My first experience with a fly rod

dudes, if you havent tried it, try it. it is FUN, even if it was only practicing in the yard. almost zen like, kinda like tai chi (unless youve never practiced martial arts then you wouldnt know lol.) i wish id started years ago but was kind of intimidated thinking it was for rich old guys and hipsters.

i tried right handed first and was doing fine until my shoulder started hurting, from an old injury, and was short stroking it and caused a couple of overhand knots in the end of the leader. watched a video on tailing loops and figured out what was causing the knots then i switched to left handed and perfect casts, the loop unrolled and line straight. im kind of ambidextrous so it doesnt really matter but im still gonna work on the right hand more, until i correct my form and figure it out.

thanks for the replies and pm's on my other thread to get me started.

Couple of things. You cannot break a flyroad casting it so don't be afraid to let it work . It's the sudden acceleration and sudden stop that creates the TIGHT LOOPS BOTH forwards and the backcast.

Have fun

k thanks. i noticed at first i was being too ginger with it and then went back and watched the videos, and found i was keeping my wrist straight. when i gave it the little wrist action at the end of the forward and back cast it was much better.

one question that the videos dont answer. is there an average length of line out that should be used for the casting strokes, sans obstacles? for example, bluegill on KY lake, i like to stay 30ft from them and cast. so i make the cast, how much should i strip before pickup and making another cast?

Got my first one when I was 10. Dad bought it for me on my birthday. It was a South Bend outfit at the Coast to Coast store, I think it was about $10.00. Cast what you feel comfortable to start with and work up. Learn to roll cast to avoid obstacles behind you.

A couple of popping bugs, a fly rod, and a few bream beds make for some fun fishing.

You gotta use the wrist , the line will tell you when it's time to make the forward cast.

I was taught 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock,
pick the line up with the rod at the 10 o'clock position using your forearm and wrist bringing it back to the 2 o'clock position , pause,
wait till you feel the line start to pull on the rod then smoothly transition your cast forward using the forearm and wrist .

They are a ton of fun too fish with, just wait till a 3 or 4 pound large mouth latches on!

Almost as much fun as pickin' 2 lb Crappie out of a tree top with a cane pole!

Keep fishing , it won't be long until you'll be skipping under bushes and docks.

A small black gnat /hackle tied behind a small popping bug is a killer when the flies first hatch...

Mike Belt":2ckrn8hu said:

A couple of popping bugs, a fly rod, and a few bream beds make for some fun fishing.

Click to expand...

X2. You're ruined now. Right now is prime too- mayfly/willow fly hatches. Everything eats them. Id just about quit the spinning rod on smallmouth in the creeks for the fly rod in the summer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't think I could put into words the tips that could help as I have always taught people it's a feel. Keep,practicing and it'll get easier and easier

You can use the same technique but instead of a fly rod, tippets and such, I use a limber 7 ft spinning rod, light line and a small spinning reel. You can let out about 6 ft of line and open the bale and with the line pulled up so there is about 2 ft hanging from the end, cast like a fly rod. Use a small thill float, hand tied squirrel tail 1/32 oz jig tipped with a waxworm. The bream can not resist and it allows you to cast precisely from a distance.

well, i figured it out. it appears you have to have out at least 30' to 35' of fly line in order to "feel" the rod load. i put a mark on the fly line at 30ft from the tip. what a difference. tight loops and no tailing and no dang knots in the last 2 ft of the leader. i could actually feel a slight tug on the back cast as the line straightened out. pretty cool.

WTM":jzh9tqwo said:

well, i figured it out. it appears you have to have out at least 30' to 35' of fly line in order to "feel" the rod load. i put a mark on the fly line at 30ft from the tip. what a difference. tight loops and no tailing and no dang knots in the last 2 ft of the leader. i could actually feel a slight tug on the back cast as the line straightened out. pretty cool.

Click to expand...

If you carefully draw the line through your fingers, you'll notice the flyline become thicker then taper back down. The first 30' or so contains most of the mass in the line and is what loads the rod. That's referred to as the head of the line.

Rods are generally rated by what weight head will naturally load the rod.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

7mm08":2gd6jy08 said:

Couple of things. You cannot break a flyroad casting it so don't be afraid to let it work .

Click to expand...

i was going to argue with you, because I broke one casting it... But then I started thinking, it may have broken because of the tree that the line was tangled up in , or it may have broken because I kept hitting the edge of the cabin with the tip of the rod (close quarters stream fishing)

When I was a kid, I would fly fish ponds for bluegill and bass. That was a blast! Last year, I was staying at a friends cabin in Estes Park, CO, and he had a rod & some flies in the cabin. I took them out to the small stream in his back yard and started catching rainbow after rainbow. I cannot tell you how long its been since I had that much fun fishing !

WTM":z90ffz3q said:

well, i figured it out. it appears you have to have out at least 30' to 35' of fly line in order to "feel" the rod load. i put a mark on the fly line at 30ft from the tip. what a difference. tight loops and no tailing and no dang knots in the last 2 ft of the leader. i could actually feel a slight tug on the back cast as the line straightened out. pretty cool.

Click to expand...

Now your getting there!

Learn to take the line back and forth with out touching the water.

Let it load on the way back , then follow through in the direction you want the bug to go.

Once you get the hang of it you can feel the line on the follow through as well.

I always worked the line back and forth in my left hand on the retrieval.

Gathering it in my palm and fingers.

This allows you to control the line and not have it fall around your feet as it does when stripping the line back on retrevial .

This makes it easy to transition into the casting motion without worrying about your line getting tangled.

I'm by no means an expert on fly fishing and don't do a lot anymore , but I've worn out my share of flies.

Work on the roll cast and coming in at angles as well.

Learn to make the bug slap the surface of the water, sometimes this will trigger a strike.

Also learn to let the bug land softly , kinda like a flop shot in golf.

This approach has worked well for me when sight fishing blue gill on the bed.

With a good balanced rod and line you should be able to cast 50 to 65' on a still day with good accuracy.

The more line you have out the longer you have to wait for the line to load.

When the wind gets up that's another story.... 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock .

Have fun!

When you see and hear the bream "slupping" the bugs off the top of the water in and under the stuff growing on top of the water and you can roll your popping bug into a hole in the middle of it you've perfected fly fishing for bream.