2 New questions : Cap / Direction of haul / Salmon

1.) Can your headwear (cap, hat, etc.) have any effect on your fly casting ? (From Kirk Eberhard)

2.) Does the direction in which you make the haul have an effect on your cast ? (From Ally Gowans)

I like to wear a long-billed cap to decrease glare , but I can't think of a way in which the headgear affects the actual cast. I anticipate being enlightened .

That's why we're here !

I think the haul is best done parallel to the rod . This decreases friction from the guides and makes it more efficient. It also best allows you to feel the tension in the line which helps in the timing of the haul . Mark Sedotti alluded to this in one of his comments recently

True.... but only part of the story.

Regards

Frank Harford.

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From Rene Hesse :

Questions :

1.) Can your headwear (cap, hat, etc.) have any effect on your fly casting ? (From Kirk Eberhard)

Short answer; Yes

Long answer; long bill hat may cut visibility of line in the air affecting accuracy. (eyes have less time to catch placement of fly in air to judge location)

If short cast, and accuracy casting is in line with face, a long bill will reduce the rod travel in the direction of the body. (may hit bill of cap)

Baseball style cap increases your peripheral vision so the loops are easier to see compaired to a full brim hat.

A short bill hat may not block out the sun and not allow the caster to see the loops formation when trying to pick out the 'right' back cast.

A short bill hat is easier to make an 'off shoulder' or 'over head' cast. The hand can travel closer to the head.

2.) Does the direction in which you make the haul have an effect on your cast ? (From Ally Gowans)

Short answer; Yes

Long answer; Goal- line speed

More friction on the first guide; The reason we have more than one guide on the rod is to reduce the sharp angle the line would have to take when shooting.. If we increase the angle of the line it will reduce the shooting lines effectiveness. When pulling on the line we are more effective pulling in line rather than at an angle how ever it will not kill a cast, just less effective if off to the side.

We reduce the distance we can haul if we are going in less than 180 degrees from our rod hands direction of travel.

Rene

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Rene .... Good answers. Check out my COMMENTS, below. Gordy

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From Kirk Eberhard :

Ball caps and brimmed hats can block the view of rod tips and unrolling lines, especially with long, two handed rods.

There is a tendency to drop the rod tip on the forward cast (and backcast) until it comes into view thus opening the loop.

I have students turn ball caps around or remove brimmed hats for awhile so they can see what's going on up there. This can make a big difference! Of course don't look into the sun, be careful with the casting, and wear protective glasses.

Lefty mentioned something about accuracy while wearing ball caps and fishing hats.

Kirk Eberhard

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Kirk : Right on ! G.

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COMMENTS:

I purposely waited to send these answers (many others similar or the same using differrent words) until I had a chance to go out with rod in hand to put my own thoughts and observations to the test. I did that this morning.

Here is what I found:-

My brief answers were, 1. YES 2. YES

When casting for accuracy, I was able to confirm the more deadly accuracy achievable for short targets (15' to 30') when I turned my cap around so I could bring my rod right up to the center of my forehead. Reason ? I could maintain almost perfect tracking.

My distance casting didn't change much with respect to distance or distance accuracy when my haul was made just a bit out to my line hand side the way I usually do it when fishing. When I purposely exaggerated the move by hauling way out to the same side I noted a BIG DIFFERENCE. I couldn't average as great distance, and I wasn't as accurate.

As you might expect, when trying for max distance while making a long haul in the rod plane (casting plane) my haul hand was not far enough out to one side for me to match my casting arc and stroke length with length of my haul, so distance suffered. Part of the problem was that I couldn't control the acceleration of my haul as well or its end point.

Then I tried casting to targets of medium distance: 45' and 55'. When I did this while making hauls way out to the side two things happened. First, the fly tended to curve a little to my line hand side. Second, if I made a sharp haul out to the side, this often resulted in side to side rod vibration yielding imperfect layouts and unpredictable distance to the targets.

Repeatedly making hauls out to the line hand side became tiresome. This might translate to line hand arm symptoms if performed all day long while fishing.

Making the haul out to the rod hand side was very awkward and inefficient. My layouts were embarrassing to see.

I recall, years ago, Lefty pointing out that most casters do better when using short billed caps rather than long billed ones.

When out on the tropical flats on still days when the sun is really tough to bear, I switch from my customary short bill cap to a wide brim straw hat. Less glare to the eyes and inner surfaces of my polaroid glasses, so I can see fish more easily. I have the impression, however (certainly no "hard data") that my casting is not quite as good with this hat when I really need accuracy as when permit fishing.

