Submitted by Captain Lawrence Piper
February 10, 2015 1:00 p.m.
We’ve gone over the first four principles to a good fly cast:
Eliminate Slack line, have the proper amount of Smooth Acceleration, make sure the rod tip follows a Straight Line Path and vary your Stroke Length depending on how much line you are casting. Finally, the pause between the forward cast and back cast may need to be adjusted.
Principle Number 5 – Timing
After making a cast the angler will need to allow the fly line to unroll to properly load the rod. This amount of time could be very short if you’re making a very short cast and only have a small amount of line out of the rod tip.
When making a long cast there will be more line out of the rod tip, the stroke length will be longer and the caster will need to have a longer pause between casts to allow the fly line to unroll and get a good load or bend in the rod. Not allowing the fly line to unroll completely will induce some slack in the line and decrease the amount of load in the rod. Waiting too long between casts will cause the fly line to fall to the water or grass Remember this: “short line, short pause and long line, long pause”.
These five principles to a good fly cast are intended to help the fly caster get nice narrow loops, gain distance, be accurate, and present the fly to a hungry fish. Do your practice in the yard or in one of our fine parks and get your casting down so that when you get out on the water you can enjoy catching some fish!
Capt. Lawrence Piper is an Amelia Island back country fishing guide and a FFF Certified Casting Instructor. Capt. Piper can be reached at www.TheAnglersMark.com 904-557-1027 [email protected]
The newly established Amelia Island Guides Association website is up and running. Amelia Island Guides Association is a soon to be non-profit 501 (c)(6) organization of licensed guides and charter boat operators who have joined together to promote the charter fishing industry and outdoor activities on Amelia Island by building relationships with tourism, lodging and other local business entities and through cooperative advertising.