First time throwing a fly...

[dboyd101]

Got out this evening after work since it was 70 degrees today. Dug the waders out of my surf fishing cart (will post that sucker up soon enough), got the new Cabela's combo out of it's slick little case it came with, and headed up to the local native trout stream.

Just as I pulled up to the river the clouds were rolling in. There was quite a commotion caused by a local fire which crested on the mountain just across from my condo. Flames were quite large... almost a reminiscent of a mini California wildfire. Pretty crazy. Hope everyone is alright! http://triboro.patch.com/articles/co...iverdale-woods. Anyway. I got to the stream and it was dark, good thing I had my headlamp with me. Took me a few to get the rod put together and strung up, but it was a blast from there on out. The rocks in my spot are SUPER SLIPPERY so I didn't get too far, but there were trout feeding around me. I even SAW a whole half come out of the water to nab a moth I was watching. It was AWESOME. Sorry. Easily amused. Anyway. The trout were feeding, I couldn't really tell what they were feeding on, but due to recent stone fly hatch reports, that's what I went with. I believe I had one on, but it quickly released itself and didn't one to have any part of that fake fly again. Switched to a gold bead dark woolly bugger and that got snagged. I was fishing a rather slow and shallow section so I understand how that happened.

I did come up with a question while I was re-teaching myself fly fishing. I felt as though I had a problem casting a bit of a distance, even with the beaded bugger on the end of the line. I know I'm casting the line and not the fly, but I still feel like it didn't have much... hmm... throw? behind it. It wasn't carrying as far in the air as I had hoped. I am using a 4 piece 9 foot rod with weight forward 5 line. I also have a 9 foot 'liter' ( ) attached. I didn't get any whipping noises which I bring up because if I didn't let the line load, that would be an indication as to why i'm not able to pull the line through my cast. Hopefully I have supplied a detailed enough description and someone can help me out here. I'm going to check out some videos to see if I can find what I'm doing wrong.

All in all it was a great day and it was so nice out that even though I got the skunk, I was only out there an hour and saw some great action on a wild trout stream. That was great. Oh, and I had neon green line that was SUPER easy to see at night. Made a huge difference compared to trying to see my mono line while fishing at night!

[surfrod]

oh how I long to be on the water....

how was the wind, David?

don't forget the approximate 10AM to 2PM casting stroke, with an *abrupt* stop at each position both on the backstroke *and* the frontstroke.

watch some videos but even better grab a long time fly angler to watch you for a few minutes... it really doesn't take much to correct whatever you are doing or not doing.

[Capt. Lou]

Originally Posted by dboyd101

Got out this evening after work since it was 70 degrees today. Dug the waders out of my surf fishing cart (will post that sucker up soon enough), got the new Cabela's combo out of it's slick little case it came with, and headed up to the local native trout stream.

Just as I pulled up to the river the clouds were rolling in. There was quite a commotion caused by a local fire which crested on the mountain just across from my condo. Flames were quite large... almost a reminiscent of a mini California wildfire. Pretty crazy. Hope everyone is alright! http://triboro.patch.com/articles/co...iverdale-woods. Anyway. I got to the stream and it was dark, good thing I had my headlamp with me. Took me a few to get the rod put together and strung up, but it was a blast from there on out. The rocks in my spot are SUPER SLIPPERY so I didn't get too far, but there were trout feeding around me. I even SAW a whole half come out of the water to nab a moth I was watching. It was AWESOME. Sorry. Easily amused. Anyway. The trout were feeding, I couldn't really tell what they were feeding on, but due to recent stone fly hatch reports, that's what I went with. I believe I had one on, but it quickly released itself and didn't one to have any part of that fake fly again. Switched to a gold bead dark woolly bugger and that got snagged. I was fishing a rather slow and shallow section so I understand how that happened.

I did come up with a question while I was re-teaching myself fly fishing. I felt as though I had a problem casting a bit of a distance, even with the beaded bugger on the end of the line. I know I'm casting the line and not the fly, but I still feel like it didn't have much... hmm... throw? behind it. It wasn't carrying as far in the air as I had hoped. I am using a 4 piece 9 foot rod with weight forward 5 line. I also have a 9 foot 'liter' ( ) attached. I didn't get any whipping noises which I bring up because if I didn't let the line load, that would be an indication as to why i'm not able to pull the line through my cast. Hopefully I have supplied a detailed enough description and someone can help me out here. I'm going to check out some videos to see if I can find what I'm doing wrong.

All in all it was a great day and it was so nice out that even though I got the skunk, I was only out there an hour and saw some great action on a wild trout stream. That was great. Oh, and I had neon green line that was SUPER easy to see at night. Made a huge difference compared to trying to see my mono line while fishing at night!

The rod sounds like it's under loaded, simply piut either your stroke is not loading the rod properly or the line is to light for rod.
Also a DT might be a better choice for those closer in presentations. These are only a guess wothout casting the rod!
If the line is not shooting properly,clean the line with Armor all , stretch it out so it's completelty relaxed!
Hope this helps!

Certified casting instructior, master
Member ( charter ) FF advisory borad

[dboyd101]

Hey all,

Thanks for the input! I believe the taper is correct as I was getting to unfurl (right word? lol) properly, but it was not shooting out of the rod fast enough. I think the point about loading the rod with the abrupt stop points is going to help significantly. I do have to say though, my roll casts were on the money!

Probably going to 'po tonight on the way to Bible study and hitting another sweet spot in the AM. Will keep you updated on my casting progress.

Thanks again for the input!

-Dave