Salt Water, "Quick-cast"

Gordy - Spending 150 + days looking down from a platform I feel compelled to add to this discussion. Many times when guiding a new client I spend a few minutes teaching him/her the fundamentals of flats fishing. I have the client make a cast and when the fly lands I ask him how far does he think that is. When he answers I tell him how far I think that is. This allows him to get adjusted to my 50' versus what he thinks 50' is. This also lets him strip the line back into the cockpit the way the line will be casted at the tarpon. I also let my clients know how far I am actually looking for fish. If we are on a light bottom I could be looking 100' to 100 yards down the beach. However if we are in the back country looking for laid up tarpon on a "dark" bottom I may only be looking 50 to 100'. I find this helps them out at understanding how far they need to be looking when I give them a direction and distance to look.

I also never ever, never ever allow them to "coil" the line in there hand while waiting for tarpon. It "never" has a good ending I would bet 95% of the time it ends up in a tangled mess!

Just drop it in the line tamer as you know every shot counts. On calm clear days I find it helps to teach my trout fisherman to not cast so upright. I like my clients to cast more parallel with the water almost sidearm. The tarpon are often spooked by the upright casting. They see the line movement on the false cast!! Not to mention this just works much better on windy days as the fly has much less distance to fall to the water therefore much less time to get caught in the wind and blown back in the boat. On calm days in July when the deck of the boat is 100+ degrees between shots I have the client cast the line in the water to relubricate the line because it will dry out and get sticky or "gummy" which will cause a tangle when we do get a shot. This also allows them to restack the line.

I could go on forever on this discussion at how we defeat Murphy on the deck of the boat look for ward to more discussion on this topic!!

Tight lines,
Joel Dickey
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I NEVER have my angler do the coil in hand maneuver, either ..... unless that angler has already achieved great proficiency with it.

I certainly agree on avoiding a vertical rod plane when casting to spooky fish ..... disastrous for permit fishing.

The, "Line Tamer" is good for clients who are not dyed in the wool SW flats fishermen. For me, it is a pain, and my accomplished buddies just don't need it.

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When I teach the "At Ready" or "Guide cast" I do a couple of things different.

This is a cast that is used by anglers on the front deck of a flats boat or wading the flats. It is a way to get the fly out to the fish FAST. In salt water the fish are moving. Sometimes the boat is moving. If you will remember a Tarpon can travel 6 ft or more in a second. Your normal stroke is about 2 seconds with 30 ft of line. The tarpon has moved 18 ft. So lets learn to get in the fly there FAST.

When I was guiding on the flats of the Florida Keys I would Set up my angler on the bow of the boat. Starting off by asking them to make three casts. One to 40 ft into the wind. One back handed delivery, One as far as they could. This would give me an idea of what they called a 50 foot cast. You would be surprised at the differences.

Rod in Casting hand. Line stacked 'Out first on Top' This might be on a piece of carpet or in a stripping basket or just on the deck. I would have them strip off no more line than they could cast.

Letting the line drape out of the rod's tip to the side. The line from the stripping guide is held in the line hand as normal.

Place the fly in the rod hand between the thumb and first finger. This is where I differ from many. I feel it is safer to hold the fly on the same side as it will be cast. This also lets the line hand be use to grab if the boat is bounced. The fly does not have to cross the body nor does it have to be tossed free. You do have to stage this up to get the fly under the rod and not wrapped around the fly line.

When the guide says "Fish 10 o'clock 50 ft out". The Angler swings the rod low and points at the fish. Now the guide and angler are looking at the same fish if not the Guide can adjust right or left.

The cast is started with the raising of the rod just like a pick up cast from Tip low to the water. This will pull the fly from the rod hand with the back cast. The fly goes out to the side and away from the angler.

The line hand can add the hauls needed to get the line speed to carry the fly out. It is not at all hard to get to 60+ ft with two back casts and a good shoot.

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I know of no one else who does it while holding the fly in the rod hand ..... no quarrel if it works for your people. I tried it and found it awkward.

I do, "prep" my angler by teaching him to make the longest cast likely to be needed ..... then reel up any unneeded line. Any remaining line on the deck or in coils is there to tangle after the strike.

The best demo of this saltwater quick cast I've ever seen was given by Capt. Bruce Chard, a pro guide here in the Keys with many years of experience. Let's see if we can coax out some comments from him.