[skip_scratch]

....was watching a pretty good caster fishing the other day.

It seemed that the pace of his cast didn't change throughout the cast or from cast to cast. Wading deep - his pace didn't change. The wind blew hard - his pace didn't change.

Also interesting - the rod he was fishing was a relatively fast rod but when watching him - you'd say his cast pace was relatively slow and methodical.

Questions:

Should the pace of the cast change as the cast progresses throughout the cast, if yes where?

What conditions/circumstances etc dictate changing cast pace from one cast to another?

/r

 

[SpeySpaz]

That's a keen observation, skip
If you've selected the right rod/line combination for the fly and conditions, the cast is pretty easy all day, whether wading deep or shallow, and it also makes it easy to compensate for wind, etc.

Part of being a good fisher/caster is selecting the outfit and being consistent. Some enjoy the challenge of fishing experimental line/rod/terminal gear on occasion, but for serious fishing the better casters will use their tried and true, perfectly balanced outfit so they can concentrate on swimming the fly instead of trying to get a good cast out.
Your friend had the right gear and a fluid casting cycle, and can probably fish the whole day without breaking that consistency.

 

[glcaddis]

Try to stay slow and easy except

when casting into a strong wind, then I think it helps to drive the cast forward harder and down farther than you normally would.

 

[Attack]

when casting into a strong wind, then I think it helps to drive the cast forward harder and down farther than you normally would.

going "harder" into the wind is the absolute worst thing you can do

 

[SkagitMiester]

That's a keen observation, skip
If you've selected the right rod/line combination for the fly and conditions, the cast is pretty easy all day, whether wading deep or shallow, and it also makes it easy to compensate for wind, etc.

Part of being a good fisher/caster is selecting the outfit and being consistent. Some enjoy the challenge of fishing experimental line/rod/terminal gear on occasion, but for serious fishing the better casters will use their tried and true, perfectly balanced outfit so they can concentrate on swimming the fly instead of trying to get a good cast out.
Your friend had the right gear and a fluid casting cycle, and can probably fish the whole day without breaking that consistency.

Really good post Spaz.

 

[glcaddis]

poor choice of words

It is not about harder into the wind, it is sustaining the cast more downward. If you stop the cast high, the wind has a better chance of catching it and throwing it back at you. You can't cast as far into the wind regardless, so the high stop hurts more than helps.

 

[middlecalf]

You can't cast as far into the wind regardless...

I'll add a slight counterpoint. An in-the-face wind helps me with the d-loop. I'm prone to an occasional low-energy d-loop on single-speys, left hand up, especially late in the day when I'm tired. If the wind isn't too bad, that more-powerful d-loop adds more punch forward for me and overcomes the wind. Sometimes I actually prefer a little breeze in the face cuz of this.

WRT pace, I do whatever it takes (within reason) to keep slack out of the line at all times. So whatever pace accomplishes that is my ideal pace.