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WIND PROBLEMS ?
Don’t let windy weather put a stop
to your fly fishing! Making some simple adjustments in your casting
technique will allow you to fish in a gale that sends others home … leaving the
“big ones” for you. All you have to do is cast under the wind (the wind
may be 20 to 30 mph at 10 feet above the water, while it may be merely 5
mph or less at 2 feet over the water).
If the wind is in your face,
throw a high backcast, allowing the wind to fully extend your line. Allow
a moment for your line to drop within a few feet from the water, then make
your forward presentation low and under the wind with a sidearm cast.
If the wind is at your back,
do the opposite. Throw a low sidearm backcast a few feet above the water,
then simply make your normal forward cast.
If the wind is on your right or left,
then use the same low sidearm casts perpendicular to the wind, with a low
backcast and presentation a few feet off the water on your down-wind
side.
However, this will often require your flexibility in performing a
“backcast presentation”. Naturally, hauls and tight loops will create
more line speed and a better trajectory. Note: This is only one of a variety of PFF
methods that “beat the wind problem”.
NYMPH
RIG TANGLES ? Eliminate them forever! Cast all day and never get your
indicator, weight, and two fly set-up into a knotted mess.
Orthodox
overhead fly casting stresses the importance of tight loops which (now you
know) are totally taboo with a weighted nymph rig! Spey or roll
casting for example, requires big open loops. In our PFF Advanced
Clinics, we teach numerous applications of the simplest open loop casts
imaginable … and we naturally call them “Loop Casts”. The legendary late
Lee Wullf advocated the overhead version—where the rod-tip-path makes a
single large circle overhead, and culminates by pointing the rod to where
you want to present the fly. This enables a wide loading loop, so no
significant room is required on the backcast. Lee developed this cast to
enable fishing in small brushy creeks or rivers where a backcast was
impossible. We at PFF have spent some years in creating numerous
modifications and applications for different open loop presentations.
With a correct Loop Cast, the various components of a nymph rig can never
come in contact with each other. You can do it too … remember, the
rod tip is in constant motion from pick-up to presentation, and is always
moving in a circle or an ellipse. No backcast room is required - no
false casting is necessary - no tangles, wind knots, or tailing loops are
possible – be able to cast from any position to any position, 360 degrees
– change your mind, right in the middle of the cast – drift boat captains
will love your newfound skills – and your wade nymph casting will be
changed forever. Combine these simple maneuvers with hauls, shooting,
modified spey casts, and aerial mends … and get as involved in
“unconventional” (but incredibly effective) casting as you want.
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