Casting In the Wind

[kenmorrow]

This is an excerpt from one of my articles published recently in a couple of different fly fishing media outlets. This is the part about casting in the wind. It is just a very basic overview of the fundamental strategies. It isn't really meant to be a "how-to." You can't learn good fly casting via the Internet.

Casting in wind.

One of the most common things I hear about that limits the fun of most fly anglers is wind. "Then the wind got up so we quit," is one of the common phrases in fishing stories. Another one is, "my casting sucked today because it was windy." It simply doesn't have to be this way if you understand casting mechanics and a bit about equipment selection. Well, you also have to be willing and able to approach fly rods and fly lines the way a golfer approaches golf clubs. This is actually why most advanced anglers have multiple rods and fly lines in the same weight. They each excel in different winds and water conditions. And we select our rod, reel, and fly line combination based on what we expect to be facing much the same way a golfer chooses a club for each stroke. We just don't have the luxury of carrying a whole bag full of about twenty rod, reel, and line combinations every time we go fishing. So we have to be a bit more flexible than the golfer in how we play each cast, presentation, and fish. That's our "handicap." But whether you are casting a soft bamboo rod with a silk fly line and long leader, or a fast action graphite rod with a weight forward fly line, you can learn to cast effectively in the wind. Equipment selection just makes this easier and gives you a bit more range at the extremes.

The key to casting in the wind is the ability to cast a tight or open loop at will. The secondary skill you will need is the ability to cast off-shoulder. And the third skill you must acquire is the ability to change your casting trajectory. It is also helpful if you learn to cast in both low and high casting planes. I just tossed some terminology at you. So let's define those terms.

Tight and open loops - a tight loop is a loop where both legs of the fly line during the casting stroke are no more than 24 inches apart. Ideally, you should be able to cast loops of 18 inch separation if you want to be effective in all reasonable fishing conditions. An open loop is still a loop. This is a loop with legs more than 24 inches apart. They still shouldn't be more than 36 inches apart. Anything over 36 inches simply loses too much energy to be effective.

Off-shoulder - this means that your rod tip is on the opposite side of your body from your casting arm throughout the casting motion.

Trajectory - is the straight line between the forward and rear stops in your casting stroke. This forms the horizontal line of your loop along the direction of your cast.

Plane - is the relative angle to your body at which your rod is held during your casting stroke. For example, you can hold the rod vertically and the loop will form directly overhead and the legs will be one on top of the other. You can hold the rod at a 45 degree angle and the loop will form off to your side and the legs will be more side by side. A truly sidearm cast will put the loop at your waist height off to the side and the legs of the loop will be side by side.

Do you know what cast is least impacted by the wind? I'll give you a hint. It is also your most accurate cast. It is the roll cast. Master fly casters using the right equipment can easily roll cast a wide variety of flies and fly lines in excess of sixty feet. I've heard many experienced anglers say that you can't roll cast dry flies without swamping them. This is simply not true. I've also seen many anglers hang roll casts in overhanging bushes, or try to use an overhead cast ineffectively when a roll cast would have been perfect because they didn't know how to aerialize a roll cast or make a sidearm roll cast.

Casting into the wind

To make an overhead cast into the wind, you want to elevate the backcast, lower the forward cast, and tighten the loop. This allows you to slice or "wedge" under the wind and drive the fly into your target.

Casting downwind

Conversely, with the wind at your back, simply stop your backcast high and short and make a normal forward presentation cast, shooting more line than usual using a slightly more open loop. The wind will carry your loop to the target.

Casting with the wind crossing your body from the casting arm side

Now you need the off-shoulder cast. Simply rotate your wrist so that the fly rod crosses over your head and the rod tip is well off the opposite shoulder. The fly line will follow. Whatever path the rod tip draws, the fly line will trace in the air and the fly will follow. Think of the fly line as a magnifying glass over your rod tip. Whatever you do with that rod tip just gets bigger. If you're using a 9 foot fly rod, you only need to rotate you wrist to get about 7' of clearance from your body for the loop. The wind will drive the fly leg of the loop even further from your body instead of driving it into your rod and body if you cast on the usual side. Other than this, simply adjust your aim to compensate for the crosswind.

