Walter & Group......
Answers to MEND questions from Jim Penrod. I chose his among many, because I felt his answers were brief and, "on target". My comments in bold blue italics :-
QUESTIONS:
1.) What is your definition of a MEND
? A change in the rod tip path made
after the stop (talking about aerial mends)
I like this one: A MEND is the repositioning of the line after the cast.
2.) In what way (if any) does a
MEND differ from a CAST ? Movement of
the rod tip made before the stop(cast) vs movement made after the stop
(mend).
a. How do you make a REACH MEND
? Stop the rod in the forward cast and reach right
or left whichever you wish to perform.
Works best, for me, if I make the cast with a vertical rod plane and then sweep down and out to the side. I was taught to do it this way by Doug Swisher, who is known for first popularizing this, "cast". In much of the fly casting literature including FFF writings, it is erroneously called a CAST. If we go by the definition of MEND as the repositioning of the line after the stop of the cast, then it is more properly called a, REACH MEND ..... as I see it.
In order to accurately reach your target or feeding lane, you have two choices:
1. Slip line as you make your sideways sweep of the rod tip so you don't pull the fly back away from the target.
2. Don't slip line, but be sure to aim your cast sufficiently beyond the target that the side-&-down sweep of your rod will pull the fly back to the target.
With a reach CAST, the reach movement must be made before the stop, ie. during the cast .... not afterward. Simply, enough, place the rod in the horizontal plane to reach the tip out to the side, and make the cast.
Reference: THE NATURE OF FLY CASTING, Jason Borger, p. 259 (See Fegure 15 - 15). This shows another way of doing it ..... not after, but during the cast. (This one requires a lot of practice !)
Yes ...... Emphasis should be in distance of the move. Move the rod tip way out to the side and back for a wide mend.
5.) Briefly describe the path of your rod tip which results in a
LONG MEND. Shorter lateral
movement with a longer delay in returning to the neutral or straight forward
position.
Agree.... Emphasis should be on timing. For this long mend, make the rod tip move out to the side over a greater time interval.
7.) What do you do to determine the
direction of your mend (right or
left)? Move the rod tip in the
direction that you want the mend to go.
Perhaps I wasn't clear. By distance I meant how far out on the water from the caster.
My way of determining the distance at which the mend is placed is this: Short distance mend = make the mend LATE AND LOW TO THE WATER. Long distance mend = make the mend EARLY AND HIGHER ABOVE THE WATER.
Example: If wish to make a mend only 15 feet from me, I make the cast and then lower my rod close to the water (rod fade). I wait until the line has almost hit the water and the leader almost unfurled, THEN I make my move of the rod tip out to the side and back to the center line.
If I want to place the mend out at 45 feet, I make the cast..... IMMEDIATELY after my stop, I make the lateral move of my rod tip out to the side and back to midline. Of course, I carry more line out of the rod tip than I would for a mend at a closer distance.
If I want to place the mend even farther out on the water, I do the same thing ....... but I make the mend early AND SHOOT IT OUT TO THE TARGET.
Well...... just large enough to miss, OK. That, however, won't get me more distance. What does work for me is the shooting of the mend (already made right after the stop). This won't work well unless you diminish the tension between the loop and the rod tip by completely releasing line and making a quick followthrough by aiming the rod directly at the target. If you don't do that, the momentum of the forward traveling loop may pull your mend out straight.
11.) Can you think of a situation when you would make an UPSTREAM
mend ? Casting around an object such as a rock when a fish is
holding in front of it. Nymphing.
Most mends are made upstream, especially when dry fly fishing. They are used to help yield a drag free drift for the fly. Upstream mends are often placed at a particular distance to counteract tongues of fast current. The width of the mend is often increased to counter stronger currents. The length of the mend may be chosen to match the width of the tongue of current.
12.) Can you
think of a situation when you would make a DOWNSTREAM mend
? Drag free float
(I think you have mixed up, "downstream" with, "upstream", Jim....................) A downstream mend might be chosen to avoid an obstruction. It can also be used to change the rate of a dead drift. Some use it to effect the sinking of a weighted fly and/or sink tip line. This technique can exaggerate the acceleration of the, "swing" when fishing deep for salmon. Raising the rod tip as the swing starts, can make the fly go rapidly up as well as laterally as with the, "Leisinring lift".
Reference to Leisinring lift: PRESENTATION, by Gary Borger, pp. 118, 123 & 261.
When fishing sinking lines in the salt, I use a series of down stream mends when fishing channels with tide currents. A series of these mends can be used to keep my fly in the strike zone for a maximum period of time.
15.) Can you name at least 3 other kinds of mends ?
(Aerial or otherwise) Vertical mend, curve mend,
pile "cast".
To that we could add, "hump mends", "wiggle mends", "pop mends", etc.
16.) If you listed other mends as an answer to # 16, tell is
the use for each. Vertical mend-nymph fishing, curve
mend-long drag free float, pile-downstream drag free.
The, "pop mend" is really a series of vertical hump mends .... very effective for producing a drag free drift of a dry fly downstream to a rise. The trick is to make these as small, sharp, upward mends timed so they release a bit of line each time, yet don't move or impair the downstream movement of the fly.
17.) How does a strong wind from behind affect your aerial mend
? Tends to straighten it.
You bet ! May eliminate the mend altogether.
18.) What fly line would you choose if you were going to give a
public demonstration of aerial mends at a conclave ? Weight
forwad with a moderately long head.
Yes .... particularly a mend made close to the caster with the fly out at a distance .... because you are not into your running line as you make the late mend, so you are manipulating (repositioning) a segment of line with line of enough mass to effect transfer of energy. As Tom White used to say: "You need fat line to move skinny line."
20.) (For bonus points) Many years ago, Salt water fly
fishermen had an entirely different definition or description of the term, MEND
than fresh water fishermen. Do you know what it was ?
Mending nets?
Hard to argue with that answer ! ....... However, back in the 30's and 40's, salt water fly fishermen (there weren't many of us) used the term, "mend" to mean the taking up of slack after making a presentation.
Jim
Gordy