Welcome to our eleventh installment of “Ask a Fly-Fishing Instructor,” in which we answer readers’ questions about their biggest fly-casting problems. Reader Larry asked for help with this:
Sometimes my fly hits the rod on the forward or backcast. How can I avoid that?
In this lesson, I’ll explain why a smooth acceleration is so important to a proper casting motion. If you start a forward or backcast slowly and then speed up too fast—or even worse, “flick” the rod tip—your line and fly can intersect with the path of your rod. There are three possible bad outcomes of this situation: 1. your cast collapses entirely, 2. you create a nasty line tangle that keeps you from fishing, or worst of all, 3. you nick or even break your rod altogether. Learning to apply smooth acceleration will save you time and money, and it will make you a better angler.
If you’ve got more questions about casting or presentation, post them below, and we’ll address each problem in a new video.
Previous episodes:
Ask a Fly-Fishing Instructor I: Casting Heavy Flies in the Wind
Ask a Fly-Fishing Instructor II: Roll-Casting for Accuracy & Distance
Ask a Fly-Fishing Instructor III: Casting in the Wind
Ask a Fly-Fishing Instructor IV: Casting Accuracy
Ask a Fly-Fishing Instructor V: The Curve Cast
Ask a Fly-Fishing Instructor VI: Casting Angles
Ask a Fly-Fishing Instructor VII: How to Double Haul
Ask a Fly-Fishing Instructor VIII: Fixing Tailing Loops
Ask a Fly-Fishing Instructor IX: How to Make Delicate Presentations
I would love to see a video on how avoid getting my line not tangled due to my flies spinning in the air, and allowing my leader to twist and spin making my line curl up into a nice twisted ball.