Gordy

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SALMON

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From Troy Miller :

Using eggs in Alaska is legal in some areas and not in others. And actually, the use of eggs within a river can be allowed or revoked at any time, based on Fish & Game?s assessment of how the escapement is shaping up for that year.

The Kenai is frequently shut down to any type of bait (including doping artificials in any way) and you surely don?t want to be caught fishing illegally in AK. I witnessed a group of anglers (from eastern Europe, I believe) on the upper river this fall who lost all of their fishing gear and were heavily fined when they broke a number of tackle restrictions in the flyfishing only area. They also exceeded the daily limit substantially. I regretted witnessing it, but am very thankful for the wardens who work diligently to enforce our laws of conservation.

I?ve discussed the legality of squirting various juices on flies in the ?artificials only? waters with wardens, and they say that no scents or flavors may be legally added to lures. There are plenty of waters that this is totally legal in, the actual number of places that restrict bait are relatively few ? and largely the places that receive the most fishing pressure.

You?re absolutely correct, the longer a salmon has been in the fresh water (and generally, the farther upriver), the paler the flesh becomes and the darker the skin becomes. The food quality degrades as this occurs, to the point that the fish are definitely NOT worth harvesting. Many people that take pics of the deep red skinned salmon with the major kypes and teeth don?t realize that those fish are pretty close to the fertilizer stage?

Regards,
Troy Miller

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Troy,

True of all six species of Pacific salmon. The decaying flesh of the salmon which die after spawning is an important source of protein for the Alaskan rivers. (Hence the effectiveness of "flesh flies" for Arctic char, bows, dollies, etc.)

The spawned out degraded salmon really don't give much of a fight when hooked. Nothing compared to a bright fish still with sea lice right from the sea.

I've read that after the salmon eggs hatch, this protein serves to help feed the salmon smolt and parr before they go out into the sea.

Of course most of the Atlantic salmon spawn and then return to the sea. After spawning, I have heard them called, "black salmon" and "kelts". I don't know how many times these fish can return to the rivers to spawn. I'd also like to learn the main diet of the Atlantic salmon smolts and parr (???). I have had parr strike flies .... but I don't know if that really gives us useful information.

Gordy

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From Ally Gowans :

Hi Gordy,

Your postulation is correct; the salmon?s physiological changes are derived from internal resources and the fat content of the flesh first diminishes, wasting involves resorbation of scales until none of the external scale remains and the flesh also loses density. The dark skin markings are due to melanin and the red-orange is the astaxanthin accumulated from sea feeding is moved from the muscles to the skin as they sexually mature.

Farmed salmon are given a pigmented diet for some months prior to harvest so that flesh is recognisable. This is just another of the artificial contaminants that these fish are subjected to.

Atlantic salmon too will take baits that resemble fish eggs, sweet corn, cheese and even orange and pink nymphs fished deep. Using salmon (or any other fish) eggs for bait has been illegal in Scotland for a long time.

Before this discussion sends panic through the group they can rest assured that I will not be asking questions in this detail during tests!

Best wishes,

Ally Gowans

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Ally ... GOOD POINT. I try to keep the discussions on this Study Group at the highest level possible. Some have likened it to a PhD course.

The only time I'd go into anywhere near as much detail as we do when administering an exam is with the rare MCCI candidate who is incredibly well informed.... then I will sometimes push him/her to probe the depths of knowledge. This can result in me as an examiner learning some new things and it serves as an appropriate challenge to this unusual candidate !

We have accumulated a virtual mountain of information which has been updated, corrected and tweeked over the years as an ongoing project.

For this reason, we are now looking into various ways of making this information from our past efforts more readily available to candidates including the likelihood of embracing a well controlled Wiki. That could someday serve as our legacy. I'm just now trying to learn more about that.

Gordy

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From Gary Davison:

Gordy,

The more commonly pink or red flesh colored Pacific King Salmon is different from the ivory flesh colored "White King." This is thought to be due to the inability of the White King to absorb astaxanthin, leaving their flesh a smooth ivory shade. The White King was previously rated as a #2 fish (less desirable) but has now been marketed as Platinum or Ivory King, bringing a higher price on the market. It has a much richer flavor, especially if caught during the winter months. It's become a gotta-have salmon dish in many East Coast restaurants.

Gary....

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Gary... You just made my last point. I LEARNED SOMETHING ! Thanks.

The desirability factor reminds me of the time a group of us were competing to come up with a new "market name" for a local Long Island fish which doesn't have much market appeal but which when prepared properly is pretty good table fare. Its common names are "sea robin" and "hacklehead".

One of our Group won with his suggestion to name it after something hard to find, delicious, desirable, and expensive.

The TRUFFLE FISH .

Gordy

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