Fly Lines Explained Part 2

Matching the correct weight of fly line to the rod is critical for the rod blank to work to its full potential when making a cast. If the line is too light or too heavy for the rod you will without doubt struggle to cast.

To make sure you match the line correctly just look at the rod blank near the handle and you will find some numbers after the rod length telling you which weight of line it was manufactured to cast. These numbers are referred to as the AFTM scale (Association of Fishing Tackle Manufacturers). The number on the rod may simply say 7 weight or may read as #7 or even 6/7 giving you two line weight options. For the beginner I would always advise opting for the heavier line weight in this instance as you will be able to load the rod easier and have a greater feel for the cast through the rod blank.

The correct line weight loads the rod more efficiently.

Fly lines have what is known as a profile, the two most common being Weight Forward and Double Taper, both are abbreviated in fly fishing world to WF or DT.

The WF lines are most common these days purely because they are the easiest to cast and achieve distance with. These start with a thin running line on the reel end, then progress into a thicker heavier section of around ten yards in length towards the end of the line before tapering down thinner again at the very tip of the line to give good presentation. Because most of the lines weight is at the front this enables easy “loading of the rod” (bending the rod) and gives good distance when shooting a line.

DT lines are the same thickness throughout their length and taper down in size on the last couple of feet at either end. In the right hands these lines offer better presentation of the line onto the water and are better suited to river fishing where you may encounter wild fish that are “spooky”. These lines have the added bonus that if they wear out on one end you can simply turn them round on the reel and use the other end as the profile is exactly the same.

Finally the “density” of the line is how it sits in the water and this can vary from floating on the surface to a fast sinking line with a sink rate of 8 inches per second to get your flies down deep fast. As a beginner always start with a floating line as these are easier to cast than the sinking lines, then progress to sinking lines as required as your casting improves and to be honest most of my own fishing is done with a floating line anyway as usually the fish are in the top layers searching for food, I only usually turn to the sinking lines in extreme conditions of hot bright sunshine or very cold conditions when the fish may drop deeper in the water.

Tough Fishing

Yesterday’s tuition session with James was a really enjoyable day despite being a day of very tough fishing.

His wife had given him a voucher for a day with me as a present last Christmas and after exchanging a few emails we opted for a day at Burton Springs. 

James had coarse and sea fished over the years but was keen to get into fly fishing especially after talking to some of his friends from Cornwall who had told him that they target saltwater species on the fly and considering he is based in the forces on the Cornish coast, once he had learned the basics, he had miles of fishing right on his doorstep so no excuses not to get out there and do some!

James picked up the casting quickly.

I arrived at the fishery early morning and the temperature was already rising, not good for trout fishing although there was a bit of cloud cover but the great thing with Burton Springs is that you always have the option to switch to one of the other lakes and target carp on fly if conditions are not favourable for trout.

James arrived around 9.30am, he’d driven up from Cornwall the day before for a night out in Bristol with friends then back down to Burton Springs early on the morning and then he was driving back to Cornwall after our session on the water…..some serious miles!

On arriving at the fishery we had a coffee and a chat about what we would be doing and James informed me that he was a helicopter pilot…….music to my ears! He would surely have good hand eye coordination wouldn’t he? He did not disappoint when it came to the casting, after learning the roll cast he was soon onto the overhead and in no time was shooting line out across the lake and beast of all it was really easy teaching him the mechanics of the cast.

Going through all the different kit.

Apart from the casting we went through all of the kit and what it does in the morning session then after lunch I showed James how to make up some tapered leaders followed by a session on entomology and watercraft. This left us time for a fishing session which after some discussion we both decided to target the carp due to the now stifling heat.

Always an interesting picture to be had on the bank.

Unfortunately the coarse lake was packed with anglers but Adam the fishery manager said that the specimen lake only had two anglers on it and we were welcome to give that a go but warned us that it would not be easy as this is heavily fished and the carp have seen it all!!We headed of armed with a rod and a bag of dog biscuits and found ourselves a swim on a point opposite a promising looking island.

Trying to get the fish feeding.

The first thing to do was to try and get the fish feeding on the surface, not too hard I thought as I had seen a couple of fish moving in amongst the reeds on the island. I proceeded to catapult out a few pouches of biscuits over to the edge of the island….this was followed by every feathered water bird you could imagine from a 3 mile radius descending on my offerings and polishing them off! I scratched my head then realised it must have been because there was only two other anglers on the lake for them to get a free feed off of on the day so we had attracted the whole lakes population of wildfowl. A plan was needed so I fed a bay to my left with the biscuits so diverting the birds away from the island where the fish seemed to be. It was hard work, three pouches to my left and one to the island in that ratio to keep them away.

