Beyond Fly Casting - Ten Commandments of Fly Fishing© with Tim Kempton CI

BEYOND FLY CASTING

COMMANDMENTS OF FLY FISHING©

Foreword

Tim is a very successful angler who has fished parts of the world that many of us dream about and all hope to visit one day We have been great friends for over a decade and in this time have fished regularly together, fishing the Kola Peninsula in Russia, the chalkstreams in Bosnia and Croatia, Claremont Isles in Queensland, as well as many trips to the Malaysian jungle

Over the course of our adventures, I’ve been most impressed by Tim’s ability to take fast, accurate shots as well as him learning to cast left handed!

In his coaching, Tim has identified a common challenge facing many fly fishers, who have learned to cast effectively, but still fail to catch as many fish as they would like, or perhaps even should. Tim’s “Ten Commandments”, while not etched anywhere in stone, will certainly help those trying to make the successful transition from developed fly casting skills, to practical and successful fly fishing

Many of topics covered are often overlooked in fly casting/fishing lessons and so to see them collected together here, in one book, should help many anglers improve in our shared passion

Some of the skills in this book will take time to master However discovering what needs to be learned in the first place is even harder! Having Tim’s perspective on what has helped him through his impressive journey, I think will be extremely useful, not only for those it has been written, but also for expert anglers and coaches alike

One of the best pieces of advice I came across was by (the late) Steve Parton He said that successful fly fishing was about organising impatience. The book that follows should help you to become more organised You’ll have to discover impatience by yourself!

Introduction

Maybe you have spent hours in the park and can cast perfect loops You have read all the books, watched all the videos and been to all the schools You consider yourself proficient at flycasting. Maybe you can cast a full flyline.

Just like a golfer who spends hours driving the ball as far as possible, but does not win games, fly casting gives great personal satisfaction, but does not always catch fish Some just like the soothing rhythm of casting it’s a great way to relax and reset Fly fishing however is the hardest way to catch a fish

Proficient flycasting is only part of the journey to catching fish on fly.

It's also about line management, learning the short game, and the practical application of your casting skills, to the ultimate goal, to catch and safely release fish Fly casting is not fly fishing. It's about the never ending journey of learning the grace and beauty, and the art and science of both fly casting and fly fishing It's about practice, practice, practice until it becomes second nature. It's more than muscle memory. It's all about practising the right stuff

What is the “right stuff”? It's about developing skills rather than habits Skills require adaptation, innovation and flexibility to suit your style. Habits are repetition of preformed muscle memory, such as pushing the rod to gain more line speed I have spent thousands of hours practising casting and fishing to learn vital lessons for a strong foundation It is a stairway of learning the more you learn the more there is to learn I am driven…there is seldom a day goes by when I don’t learn something new. I am competitive I compete with myself I want to do better I hang out with the best and I have made lifelong friends with great fly casters and fly anglers I thank all those who have made this book possible.

All this contributes to learning and practising the right stuff. I have caught some of the most difficult fish (eg free rising giant snakehead), but still I strive to learn, and improve I live to share the journey with all the like minded souls from around the world that I have the good fortune to meet

of Fly Fishing

Intro continued

The following are ten key practical skills (Ten Commandments) that I share with you to take you safely beyond casting a fly in a park, to start you on the journey to becoming a proficient fly fisher

Ten Commandments of Fly Fishing

Timing of power application

management

Casting in the wind

Casting with non dominant hand

VINCE LOMBARDI

About me

I live in Brisbane, Australia I took up fly fishing late in life to catch a bonefish on fly, and immediately realised how much there was to learn. I went to all the schools, watched all the videos, and learnt from everyone I could to get my FFI Casting

Instructor certification

I am fortunate to have travelled the world and fly fished in some amazing places with some amazing people, and share what I have learnt

Why I Fish...

Ginny my partner (she rides endurance horses) wrote the following words; The reason that you love to fish is:

It offers you a challenge to outwit those that live just below the water

You meet with respect a cunning soul and enjoy the challenge to outwit him and then with the same respect dip your hat to him as he swims away

It gives you the opportunity to explore the world and have a purpose as you journey along that path of unknown and new experiences

It gives you peace and serenity away from the crazy signs, unagreed opinions and cruel judgement that is circulating western life

It gives you acceptance of yourself as you surround yourself by like minded people who you admire as you all share a tough resilience, respect for the creatures of the earth and a recognition of how basic life really is

It allows the privilege for you to bow your head as you are welcomed into people’s front entrances which can be doors of all different shape, sizes and sometimes with no doors at all

You are welcomed around their hearth, their food and communication is exchanged with not necessarily the ability of the same language

You admire the simplicity of some people’s lot and the ability for those to accept their lot and get on with courageous and generosity of spirit iced on top with laughter

So as an intrepid traveller you boldly board your plane alone to the unknown destination for an exhilarating adventure as you are not one to stay still long enough to cast a shadow for moss to grow in it's wake

You are kind and generous and maybe just a little baffled at things that you see and things that are said It is safer for your being to be in the wilds out of earshot.

