casting questionaroony

The Great Wallsendo

The Great Wallsendo

Well-known member
Tried casting with my fly rod the other week and I think I did "OK" but I've got one question...

Do you strip the line off the reel during the cast or prior? I've watched a vid on You Tube of a fella who had all his line at his feet prior to the cast....

Does that make sense?

Cheers in advance
 
whatever works best for you.

first cast mine is coming of the real, then it sits at my feet in a pile for subsequent casts, then when I move on I reel it all in and start again
 
cheers Mark - it didn't feel "wrong" when I tried stripping line during the cast...but I'll try the stripped first technique as well

next question...how long should the leader be or is that again personal preference and also what kind of lb'age you looking at?
 
by and large, you're leader length will be dictated by how good you're casting is to start with, if its a bit flaky don't over do it, you'll just tie it in knots and get it all over the shop

at least a rod length though, got a mate who uses well over 20' :o mind you he is a demon caster, annoys the hell out me to watch him, 3 or 4 shakes and a full 30yard line and about 15-20 yards of backing is lying in front of him as straight as a dart - git

I tend to stick around 12'ish and either 3lb flurocarbon in the rivers, 5lb flourocarbon in the sea and a bit longer leader to get it sinking deeper
 
Well my casting will prob be described as flaky at best...I think my line is a floater so will invest in a sinker...cadged a couple of promising looking flies so will be looking to give it a go in the near future...

yet another question...what is a WF rating and what is a "good" sinking line to be looking at??

cheers again for the info
 
Last edited:
Good to see your braching out into the subtle art of fly fishing:)

The WF stands for weight forward its the type shape the line is meaning the front section of the line is thicker so better for distance and beating wind etc wf can be in all lines from floaters, intermediate to fast sinkers when you feel the line as you retrieve you can feel the thickness increase as it comes nearer the end. The number after the wf is the rating of the rod/blank and how powerfull it is eg a 3to4 weight is for short delicate casts ie chalk streams fishing dry flie where presentation is vital and as the numbers go up eg I use a 9 weight rod which is alot heavier and can handle alot heavier line hence more distance ideal for resivours and lakes the bigger the lines the thicker and heavier they are and it takes more to load the rod up prob a better way to explain is similar to a powerful beachcaster will handle 6oz of lead where a 30gm spinning rod wont.

Getting onto the sinking line after a floater then comes intermediate lines which have different density ratings for how fast they sink in water to enable you to count down to diff depths to search the water in a 3d fashion or a fast sinker to get to the bottom quick and to drag boyant flies like booby nymphs down on a short leader.

To be honest Tony there is so much to take in its hard to explain in words if you want some help just ask and I'll come show you my gear and explain in better detail whats what no probs but hope this helps mate.:)
 
was gonna put my 5 penneth in Tony mate for what it would be worth, but Ivan has pretty much covered it all for you and with a good offer as well, the only piece of advice i could offer that has not been mentioned is, see someone for casting lessons, yours truly ( terry woods) does them at sharpley and he makes casting seem ever so effortless
 
are you trouting or splashing around in the briney?

whatever weight your rod is don't be tempted by thinking that a heavier line will help you cast further, it just don't work

you might also see double taper DT on a line - tapers at both end, so when you've trashed one end you can take it off the reel, and put it back on again the other way tound

if you're still finding your feet or casting on grass and what not, but the cheapest bin end lines you can get, they will get trashed pretty quickly

same goes with sal****er fly fishing, expensive lines are a total waste of money, buy cheap as chips ones, use em for a bit then chuck em and buy some more
 
Tony, Fishing republik in sunderland have a boat load (no pun intended) lines ( sinking, floating and intermediate) in their sale bin, £5.99 and they will do you for the boat mate
 
splashing about in the briney is my main target (posted in here coz I was intially asking a general question) el cheapo set bought for £30 last year got me a 2.85m Shakespeare Odyssey AFTM 7-8 and a Masterline Alto reel loaded with bright orange (floating?) line

cheap all the way on this one - unless I get the bug :D
 
The Great Wallsendo said:
splashing about in the briney is my main target (posted in here coz I was intially asking a general question) el cheapo set bought for £30 last year got me a 2.85m Shakespeare Odyssey AFTM 7-8 and a Masterline Alto reel loaded with bright orange (floating?) line

cheap all the way on this one - unless I get the bug :D
Click to expand...


best way really Tony, UNTIL you actually catch on ya rod, then you will be smitten
 
ditch the floating line asap

go for the fastest sinker you can get, shooting heads sink fastest IMHO

floating lines are great if you happen to live in cornwall where you can fish surface poppers for bass, but up here there's no many fish going to come into the top 20' of water to have a look at whatever it is you are throwing at them

fast sinker, florocarbon leader, maybe ever with a teeny bit of split shot or 2 along the length to get it down

the masterline reel is perfect - its plastic! anything made of nice alloys will last about 3 minutes

long leaders aren't that necessary in the sea either, I'm sure a lot will disagree, but I've tried long and short and been equally successful with both with the added advantage of less tangles and problems with a short leader - 6 to 8'
 
The length of leader depends on the wind as well. Basically if its blowing, shorten your leader, far better use a short leader and get it to turn over rather than a longer one ending up in a heap.
Also clean and stretch your line regularly and clean your rod with something like Pledge, especially the rings. Its remarkable how much easier it is to shoot the line. Its always a ritual for me to clean a stretch the lines the night before I go out.
 
Hiya Tony, as a relative newcomer to fly-fishing as well I've had a couple of sessions off the rocks - one problem I had was my intermediate (sinking) line washing under snags at my feet during casting. I've seen in the shops those net-basket type things that go around your waist allowing you to dump the line inside when you strip it off your reel - I'm definitely going to get one for my salt-water ventures as they're only about £9.

Never seen anyone use on on the trout lakes (can't really see the need there), but off some rock marks they seem like a good idea to me - unless anyone with a lot more experience than me knows different!

Good luck mate,

cheers, Gary :)
 
you talking about braided loops??

if so they are fitted tot he end of the fly line to make fitting your leader easier
 

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