We were more sucessful feeding the ducks!

We never did get the fish feeding properly in the session and found the only way we could get a take was if the fly was put to within inches of the reeds, the fish just did not seem to want to leave the cover of the vegetation. James managed three good takes from fish but his strike met with no resistance, just a slack line flying back towards us but given time I’m sure he will get his timing right and soon be into some fish but the main thing is now he has all the core skills so he can go away and take which ever fly fishing avenue he so likes.

It needed to be this close to the reeds to get a take.
James sends the fly out towards the island.

 

The line flies back after a missed take.

Fly Lines Explained – Part 1

The one thing that can really make a newcomers fly fishing experience a miserable one is the lack of understanding of the fly line. Using the wrong line for the rod or using a “cheap and nasty” line can lead to hours of frustration for the angler and take all of the enjoyment out of the sport.

Fly lines are made by coating either a nylon or braid core with a PVC coating and as a general rule of thumb the more you spend on a line the smoother and slicker this coating becomes thus aiding the fly casting and shooting of the line. A cheap line will not be as supple and when pulled off of the reel will sit in tight coils at your feet. These coils of line will often be referred to as “line memory” and are a real problem when you consider you have to try and cast these coils of line through the rings of the rod.

To get a good quality line you should be looking to spend anywhere from £30 to £35 upwards. This may sound quite an outlay but a well looked after line will last the average angler a few years, so get yourself a good line and clean it on a regular basis and you will reap the rewards when it comes to casting. I spend many hours teaching casting and even I struggle with a cheap line so you can imagine how difficult it would be for a beginner?!!

Casting with a good line makes things a whole lot easier.

Fly lines generally vary in length between 25 to 35 yards, this is attached to a thin backing line on the reel which serves two purposes. Firstly the backing line will bulk out the spool thus storing the fly line in more open coils and in turn reducing any fly line memory that may occur. Secondly the backing line acts as a reserve so if you hook a big fish that decides to go on a long run you have line in reserve should you run out of the relatively short fly line. A backing line of 20 to 30lbs breaking strain would be sufficient for most general fly fishing and should be wound onto the fly reel as neatly and as compact as possible as this will give the attached fly line a good base to be wound onto. Always aim to load as much backing onto the reel as possible just leaving enough space to fit the fly line on top, this can involve a bit of trial and error but it is worth taking the time to load your reel with line properly as you will be benefiting from this time spent over future fishing trips.

Next time I will be looking at fly line weights, densities and profiles to help you get the best from your fly fishing.

The Basics Of Fly Casting.

Last month I looked at how to grip the fly rod, this month I will look at how to make a fly cast and the basics of fly casting.

Now you don’t have to be a great caster to catch fish but you will catch more fish if your technique is good. For a beginner, being a good caster will not happen overnight, it will take time and practice just like any other sport, the more you cast the better your technique will become. With this in mind I would suggest if time permits that you get out with a fly rod four or five times a week, in a field will do or your back garden if it is big enough and put in about 15 minute practice sessions. Any longer than the 15 minutes will result in tired muscles and frustration and will be of no benefit. You will soon be reaping the rewards after a few weeks of practice.

Have a goal when you practice, don’t just go for out and out distance, concentrate more on technique and distance will come in time as your technique improves. Another good practice session would to be to put out some targets at various distances and practice hitting these, after a while you will be amazed at how your accuracy has improved which is a real bonus for the river fisherman trying to guide his fly into a tight spot between some overhanging bushes. Far better to practice like this than to just stand there and aimlessly make casts.

Load the rod properly……….

Don’t try and practice the roll cast on grass, it doesn’t work!! For this you need water so that the surface tension grips and anchors the “D” loop in place but grass is fine for practicing probably the more common “overhead cast”. 

Here are some points to consider before your practice session:-

  • Always start a cast with your line straight and with no slack, if you have slack you will not load the energy into the rod and therefore the rod will not cast the line in the desired direction.
  • All fly casts work best under one main principle – smoothly accelerate the rod to an abrupt stop. Acceleration is needed to load the rod with energy, the abrupt stop is needed to transfer that energy down the line so making it move in the required direction.
  • Distance will be more easily achieved with good timing than with sheer power.
  • To get your hand in the right position on the back cast imagine picking up a phone to answer it, if your hand is not beside your ear it is too low.
  • Push your thumb towards the target on the forward cast, the rod then the line will follow your thumb.
  • When casting, the fly line will only ever follow the direction the rod is moving when it stops abruptly on the casting stroke, so bear this in mind when practicing your accuracy.
………and watch the line shoot to the horizon.

These are a few of the basic points to concentrate on, there are however many more but mostly to complex to try and describe in words without diagrams but drop me a line if you have any questions to do with casting.