Casting with the wind crossing your body from off-shoulder

This is the easy one! Simply adjust your aim to compensate for the crosswind. I will say this: additional line speed and tighter loops reduce the impact of a crosswind on your accuracy. So do shorter leaders and lower casting planes. But the last two are options to tinker with that are not always practical.

I'll be happy to answer questions or reply to comments here.

[gabreamyaker]

now that's a great read. that's my main problem is casting into the wind. my casting is not pretty and some times not effective. but i do mange to catch a few fish when i try.

[kenmorrow]

The real secret to casting into a head-wind is to position yourself so that you don't do it. LOL Most of the time, that actually is an option. Every now and then, you must be able to cast into the wind. The "clue" is: everyone tries harder than they should.

[troutman]

Man I see I can learn alot from Ken...... Hurry up feburary!

[kenmorrow]

So what about fly casting while sitting in a kayak?

You are closer to the water - similar to if you are wading deep or standing on a steep bank or where there is medium height vegetation behind you. But you also have no ability to move your body. You have to cast with nothing but arm motion. A lot of people really make their arms sore trying to do this! You don't need to.

1. Keep you elbow low. Lefty Kreh refers to this as "keeping your elbow on the shelf."

Remember that your fly rod is between 7 and 9 feet long. You don't need to raise your arm. Just raise the rod by elevating your hand and keep your elbow at your side in a comfortable, low position.

2. Your rear stop position needs to be higher.

Stop sooner on the back cast. This makes your back cast loop go UP instead of straight back, keeping it off the water behind you. In conjunction with the lower elbow position, it also saves your rotator cuff (shoulder). Use the natural tension of the water against the fly and line to slowly begin the back cast to load the rod and "snap" the line into the back cast. Stop high, and this will load the rod on the back cast for the forward cast. Pause for the loop to unfurl and begin your forward stroke when the rod loads in the other direction.

3. Cast across the bow.

If you are right-handed, cast from right to left (starboard to port) across the bow of your yak/canoe at an angle that is confortable for you. Position the boat accordingly. If you are using the lowered elbow and shorter rear stop, casting across the bow will allow you to cast with the rod at a very comfortable rod angle somewhere between vertical and forty-five degrees. You will see that this always lets the loop and fly clear the boat...even when you make a bad cast.

If you are left-handed, cast across the bow port to starboard.

4. Keep false casting to a minimum.

Use the natural water tension to load the rod on the initial back cast and shoot line on the forward cast as much as possible. Before each cast, prepare your excess line for the cast. Reel up all the excess line that you do not need for the range to which you are casting to eliminate line twist, tangles, and snagging on things inside the boat. Keep excess line inside the boat by stripping line into the boat during the retrieve.

5. Keep your stroke smooth and relaxed.

This is true in ALL fly casting, but it is even more critical when you cannot "cheat" by using body motion to compensate for bad timing and stroke form because you are sitting down. Good fly casting does not require hardly any effort. It is all about technique and making the ROD do all the work. The less muscle you put into it, the better your casts will be...up to the point where the rod stops working. Less is more! It's sort of like getting something out of your eye or buttering bread.

[gabreamyaker]

some more great info. thanks ken. i also got a little help from the RIVERPIRATE aka randy. he fly fishes from his kayak and he told me. to keep the elbow tucked and from 2 to 10 on the motion. i can now see why i was missing so many back in june when i was in alabama. i was doing was to much false casting. and not keeping the stroke smooth and me being relaxed. but i still had a blast fly fishing with my uncle.

[kenmorrow]

Nov 20, 2010 13:26:50 GMT -5 gabreamyaker said:

some more great info. thanks ken. i also got a little help from the RIVERPIRATE aka randy. he fly fishes from his kayak and he told me. to keep the elbow tucked and from 2 to 10 on the motion. i can now see why i was missing so many back in june when i was in alabama. i was doing was to much false casting. and not keeping the stroke smooth and me being relaxed. but i still had a blast fly fishing with my uncle. (emphasis added)

Randy is right, but I'm not a big fan of the phrase "elbow tucked" because in the old days that meant you could put a phone book or Bible between your elbow and ribs and cast without dropping the book. That's how fly casting was taught "old school" back in the days of bamboo rods and silk fly lines! The key is just to relax the arm in that same position without squeezing it against your side, and keep the elbow in that low position as you work the rod back and forth. But that's just about word choice, as nobody teaches anyone to bury their elbow in their ribs anymore.