So that my friend is, I believe, who you are and why you do what you do

Chapter 1: FEEL

1.1 Casting

You have to be able to feel the flyline during the cast. Practise with your eyes closed, or wear a blindfold to perfect power (force) application and timing. Soft hands! Don’t grip the rod so hard that you choke it, and get calluses.

Caress the rod and the line Let the rod become an extension of your arm and your fingers Watch the finesse of good machinery (particularly excavator) operators the controls are an extension of their fingers…hence the term finger tip control A good excavator driver can almost comb your hair!

Good golfers, cricketers, tennis players, billiard players all have soft hands They have feel. In my horse competition days, we were taught to ride with soft hands

In the words of the world acclaimed horseman Ray Hunt “the reins should be like silk in your hands” The same applies to the flyline...treat it like silk.

Practice at night. It's amazing how much feel you can get You can feel the rod loading along It's length You can feel the loop forming at the tip, and feel the timing for rotation and the haul

When you slip line, you can feel the line shooting out, when it is losing speed and when it's time to start the forward/back cast.

Hold the line in your line hand only with your fingers it's amazing how much greater feel and control you have

Grip There are a variety of grips on fly rods…full wells, half wells, cigar, and numerous ergonomic improvements

The most important considerations are that they grip suits the size of your hand, and your natural point of balance. I sandpaper down all the full wells so that I can comfortably grip the rod as close as possible to the reel seat I find full wells grips uncomfortable and unbalanced.

Experiment with the grip until you can softly hold the rod and get maximum feel

Chapter 1: FEEL

1.2 Retrieve

Another aspect of feel is in the retrieve Andy Mills describes “Feeding the Fly to the Fish” in his exceptional book “Passion for Tarpon”. The retrieve requires feel if you can’t see the fish and watch it's behaviour We have Australian bass in our local lakes They sometimes school in depths to 30+’ and we fish for them with fast sinking lines (the old SA Striper IV, now the Sonar Titan 3/5/7)

The bites are often very subtle, a few of my friends are skilled after many years and catch lots. Others like me have not yet got that feel perfected…not that’s it's about numbers, but it is something more to learn It's important to point the rod tip at the water and in the direction of the line Avoid slack line

Fishing for sailfish at Rompin in Malaysia is the same. The sailfish can come in hot on the teaser. Some will charge the fly, but mostly the sailfish will pick up the fly and move off. We recorded underwater footage of sailfish feeding (https://youtu.be/wNDHkquQ9PI).

They move like cats and seem in no hurry, probably because there is so much Anchovy bait. We were using a 12wt Leviathan line which sinks quickly and it is often difficult to see the fish You have

Chapter 1: FEEL

1.3 Strip strike

Strip striking is also about feel We strip strike to apply more force to the line to set the hook, but more importantly not to move the fly out of the strike zone Trout striking does not work apart for trout…there is no force on the fly and you will have pulled the fly at least 9’ out of the strike zone Trout striking is for light tippets, and to pick up the slack line that goes with drag free drift

Strip striking really only requires drawing the fly into the fish, as you can only set the hook to the bite/throat (the distance between the hook point and the bend of the hook). It is only 4mm for a #12 and 15 cm for a #6/0 hook! Hard yanking “to set the hook” serves no purpose. Having a barbless hook, and the point sharpened as a triangle rather than a round point increases penetration and hookup rates (https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=p6Pqv2mNVTA )

Be careful with some fluorocarbon leaders they do not have good shock strength...20lb breaks at 17lb. Having set the hook, it's about feel to release the line in a controlled manner to avoid bustoffs. Sometimes we are just not fast enough releasing the line and the fish wins!

Fly casting is graceful. Joan Wulff broke the glass ceiling and proved that fly casting is not about brute strength She is quoted as saying “You know casting is beautiful, it's graceful, it's feminine” Fly casting and fly fishing is about finesse and finesse requires feel. No one can describe that feel to you you have to experience it for your self Practice!

