Walter & Group...
From David Lambert For those of you who may not know, David is an FFF MCCI as well as an accomplished salt water fly rodder. (My comments in his text in bold blue italics .....) G.
Gordy, hey- A couple of observations on quick casts and wading in
salt. I live on the Atlantic in North Florida and surf fish a good
bit.
1. So many 'concretes' in casting fall away when situations
demand otherwise. Sometimes, when belly deep in the surf or a lake, it's
very efficient to cast with your elbow level with or higher
than your shoulder. If students want to surf fish, I sometimes advise them
to practice with their elbow lifted and their hand much higher than their
ear. It's the only way you can get a cast off when deep wading,
especially if there is any wave activity. Just another arrow in the casting
quiver.
Sure.... there are reasons to do it that way. This is casting style dictated or at least suggested by the fishing circumstances. My "default" style is the low-elbow-on-the-shelf, off-horizontal casting plane cast. Under the circumstance you describe, I'll often use the elbow lifted position gor the "elbow-out-to-the-side, vertical casting plane" style. Other reasons one might consider this one:
# Wading in chest deep water, as you noted. ( A low-elbow would be in the water.)
# Fishing from a float tube. (Some find it easier, although the float tube position doesn't make this really necessary.)
# Casting while seated low in a Kayak or canoe.
# Casting while kneeling or literally sitting in the water.
There are some really great casters who attack the surf when wading deep and/or with breaking waves by using a strictly vertical rod plane and casting plane combined with an elbow forward style. That doesn't work well for me, but it does for them.
G.
2.
Re: The SW Quick Cast: I believe the Saltwater 'Quick-er' Cast is
more efficient and allows a faster delivery in many applications than the
Saltwater Quick Cast. In the Quick cast, the angler rolls a cast forward, makes
a back cast, possibly shoots line, then makes a forward delivery. The
Quick-er cast is a constant tension/elliptical, Belgian-style cast that begins
with a back cast and employs only one back cast and one forecast.
("Quicker" cast--for want of a better name.)
Here's a short
description: Shake line out of the rod tip and lay it in large, loose
coils on the deck. Hold the fly in your line-hand finger tips with rod
pointed forward. Make a large, side-armed, elliptical/constant tension
back cast 180 degrees opposite the fish. Momentum pulls the fly from
fingertips. Shoot line if you like. Come forward with an overhead
cast to deliver the fly to the fish.
I wasn't going to complicate the issue by
bring this up, but that is the way I often cast weighted crab flies to
permit. G.
Done correctly, the angler makes
one back cast and one delivery cast. A variation of this cast is to throw
the back cast in a large underhanded loop, maintaining constant tension on the
rod, then deliver to the fish. A right handed caster may want to throw a
more side-armed back cast if the fish is to his 9- to 11-o'clock position; the
underhand cast comes into play when the fish is between 11-o'clock and
12:30.
Notes: A benefit is that the fly stays low on the back cast,
away from the guide. Also, the underhanded variation is best practiced
from an elevated platform. I
agree. G.
Best and all
David
Lambert
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Good stuff from Al Crise's Group :