly line.

[SanJuanWorm]

Perhaps its time u bought my sage birchy.

[126barnes]

Its wasn't a No. 2 Hex pattern with a 30 knot head wind was it.

 

I really suck at casting but a small dry it what I cast best (distance), presentation is another story.

[MMAX]

How big of a fly were you using?

[Brownstone]

drys should be the easiest to cast by far..regardless of your rod weight.

 

some things to check.

 

1. proper leader lenght and taper

2. matched line and rod weight (like DF said)

3. make sure you have your line on right..(if you have a WF line on your reel backwards it would cause seroius

casting problem w/o the weight of a nymph rig or stereamer)

4. not waiting for the load of the line to catch up before forward cast.

 

just a few things..good luck

[EvilWeevil]

maybe you were getting some bounce back? sometimes on short distance casts you will hit the end of the free line and it will bounce back and pool like you are saying ?

[SteveM]

Tried casting dries for the first time today with my 6 weight.. boy was that interesting..

 

I could only cast like 25 feet in front of me. Any farther than that and the line just all piled up in the same spot with the fly somewhere in the middle!

 

Part of the learning process?

 

Try punching it in it's big, stupid head!

[kungfool]

Birchy you should be able to cast a light fly (like a dry) easier and farther than a nymph rig or a large streamer. I may be making an assumption here but If you started fly fishing with nymphs and streamers you are probably used to the weight of these heavier flies helping load your rod. Also the timing for heavier flies is different than with very light ones which also may take time to adjust to.

 

Like others have said, make double sure you are using the right line weight and that you apply sufficient power forward after your line has straightening out behind you on your backward cast. Be careful not to apply too much power too fast on the forward cast. This will cause tailing loops which you don't want. The perfect forward cast starts out gradually but accelerates. Once all the line is moving forward, plenty of power can be applied.

 

This post of yours seemed quite strange to me as I learned the opposite way casting only dries then moved to streamers and then nymphs. Maybe that's why I have the opposite problem. I have trouble making very short casts with a 6 weight. I can do it, I just have to make a few to start getting them right.

[LynnF]

This may qualify as a threadjack, but it's been brought up so I'll throw it in. I bought a 6 weight floating line and loaded it on my 5 weight rod. I could never really cast the rod well before (it's an 8 foot), but with that 6 weight on it just flies out there. It's almost effortless. So I guess the question is - doesn't a heavier weight line than the rod you're using help you cast farther (or better, even?)

[Brownstone]

I'd say with shorter casts maybe..but all around .. no .. your line weight and rod weight should be matched for optimal casting, you can get dual weight rods, I own a 7/8 weight rod and it can cast a 7 weight line better than a 8 weight line, I guess it all depends on the quality of the line and your casting ability.

 

I'd say Birchy's problem is this : he's only been fly fishing for a short time (as far as i know he only started this spring) and has been mostly fishing subsurface with nymphs and such and probably with an indicator, and his cast has been molded around that..now that its dry fly season, he just needs some more time to get the feel and perfect his cast...

 

should have read up first..KF said the same thing..sorry

[cdock]

Hey Birchy, I know you're line matches your rod so that's not the problem. Kungfool has it. When you get back we'll practice up. How's the fishing going? All healed up from the teeth pulling?

[birchy]

Thanks for the comments everyone. As CDock said, my rod, reel, and line are all balanced properly. I think it's the fact that - like a few of you said - I learned casting with nymphs first, then streamers.. so I'm used to having that extra weight on there.

 

I'll keep practicing.

 

C - I only got out once so far.. last night for about an hour and a half. Couldn't cast to the rising fish so switched to a streamer and had one on.. couldn't get the line tight fast enough so he got off. I'll probably get out again tonight. My mouth feels pretty good except for the lower left where they had trouble with that one tooth. It's been aching pretty bad the last couple days!

[Pipestoneflyguy]

Not much I could add but be sure your letting that line roll all the way out on backcast - timing/feeling the forward cast can be much harder without that big tug you get from streamers and nymphs -= listen for whipping sound behind you, a definate indicator of starting the forward cast to early (something I am learning all about again with overhead casts on the spey rod) - sorry if what I offered is completely obvious and already considered..

[3wt]

buy a sage z-axis brother that's the best advice I can give remortgage the house get a loan whatever you have to do!!!!!!

[toolman]

Birchy, a 6wt. rod that is balanced with a 6wt. line, will need at least 30' of the line out of the rod tip, to load the rod properly. Less than 30' of line out of the tip, without the added weight of streamers or a nymph rig, will be more difficult to cast as the rod will not load enough to get a good feel on the cast.

High end rods like Sage, T&T, St. Croix etc., usually have wider grain windows than less expensive models, which means they are more responsive and give the angler a better feel when casting with varying amounts of line/weight out of the tip. I would suggest pulling a bit more line out untill the load feels right during the casts, like it did when you were casting a nymph rig. Then fish with this amount of line out for your dry flys. Dry fly success is often highly dependent on casting precision.

Good Luck!