No-one can describe that feel to you – you have to experience it for yourself. PRACTICE!

Chapter 2: TIP PATH

One of Bill Gammel’s Five Essentials is Straight Line Path, which is incorporated into the Fly Fishers International (FFI) teachings for fly casting. We teach that the line will follow the rod tip, ie where the rod tip goes the line goes. Lefty Kreh described this as Principle No 3 “The fly is going to go in the direction that you accelerate, then stop, the rod tip at the end of the cast”

The FFI has a definition for a convex tip path, or a domed or windscreen wiper cast A concave tip (or downward rod tip path ) results in an inefficient loop, and often a tailing loop. There is lots written, and great videos about tip path, and especially tailing loops caused mainly by misapplication of power during the casting stroke

2.1 Tip Path and Fly Fishing

There is another important application of tip path as it applies to fly fishing and the lift. The lift is when you start the cast and lift the line from the water into the backcast What do you first think about when you see a fish and start the cast?

The first thought should be “can I make a backcast?”. Are there bushes, tall grass, trees that will catch the fly and or flyline If you are on a skiff, are there aerials, rods, fellow fly fishers, or the guide behind you. Look back and check.

The second thought should be “what is the straight line tip path away from the target” (the fish) The 180 rule says a straight line path This is taught in the park with a piece of wool as the fly, and so the lift is always at 180 away from the fly However the fish are not always where you pick up the fly. The back cast should align with the forward target as nearly as possible Why? It's all about fishing the angles, speed of delivery and maintaining constant tension.

Chapter 2: TIP PATH

2.1 Tip Path and Fly Fishing...continued

To start the lift, the rod tip must be water to avoid slack line. Turn your b face the target Lift the tip in a straig away from the target if possible. If t on your right hand side and you are handed, this may require a backhan over the left shoulder Or, it may req backcast at 45 away from the body right hand side if the fish is on the le

Many fly fisherman lift the line into backcast directly over their shoulde have nice loops with 180 tip path, h the fish is on your left (or right), and into the back cast directly over your you may have to false cast to reposi flyline into the required plane to de fly to the target This can be a waste and energy, and the rod and body movement may spook the fish

0

Ideally you should be able to pick up laydown with no false casts This will increase your delivery speed, save energy, and reduce the amount of rod and body movement

This cast is fundamental to all fly fishing. Paul Arden developed his snakehead casts based on this technique. Watch his videos, they are inspirational . (see https://wwwyoutubecom/watch?v=yWA AjVHWiY

Chapter 3: CONSTANT TENSION

“Slack line should be kept to a minimum” is one of the FFI Five Essentials.

In general you cannot effectively cast or mend a slack line There are exceptions of course, such as aerial mending to achieve drag free drift. All fly casting schools teach to maintain constant tension, ie avoid slack line. This is particularly important on the backcast (Chapter 5)

3.1 Constant tension and fly fishing

With distance casting, it is usual that the loops of line are coiled on the ground, and left to unroll during the cast. This is a bad habit in fly fishing. Every second counts with some fish, eg snakehead, tuna, queenfish, tarpon, trevally

Don’t drop the line. Remain in touch with the fly line. Form a circle with your thumb and forefinger on your line hand to guide the line Be prepared to check the line, or start stripping when the fly hits the water if necessary. Some fish (eg GT’s) will track the fly through the air and strike it when it hits the water With snakehead, you have 1 2 seconds to deliver the fly and start stripping. Be prepared.

Practice casting and feeding the line through your line fingers on the forward and back casts. Practice checking the line during the cast (triple haul)

Chapter 3: CONSTANT TENSION

3.2 Repositioning the fly

It helps to be able to pick the fly up and reposition the fly without stripping in all the line This is particularly important with quickly moving fish Bonefish, redfish, tuna, carp, permit, tarpon all move and there is no time for any or many false casts. In fact false casting is a waste of time and energy. You can use pick up and laydown, jump roll pickup, and all the spey casts rather than pulling the line all the way in These casts can only be done effectively by understanding and practising constant tension.

