Ticking while fishing / Fly line - leader connection / History

Hey Gordy- This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart, cause if I had a dollar everytime a tarpon, bonefish, and espescially permit was spooked by an accidental tick I would not be guiding anymore! I see this quite frequently in beginning saltwater fly fisherman since I have the best of both worlds now guiding in both fresh and saltwater. Not knowing the specific conditions Dan is casting in ie wind or whatever my advice would be work on line speed!

As you know line speed is very important in the keys. Also another thing I see a lot in casters transitioning to heavier rods is what I would call over compensation in the length of the rod stroke when they are trying to carry more line. This causes a more of an arcing cast as opposed to the SLP of the tip because they are not stopping which in turn collapses the cast and they tick the water. If they do that even in the slightest with a wind at their back it will cause the "tick" especially with heavier flies.

Gordy - I guess to further my explanation on line speed I find fresh water casters more "laxidazical" if you will when casting. Does that help?
Joel

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Many casters, especially when fishing from flats skiffs on a windy day, fear the wind from in front when most of the time the wind from behind causes more problems and helps to cause this one. For one thing, they tend to use higher line speed on the forward cast and forget that with a wind from behind, its more important to have a tight loop and high line speed on the BACK CAST !

Line speed is important. Better, yet, under these circumstances the caster needs line speed achieved without loss of good loop control. One without the other just won't get the job done.

Ticking the water behind the caster won't spook the fish in front of him, but will result in the fly not reaching the target area. Ticking in front, can spook a whole school of fish.

So you have rightly pointed out, that ticking can be a big problem in the real world of fishing.... not just for competition casting.

We plan on addressing these and lots of other things when Lefty, Jim Valle and I give our worshop on salt water fly fishing at the Conclave this summer.

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I just have to say this group is uncanny - and amazing. As I continued to experiement with ticking, I have discovered some of what each of Ally/Guy/Tony described. Basically, I had switched from a TT taper (which is on my 7wt) to a Sharkskin saltwater taper (on the 10wt) which has a radically different profile. I agree with Ally in that the TT is not as susceptable to ticking. Further, I have noticed the sharkskin 'buggy whipping' occasionally, thus the energy is not being dissapated as it should be as Guy described. What's funny is that as I was observing it again today, I thought to myself, "this setup peforms a 'tuck' cast so much more easily than I can normally perform one with my other setups" which leads exactly to what Tony mentioned.

Gordy,

You are correct that the overhand knot is below(toward the leader) and not above. What I do is leave room and tie the nail knot several inches up the end of the fly line, tie the overhand knot AROUND the leader butt, and then slide the nail down and tighten both knots with the nail knot snugged up against the overhand knot. Several coats of Pilobond help to build a ramp so the connection goes smoothly through the rod tip top.

I like the permanent butt arrangement for most of my saltwater fly fishing up to 12 wt. I use a heavier butt on the 12 wt. The only exception is that I have gone back to a whipped loop on the end of the fly line and a regular 12 ft leader for permit fishing. The heavy permit flies were "kicking" at the end of the cast. Part caused I suspect by the abrupt line diameter changes I was using in building my leaders, the length of the heavy butt, the weight of the permit flies, and my casting style. Bruce Chard reccomended and I am now using a leader built of 20" sections of Rio Saltwater Hard except for the fluro tippet. This has eliminated the kicking at the end of the cast

When I get a chance I will experiment with Dan Blanton loops.

Steve

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History of Casting

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From Guy Manning:

Gordy,

The 2 volume " HISTORY OF THE SPORT OF CASTING People, Events, Records, Tackle and Literature Early Times by Cliff Netherton is readily available through the American Casting Association. Contact Dale Lanser who is the current Executive Secretary at ddddlanser@xxxxxxx. He sells softbound copies at around $25 per volume.

Guy Manning

FFF Master Certified Casting Instructor

Moderator FFFCCI Yahoo Group

www.castflys.net

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Guy..... Thanks ! A while back, Floyd Franke sent me a hardbound copy of another book by Cliff Netherton, entitled:

I think this may also be available from the American Casting Education Foundation.

Gordy