Category: FLY CASTING

Essential river casts

Season 2 Intermediate Techniques: Getting Better At Fly Fishing

This episode of the Far Bank Fly Fishing School series focuses on a selection of essential casts that all river anglers should know. Some of the casts in this episode allow anglers to fish in situations that they wouldn’t normally be able to do so knowing only the overhead cast, while other casts create better ways to present the fly to the fish and increase the odds of getting it to eat. Whether you’re a first-time river fly fisher, someone who has fished rivers in the past but wants to up their game, or you just want to learn some really cool, highly useful casts this episode is for you. In this episode Far Bank head fly fishing instructor Simon Gawesworth, explains and demonstrates how to learn and master the roll cast, the side cast, the reach cast, the aerial mend, and shows a number of ways to make a slack line cast – all casts that will help you greatly increase your success on the water.

Red’s Tired of Tangling Your Nymph Rig?

Are spending more than 10% of your time dealing with snags, tangles, and other pesky interruptions?

At Red’s we use this rig in many of our University of Fly Fishing clinics and see great success.  Anglers experience efficiency and suffer less negative distraction. Your setup should be a joy to fish and cast, this rig in the diagram below does just that.  In order for you to get good at drifting and presenting a fly you need REPS.  Many reps.  Lots of casts, thousands of drifts.  An angler must have a smooth and efficient tempo, presenting their fly over and over again and in this process they become skilled. You’ll become a Ninja in no time if you can just stay untangled!

Many anglers spend half of their time retying and untangling some complicated rig they learned on YouTube. Probably from Red’s haha and that’s a shame.  Simple is awesome.  Follow this recipe, get back to the basics and go have a great time moving fluidly throughout your fishery.

While there are anglers that can and should utilize more complex rigs, if you are looking to improve your fishing abilities; the “Keep it Simple Stupid” approach is best.  If some things on the list below annoy you while fishing, try the setup diagramed here and free yourself of distraction. You’ll be faster to rig up, and now able to focus on all the other skills like mending, stalking trout, and reading water because you won’t be picking apart a birds nest every 5-10 minutes at 15 minutes a pop.

Threats to a Nymph Angler’s Tempo and Efficiency:

  1. Tangling your fly/indicator/tippet
  2. Snagging Bottom (most of the time your nymph really just needs to be in the bottom HALF of the water column)
  3. Snagging Behind You
  4. Standing on Your Line (or snagging your handling line in the grass/shrubs)
  5. Trying to cast too far
  6. Trying to feed too much slack line downstream
  7. Changing flies too much
  8. Setups that take too long setup (2 fly rigs)
  9. Not Having a Well Developed Casting Strategy (consistent use of roll, overhead, or water based casts) for every drift. Simple rigs will help you develop this.
  10. Nymph setups that are too heavy (see #1 and #2)
Nymph Setup Diagram

The Pro’s Notes:

  • Indicator MUST be position and the point on the leader where the taper is most extreme.  This leaves exclusively fine tippet below the indicator allowing the nymph to sink fast and suspend directly below the indicator.
  • 7.5′ 4X Leaders are perfect for this. 9′ leaders can be more challenging to cast. You can repair your leader with Fluorocarbon tippet, but don’t overthink this. Start with a leader right out of the package.  No tippet material required.
  • Yarn as an indictor material is essential. To fish a nymph suspended it must float slower than the surface currents. The weight of a Tungsten nymph will actually slow the yarn down.  Other “bobbers” won’t do this.
  • Tungsten Jig Nymphs are a huge advantage. Don’t try and fake it. Get a good nymph

Video Tip of Simple Nymph Rig

Video Tip of Nymph Setup

Is It OK to Use Your Wrist in the Fly Cast?

When performed correctly the fly cast appears to defy all laws of physics.  The perfect cast has been known to pause the universe for a beat or two. It’s a natural high!

To execute a proper cast you will need to use your wrist to articulate proper motion of the rod tip, control slack, and initiate dynamic acceleration.  When your wrist, elbow, and shoulder work together the results are incredible!  When the wrist is used incorrectly… you will look like a cat playing with a ball of yarn.  Check out this week’s video tip and let’s get it right.

Tight Loops,

Red’s Fly Shop Staff

 

Enjoying Fiberglass Fly Rods

Enjoying Fiberglass Fly Rods

 

Written by Paul Beel: J. Stockard Pro Tyer Team Leader and owner of FrankenFly

Through the years I have owned and casted many fly rods and for a good portion of those years I used what I could afford to use at the time. At one point I purchased an Eagle Claw Fiberglass Fly Rod for $45.00. It was a 4/5 weight and I used it exclusively. It performed very well and at such a cheap cost, it was most definitely a bargain.

As time passed by I purchased other rods which were mostly graphite. However, that first fiberglass rod had an impact on me and I began reading online websites like The Fiberglass Manifesto and joining the forum The Fiberglass Flyrodders. These places love fiberglass fly rods and discuss them still to this day.

I then bought my first custom built fiberglass fly rod from Midwest Custom Fly Rods.  The advantage of a custom built fly rod is that you get to select what you want on the rod. You can select the cork, reel seat, guides, hook keeper and color of wraps around the rod. Sometimes you have the option of picking the color of the rod, but that’s not always the case. Some rod blanks only come in a specific color and some of them have limited colors.

Of course receiving and fishing this custom build just added to the fiberglass rod enjoyment that I had already experienced in the past and just made me want another one.

What’s so great about fiberglass you might ask? Well it isn’t for everyone, but here is what I like about them. First and foremost is that fiberglass rods are fun! When you catch a fish on a fiberglass rod, you can feel that fish clear down to the cork. Many fiberglass enthusiasts will obtain a small weight rod to just use on smaller fish, because it makes catching small fish so much fun. Pickup a 0 to 4 weight and go out and catch some small brook trout or panfish. It makes fighting these fish so much fun!

If you allow yourself to slow down on your casts, these rods cast smoothly. You can just feel the rod load so much better. Be aware, if you are accustomed to casting fast action graphite rods, you will have to slow down your casting stroke. Let that backcast sit back there awhile, have a cup of coffee or have a snack, and give that line some time to load that rod and then begin to bring it forward. Relax and slow down.

If you venture into the world of fiberglass fly rods you will find a wealth of information online. Besides the two sources I have already mentioned, you can find many custom builders online. Take a look on Instagram and search on the hashtag #glassisnotdead to see a myriad of wonderful fly rods for your viewing pleasure. Many of the custom rod builders post on Instagram as well, showing off their latest and greatest builds.

There are also several manufacturers making various types of fiberglass rod blanks. Many small rodsmiths make some of the best rods out there and there are also the big name rod makers making their own fiberglass fly rods these days. Scott, TFO, Orvis, and Thomas & Thomas to name a few. If you want to build your own, you can do that too. There are many options available. Keep in mind, these are not the fiberglass rods of old which were sometimes too big and heavy. These rods are made more modern, lighter and not so thick.

I’m extremely happy with my latest fiberglass fly rod. I had Shane Gray of Graywolf Rods build it for me. It’s an 8 foot 4 weight and part of his Trout Smith line of rods. I wanted something I could use on small streams, panfish, and the occasional big bass. So far I’ve caught smallmouth, largemouth, crappie, and bluegill with it. It’s so much fun and casts really smooth. When you hook a fish, it sure puts a bend in the rod, which is what makes it so fun.

If you are wanting to try something new or add to your fun factor while fly fishing, I highly recommend you check out fiberglass flyrods and determine if you enjoy them as much as I do.