The Tongariro Roll cast was developed to reposition heavy weighted “bombs” on the Tongariro River This is a great cast to learn...it requires timing, overlining and constant tension It has been refined by Herb Spannagl (see https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=2x 5AsUNdc0)

3.3 Fighting the fish

This is the most misunderstood part of constant tension. A fly rod is a long, very flexible lever which applies virtually no force at the tip at a high rod angle (eg for trout), and maximum force at the butt at a low rod angle The responsible fly fisherman aims to land the fish as soon as possible, with least stress to the fish, and release it unharmed To achieve this you need the right combination of leader/tippet, drag settings and rod/reel technique Good technique is based on constant tension. Fighting the fish is based on pulling on the fish, then lifting the rod, and then winding down to retrieve line.

Chapter 3: CONSTANT TENSION

3.3.1 Pulling on the fish

How to pull on a big fish is demonstrated by Andy Mills in his video. https://wwwyoutubecom/watch?v=q3ZUZKVdC3o

The tip of the rod is for casting The butt of the rod is for fighting the fish Try pulling 10lb of water in a bucket on a 20lb tippet! It teaches a lot about how much pull you can safely apply. It's harder than you think

3.3.2 Winding down on the fish

Constant tension when winding down is not the same as bending the rod Put a bucket of water on your line over a pully (the weight of water will depend on the rod weight) and try and hold it in the air when winding down It is harder than you think, but it is possible. Pressure is applied during the lift, but almost all fisherman apply no pressure when winding down Peter Pakula (Pakula Lures) attaches a bucket of water to a pulley at marlin fishing schools and asks fisherman from the audience to wind up the bucket of water with a short stroker rod (the drag set at 30% of line breaking strain), and then wind down without the bucket falling to the floor. Over 90% of conventional anglers cannot do this, even though they are confident at the start Very few fly fisherman can apply constant tension when winding down a fly rod…it is possible

Why is this important If you subscribe to the view to catch and release fish with least stress so that the fish can survive, grow and be caught again, then landing the fish as soon as practicable is key. If you can apply pressure both on the lift and also when winding down, you will apply twice the pressure compared to applying pressure only on the lift. Applying constant pressure, together with techniques like pulling on the fish, rolling the fish over and changing angles will tire the fish faster. You will become a better angler

Tip: Tie a bucket of water under a pully to your flyline and practice flyine and practice holding the bucket in the air while lifting and winding down

Chapter 3: CONSTANT TENSION

3.3.3 Follow the fish

Some fish will pull a lot of flyline and backing If possible move after the fish to get the flyline back onto the reel to get better control If in a boat, drive after the fish That is why game boats back down on billfish to get better control over the fish We were fishing for tarpon at Holbox. I hooked a 150+lb fish. The guide sat back and let the fish run and tow the boat about. With 200+ metres of backing out, I had no control

Two hours is a long time to spend on a fish, and the guide would not drive after the fish that's not how we do it was his reply. It makes no sense. Get the belly of the fly line onto the reel and you will have control

Chapter 4: MAKE THE FIRST CAST COUNT

How many times have you made the cast and missed the shot You have either cast too far and lined the fish, or too short, too wide of the mark, or you are too accurate and landed the fly on the fish

In my experience, more people fish for, and more is written about trout than any other species As a result many of the ideas about fly fishing relate to trout Trout are often forgiving and you can keep casting and changing flies provided the fly is presented as naturally as possible It is not surprising however to find that trout tactics do not work for a lot of other fish, where you only have one chance. With constantly moving fish like sailfish, marlin, tuna, redfish, permit, queenfish, saratoga, and carp you are either in the zone, or you have to make another cast to represent the fly, or you miss the fish entirelyI have spent years with Paul Arden fishing for snakehead, initially a totally frustrating experience. You quickly learn that unless you can make the first shot count, there is no point even casting as you only have 1 2 seconds Snakehead do your head in, but after much practice and patience, the snakehead appear to slow down As Ronan Creane said after his snakehead experience ”you take the time to make time to make the first cast count”.

I was fishing for Blue Mahseer in the Khoa Sok National Park in Thailand. Mahseer are part of the carp family, except that they will take hoppers with gusto from the surface. Mahseer are beyond spooky, as Juan Wei from Sports Fishin Asia says, you have to wade like a heron. If you send ripples along the pool in front of you, you will put the fish down You have to fish where the fish are, so when you are fishing the seams and lies, this is where making the first cast count is essential, as you often only get one go

Chapter 4: MAKE THE FIRST CAST COUNT

4.1 Fish where the fish are - Read the Water

Learn to read the water and where the fish will be It's pointless wasting time and energy fishing dead water. This in particularly important when fishing in the wind, as wind affects where the fish are Some fish congregate on the downwind side where the food or warmer water is blown onto the shore. Some fish are found on the leeward side in the wind shadow where insects have been blown onto the water Fish like tuna feed into the wind. Schools of some impoundment fish face into the wind. Being able to cast into the wind makes an average day into a good day Understanding fish under windy conditions can make a good day an exceptional day.

