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Walter & Group...
[GH] An appropriate "fish story" helps bring us into the real world. This one, from Gary Eaton, will make a couple of points which do relate to Task 14 as he tells us about his Belize "Grand Slam" :
Gordy,
Slightly off the SW quick cast topic - While fishing in Belize a few years ago, I waded a little bit with my fly hanging in the water . A fish appeared and I began to roll cast the weighted fly airborne - snagged on a piece of Stag Horn coral. I was cured and began holding my fly while wading.
Later that day, I cast to a Permit in skinny water about 60-feet. The fly hit close enough and the fish turned to it. Ready to strip strike, I got a take and went to set the hook -- I fought a brilliant give and take for just a few seconds retrieving my prize - a bit of loose Brain coral extracted from the Turtle Grass. At least my hook was sharp.
After lunch, I cast to a group of Permit in deeper water from the front deck of the panga. I peeled off the third large fish from the line of foragers. The snapping shrimp fly slid out of view as I stripped and the Permit seemed to accelerate to intercept. WHAM! - The fly stopped cold as the guide poled toward the apparent take. The rod remained bent and I gained a little line. Then the line began to ease and I relentlessly reeled. When the line began to sway in the current and resist turning, I thought it a rather tepid fight. In a minute, the purple Fan coral slipped through the surface with the olive fly attached..
We fished until the sun almost set. As we finished, Bruce Leslie, said "I am sorry your luck was so bad."
I replied." What do you mean? I got a slam on the flats today --- of three different species of coral!"
We had a good laugh and caught Permit and Bonefish the next day as well as some smaller Tarpon. I remained upbeat that we landed no coral.
Gary Eaton
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[GH] Gary,
I'l bet your hook wasn't so sharp after your heroic battle with the corals !
Lesson applied to Task 14 : One of the ways of handling the fly and leader when "set-up" for the speed casts is to allow the fly, leader, and a short segment of line to trail in the water. While this is NOT what is expected on this task, it is used by many experienced flats fishers under certain circumstances. I use it occasionally, when expecting short presentations when its very windy yet the water is free from floating weeds and the skiff is in water just deep enough that the fly and leader don't sink to the flat .... usually when there is enough skiff movement or current to keep it high enough in the water column for a quick pickup.
On very windy days, you usually don't need long cast presentations because the fish are not as spooky as when it it calm .... plus the fact that you can't see the fish at as great a distance anyway. If you don't have other means of keeping the line from being blown off the deck as you wait for a presentation, then allowing that final big loop of line/leader to be in the water is not a bad way to go. Rare, however, to allow the fly to be in the water. Under most circumstances, much better to hold it.
When not to hold the fly ?
1. In the rare circumstance described, above.
2. When there are LOOOOOOOONNNNNGGG periods of time between fish sightings (like hours on some days ! ) What happens is this : The angler dutifully holds the fly. His fingers cramp. His eyes glass over as he suffers what seems line an interminable wait. He's "stale".
Then a fish shows. The angler usually blows the presentation.
For these situations, I take a little "dot" of fuzzy sticky backed Velcro and paste it on the reel seat. Instead of sinking the fly hook into a perfectly good cork grip, I put the point into the fuzz and let go of the fly. Otherwise the quick cast set-up is the same.
3. Often, I do the same thing when wading... especially if the wading is not easy. That way, I can use my rod hand to trap the coils of line and keep my line hand free as sort of a counterbalance.
4. Sometimes when wading a sandy flat with no corals or other obstructions, I'll allow the fly, leader, and short bit of fly line to trail in the water behind me, or off to one side if there is a current. I can pick that up in a heartbeat as a water haul and present at a wide range of angles or directly in front. This method can be used when I don't want to have the fish see my raised rod.... so I do it as an off-horizontal cast. It works partly because when wading, I can get a lot closer to the fish than I can when fishing from a skiff. As with most "Quick casts" when wading, I don't need a lot of line out of the rod in big coils as I might when skiff fishing. I can do it while crouching way down and not allowing my rod tip to get high enough to spook a close fish. Having those big coils of line draping down into the water would not only be unnecessary, but would lead to so much water resistance that it would ruin the attempt. I'll use less line and smaller coils. (This speaks to the second part of Task 14.)
What about line management when fishing from a skiff ?
1. Multiple coils with one last big loop held above deck held in the line hand along with the fly.
2 " " " " " " " " " " " against the cork grip with the rod hand; fly in the other hand.
3. Same, with the largest held line loop trailing in the water.
# For 1. - 3., the line to be shot can be placed on the deck in coils or down on the cockpit floor.
4. Same, with the coils of line in a bucket-like device often called a "Line Tamer". (The line to be shot can be coiled there also.)
5. The method I use most : I stand on the foredeck back close to the cockpit edge. My largest held loop (s) allowed to fall to the cockpit floor where the wind won't blow them off the skiff. The line to be shot is coiled in big coils on the cockpit floor.
6. For me, the last choice is to allow the fly / leader / line to drag along in the water next to the skiff. That can become a nightmare for both guide and angler, especially when stern mounted electric motors are used. Why ? Because they EAT FLY LINES !
Why use the "Saltwater quick cast" (speed cast) in the first place ?
1. Its primary purpose is to reach the fish with as few false casts as possible.
2. Another purpose, is to be able to make these presentations as quickly as possible after sighting the fish.
These flats fish are more often that not moving. Seasoned flats fishermen have learned that they are almost always moving faster than the angler thinks even though the seem relaxed as they do so.
3. This provides a means of organized handling of significant amounts of line.
A couple of tricks I've learned .
- What works best for me, is to allow the cast to pluck the fly from my grasp rather than throwing it out or releasing it earlier.
- As my line shoots out, I find a real advantage to do what Lefty taught me. I have that line shoot out through a "ring" made by my line hand thumb and forefinger. Why ?
1. I have better line control so don't have to look for the line to make my retrieve. (I never want to take my eyes off that moving fish.)
2 I'm MUCH less likely to have the whole presentation ruined by a basketball sized tangle of line coming up from the deck or cockpit. ( The bane of existence for many new to flats fishing.)
3. The line shoots up from the pile with even less likelihood of tangling, if I hold my line hand "ring" DIRECTLY OVER THE CENTER OF THE COILED LINE.
4. Sometimes I forget and drop that line. I may be just plain lucky and have it shoot out just fine anyway. When that happens, I need to find the line quickly to begin stripping ... and I don't want to have to take my eyes off the fish.
SO.... I simply slide my line hand up the rod blank to the first stripper guide. The line is always right there !
Gordy
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[GH] Here are a couple of other references which will help with the application of the Salt Water Quick Casts :
TARPON on FLY, by Donald Larmouth and Rib Fordyce, 2002, ISBN 1-57188-270-7, Frank Amato Publications, Inc., www.amatoboooks.com , pp. 40 - 43.
HIGH ROLLERS Fly Fishing For Giant Tarpon, by Bill Bishop, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9793-8-8, Stackpole Books, www.stackpolebooks.com, pp. 87-92.
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