Some Fall Color

After a short summer I'm not truly ready to embrace fall, but seeing fish like this one makes it a bit easier.  This magnificent rainbow—already in spawning colors—was taken a few days ago in the Madison by my brother, Tom.      

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How to Cast 15 Feet

The Federation of Fly Fishermen just wrapped up their annual conclave here in West Yellowstone, and among other activities, there was a lot of fly casting going on. Never one to ignore such a thing, I watched the proceedings with great interest. The wide variety of casting skills I saw on display reminded me—as they always do—that one of the most difficult things to do in all of fly fishing is to cast fifteen feet.

Fifteen feet? Am I kidding? No. And I’m not being snide, either. I’m simply talking about casting a fly accurately to a target fifteen feet away from where you stand via a tightly driven loop of line and/or leader. (Actually, we could extend this distance to 20 or 25 feet and for the majority of anglers it would still remain one of the hardest casts to pull off.)

Try it yourself. If you find that you can cast fifteen to twenty feet—including leader—repeatedly, accurately, with a tight loop, in the presence of wind, congratulations. You know a thing or two about fly casting. Indeed, you are casting better than 98% of all fishermen.

What makes the short cast so difficult? There are a variety of reasons, but the primary one is the use of a casting stroke which is too long for the length of line being cast.

For maximum efficiency and effectiveness, a given length of line requires a given length casting stroke. When the length of the cast changes, so too must the length of the stroke. There is a simple tenet regarding this concept that every angler should know.  It goes like this: Short line, short stroke. Longer line, longer stroke.

Here’s how it works in practice. When casting, if you find your line and/or leader turning over in a wide, lazy loop and piling up in a heap (when you don’t intentionally want it to), odds are good that your stroke is too long. Shorten it until you find yourself forming a nice, tight loop that drives the fly to the target. Conversely, if you find that your line and/or leader are crashing onto the water before they unroll completely, lengthen your stroke. (Virtually every student I’ve ever instructed to cast short has needed to shorten their stroke; look to that first if you try this.)

Ultimately, we’re seeking the stroke length that delivers the fly to the target with a tight loop, turning over a foot or so above the water. In this way we can achieve great accuracy and also render irrelevant any wind that may be present. Watch your line unroll as you cast—it will always tell you whether you need to shorten or lengthen your stroke. Importantly, one thing you will never need to do is use more effort. Casting short is not about effort; it is about finding and using the right length stroke.

Of course, both the adjustments I’m suggesting assume that our other casting fundamentals are fairly solid. Most important among these is that the elbow of the casting arm moves up on the backcast, and down on the forecast. (In the near future, I’ll try to post a video showing all these concepts in action.)

Casting fifteen feet should not be one one of the most difficult feats in fly fishing; it should be among the easiest.  You can make it that way by remembering to employ the right length casting stroke.

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Another Night, Another Dream, But Always Fish

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Notes on Fiberglass

For some time, Bucky has been asking me if I’d write a blog post about the Hardy and Diamondback fiberglass rods carried by Blue Ribbon. He is quite a fan of both, and regularly fishes a Diamondback. I’ve been putting him off for a while now, but for no reason other than to spend a little more time evaluating the various models and collecting my thoughts. Ordinarily, I’d prefer to write complete evaluations about each of the following rods, but for the sake of brevity I’m going to limit myself to a few comments about each rod.

Before I start there’s one point I’d like to make. The recent resurgence in fiberglass rods has once again got people talking about “fiberglass” action, just as they often talk of “bamboo” and “graphite” action. There is no such thing. Not for fiberglass, bamboo or graphite. A rod’s action—the bend it assumes under load—is a function of design, not of material. In the hands of a knowledgeable rod designer, any of the aforementioned materials can be used to make rods with any kind of action. (Bamboo and fiberglass weigh more than graphite, and longer length rods built with these materials often exhibit a degree of self-weight momentum. This is often confused with—but is not the same as—the action of the rod.)

There are three models of Hardy fiberglass in the shop: 7’ - #3, 7.5’ - #4 and 8’ - #5.

The 8’ model is a superior rod, and I think the best of the three. It demonstrates excellent communication in close, it’s silky smooth at normal fishing distances, and when asked to go a bit long easily incorporates the butt section to carry the extra load. There is never a need to modify your casting stroke or to exercise care in where you place the casting load in this rod. It manipulates line easily, and can protect fine tippets as well. Rod material notwithstanding, it’s one of the best designed rods available today.

The 7.5’ rod is excellent, too. In close and at normal fishing distances, it is the equal of the 8’ model. For casts longer than 45 feet you will have to exercise some care with this rod, as the tip and middle are not as accepting of the additional load. (But casting over 45’ is really outside this rod’s purview anyway, so I don’t consider this a problem.)

The 7’ rod lacks the in-close communication of the other two models. In a rod designed for close work, this is a real negative. Owing to its relative stiffness, it is also not nearly as easy a casting rod as the other two. (I put a #4 line on this rod and it was much improved in this regard. So, to me, this is a #4 rod, not a #3.)

Blue Ribbon carries two models of Diamondback fiberglass rods: 8’ - #4 and 8.5’ - #4.

The 8’ rod lacks communication when used with a #4 line, especially at close and mid-range. At distance it’s a bit better in this regard but, truth be told, for efficient casting this should really be considered a 5-weight rod. With a #5 line on it this rod is excellent at everything short of distance work. I rank it just a hair behind the 8’ - #5 Hardy (because the Hardy requires no care in casting, even at distance). The overall appearance of this rod is not as aesthetically pleasing as that of the Hardy, but that’s at least partly due to the fact it’s $125.00 less expensive.

The 8.5’ Diamondback is really a #5 rod masquerading as a #4. If you use this rod with a #4 line—which you can do—you will end up expending more effort in casting than would be necessary if the rod were truly a #4. But as with the 8’ model, put a #5 line on this rod and it is much improved. The rod contributes more to the cast, and the in-close feel is far better. At 8.5 feet, the weight of this rod is noticeable during casting, as is the self-weight momentum (a feeling of heaviness in the hand, as the already slow action is somewhat exacerbated by the weight and length of the blank itself).

In summary, the 8’ Hardy and 8’ Diamondback (both used with #5 lines) and the 7.5’ - #4 Hardy are superior rods. Not superior fiberglass rods, mind you, but superior rods regardless of material. If the lengths and weights of these rods suit your needs, I strongly recommend comparing them to any of today’s graphite or bamboo rods.

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Hebgen Lake Brown

Here's a clip for all you lake Junkies!

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