4.2 Which fly

Present what they are eating as naturally as possible Master drag free drift for trout Use the rod and flyline to swim streamers.

4.3 Accuracy

Putting the “wrong” fly in the right place is better than the “right” fly in the wrong place. . A trout is holding on a rock and feeding hard If you can put the dry/nymph in the right place the first time, your chances of a photo are increased Making many casts increases the chance of spooking the fish.

When practising, have a plan Pick targets Like golfers who see how far they can hit a ball, men will quickly strip off more line and go for distance. By comparison short casting and accuracy is boring, and yet catching fish on a fly is more about the short game than casting distance. Learn to cast to distant targets, then to close targets, keeping the line in the air Learn about angles Practice fly first, fly last and fly and flyline together Practice accuracy, being able to adjust your cast in mid air, and line management.

Chapter 4: MAKE THE FIRST CAST COUNT

4.4 Line management

Making the first cast count is as much about line management as it is about accuracy. Learn how to hold line in your line hand, and release line into the cast If you are on a skiff, learn how to manage line on the deck, and not to apply the foot brake. Constantly check the line is not wrapped around your clothing, some obstacle or under your feet. Practice being able to make the cast with minimum false casts. Don’t drop the line during the cast be prepared to check the line, and start stripping or strip strike

4.5 Feeding the fish and angles

Really great fly anglers don’t just cast and hope. You have to fish where the fish are, and make every cast a shot You have to be fast, accurate and efficient You have to understand angles, and how to feed the fly to the fish. A kitten can be tricked into chasing a ball of wool Fish can be tricked into taking a fly if presented properly Read the fish With some fish you have to allow the fish to close the gap between It'self and the fly without stopping the fly. With others, you have to stop the fly, and then twitch the fly at the right time It's about reading the body language of the fish

The greatest reward is to see and read the fish, make the cast, and trick the fish into taking the fly. If after all that, you don’t hook or land the fish...salute the fish.. as it has won! Carp are a great teacher they are the full monty of fly fishing

Chapter

ENERGISED BACKCAST

Having an energised backcast is the most undertaught skill in fly casting No backcast, no forward cast. Most people watch for nice tight loops on the forward cast.When you are next casting in groups or with friends, look at all the backcasts you will be surprised by many have wide, non energised back casts They simply don’t look back

An energised backcast under constant tension is key to a good forward cast The Pick Up and Lay Down (PUALD) competition is testimony to this. Casts, more than 45 metres with a 5 wt line are being achieved through, among many other things, the timing of power application and energising the back cast.

Teaching people to look back is often difficult, usually because they have a closed stance They give every excuse as to why they cant turn their head, their neck hurts, it is unnatural and so on and on. I have found the simplest method is to get them to start is by casting loops along a line on the ground If they stand facing the line so they are at 90 to the line, they can watch both the forward and backcast loops. This is also a simple way to teach power application and hauling Once they can cast tight loops on the back cast, they can then aerialise the casts until overhead, and they are still standing at 90 to the line As with a minutes everyone is stripping off lin technique gets repeated.

Tim Kempton, Brisban

Chapter 5: ENERGISED BACKCAST

5.1 Energising the backcast

Lift the rod tip until the fly is at the surface Use water tension to slip line on the lift You will now have another 9+’ of line outside the rod tip. Learn to haul and shoot line into the backcast Feel the line to maintain constant tension When you feel the line is losing speed, check the line and start the forward cast. Learn to carry (aerialise) more line and to do this with your eyes closed Practice until you get the feel

Slipping line into the backcast together with constant tension gives the energy. What seemed difficult on the forward cast will suddenly become easy. It will seem there will be less power required in the forward stroke, and in the haul Casting will become easier The line will fly out on it's own This is a foundation cast and should be used for almost all presentations. I now use the energised backcast in almost all fishing situations, especially in saltwater. It greatly reduces the number of false casts and gives increased speed and accuracy.

