Mending Line
Mending line is used to re-position the fly line on the water. Mending line
can be just as important as how you make your cast.
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Hauling
Hauling is used to increase the line speed, which helps you add distance
to your cast. To accomplish a haul is to simply pull on the fly line during
your casting stroke. A double haul involves hauling on your forward and
backward strokes. This will add some distance to your casts, but it’s not
going to make a 50 foot caster into an 80 foot caster. It can add an
extra 5 to 10 feet to your cast depending on your skill level.
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Shooting-Line
Shooting line consists of adding additional line to a previous cast. You
may have made a cast, but you see a fish surfacing 5 or 10 feet beyond
your fly. Shooting line gives you a chance to present your fly to this fish
before it has time to move from that spot. With your line hand, strip the
additional amount of line you need. For this example, we’ll go with 5
feet. Strip 5 feet of line from your “reel” and let it lay on the ground near
your feet. Pinch the line between the reel and your stripping guide.
Make a couple false casts while maintaining your pinch on the line and
then make a forward cast and release the fly towards your target.
Pinching the line and timing your release are key to shooting line
correctly.
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Reach Casting
Reach casting is used on moving water. It is used to place your fly line
and leader upstream of the fly. This allows your fly to drift naturally over
the fish before your line and leader. It is called the reach cast because
you reach over your body with your rod arm to position the fly line and
leader upstream of the fly.
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“S” Curves - Fly Casting
An “S” curve will cause the fly line to fall on the water in a series of “S”
curves. This slack line will keep your fly from being dragged downstream
too fast when you are fishing across faster currents.
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Curve Casting
Curve casts are casts that have a bend in the line to the right or left of
you. They can be useful for casting over fast water to get to slower
moving water. The fast water that is closer to you will end up pushing
your fly downstream too fast. A curve cast will add some slack in the line
that will keep your line in the faster current above the line in the slower
current. Curve casts also work well for presenting your fly around
surface objects.
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Roll Casting
Roll casting is used during windy conditions or when there are
obstructions behind you that do not give you enough room to use a back
cast. You will pull the line back along the water then cast forward
towards your target. In a roll cast, the fly line will not be lifted from the
water for the back cast, it is just pulled back along the water before you
accelerate forward.
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False Casting
False casting is very simple. As you cast the fly backwards and
forwards, don’t release the fly towards your target in the forward
position. (Hence the name False cast) Fly fishermen use the false cast
to cast farther by stripping out more line as they go back and forth.
False casting also works to remove water from a dry fly. A couple of
false casts can help your dry fly appear more natural in the water, which
will help you get more strikes.
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Standard Fly Casting (Backward and Forward Casting)
The standard cast involves lifting the fly rod and fly line with a smooth up
and back motion. When the rod reaches the 11 o’clock position, the
negative motion stops and the forward cast will begin. Accelerate the
rod forward from 11 o’clock to 1 o’clock and release the line and fly
towards your target.
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Fly Fishing For Snook
Snook are another common fish among inshore anglers. Snook are similar to largemouth bass, but much bigger. Snook hang out around docks, rock piles, bridges, trees, mangroves, inlets and backwaters. Bass fishermen usually have no problem learning how to catch snook. The types of baits are different, but the types of cover that hold snook are very similar to where bass would hang out if they were a saltwater species. Snook feed on shrimp, crab and bait fish.
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