5.2 Distance

Everyone seems to want to cast a full flyline it's a sense of achievement and reward for “putting it all together”. Casting distance does not come easy, however in my experience one of the light bulb moments was when I learnt to carry more line in the backcast under constant tension

The physics of this would be a great topic for debate on the Sexyloops Board Personally I always try to put things in simple terms, as I doubt if fish really care about loop shape, scalars, vectors, Newtons 2nd law, balanced and unbalanced forces, velocity, etc. Understandably this a complicated topic that attracts cogitation by greater minds than mine

Chapter 5: ENERGISED BACKCAST

5.2 Distance...continued

Put simply, distance is a function of speed and time Angle of the cast will increase time in the in the air, however the main variable over which we have real control is line speed So for more distance, apart from aiming higher, we have to increase line speed, which I view simply as a function of mass and acceleration.

This assumption is tricky because of the mixed metaphors of scalars and vectors. However if we increase mass at the same acceleration, Newtons 2nd law says we will increase force, and the more force will give greater speed. So we have to carry more line (mass) in the backcast, and increase line speed (hauling) to give greater distance

Chapter 6: LINE MANAGEMENT

You have to be prepared to make the cast A lot of fish are not stationary like trout, and often times, by the time you have unstrung the fly, the fish has moved on. Or the line gets caught in a bush, or you are standing on the line, or it is caught on your clothing or the reel handle.

Line management is seldom taught but is essential for all forms of fly fishing

6.1 Learn how to be prepared to cast to the fish

Learn how to carry the fly and the line when walking along the bank of a river or lake I have recently become addicted to carp and hunt them from the bank Like bonefish they are constantly moving. You have to be ready to make the shot, so you have to carry some loops of line, and the fly in hand You can carry loops around each finger on your line hand. Practice releasing line from each finger and shooting at targets at all angles Make the first cast count

Sometimes you have your fly/leader/flyline strung so that it does not get tangled, which often entails the leader being looped around the reel and the fly hooked into one of the guides . For many fish however you need fast release of fly and flyline to make the cast, and looping the flyline around the reel can slow down the process For this type of fishing it is preferable that the flyline is outside the top guide, and that the leader is less than 9’ so that the fly is close to the butt Some people hook the fly into the cork butt Personally I don’t favour this, and I find the fly keeper that is standard on some rods works for me. Alternatively have the fly in one hand, and loops of line in the other hand Find a technique that works for you, but keep it simple. Carry the fly with the hook point out so if you snag your flyline on a bush you don’t hook yourself!

Chapter 6: LINE MANAGEMENT

6.1 Learn how to be prepared to cast to the fish... Continued

Learn how to carry line when wading. Use a stripping basket if necessary

Learn how start the cast You are walking fly in hand, with the flyline leader connection outside the top ring, and you see a fish Look behind for a clear cast Move into a better spot if necessary and if possible Roll out the fly away from the fish

You can wiggle line out, or false cast away from the fish until you get the distance then present the fly All movements must be subtle to avoid spooking the fish.

Long leaders Long leaders (18+’) are often used in New Zealand Carrying and starting these is a topic in itself. One comment is that unless you have a friend/guide to help land the fish, the flyline/leader connection must be “wind on” using knots such as needle knot or a super glue knot that pass easily through the top guide Nail knots, loop to loop and surgeon knots may get caught on the top runner and can cost you a fish.

Chapter 6: LINE MANAGEMENT

6.2 After you hook the fish

Learn to manage line on a fast running fish. Turn the reel away from your line hand to prevent the line wrapping around the reel handle, or rod butt. Separate your hands lift the rod hand and lower the line hand Use your line hand to feather the line onto the reel. Avoid shirts with buttons, or anything the line can get caught on, because it will Watch the line, don’t watch the fish until the line is on the reel.

Learn to manage line on the deck of a skiff ..avoid the famous foot brake. Watch the line, not the fish until the line is on the reel.

Learn to set the drag and leave it Remember that fly line in the water will give added drag Don’t panic when a fish is 100 200 metres away (unless you don’t have enough backing)

Chapter 6: LINE MANAGEMENT

6.3 Winding with the Intelligent Hand

Learn to wind with your intelligent (dominant) hand Managing the reel takes dexterity. Holding the rod does not, as you will soon find with fast running fish Most people cannot wind either efficiently or fast enough, or manage or feather the reel with their non dominant (un intelligent) hand they end up winding the rod around the reel. Ignore the dogma about which hand you should wind with that is a trout tradition Do what feels natural and works for you.

6.4 Safety Finger guards

Fast running fish like sailfish, marlin, tuna, tarpon, queenfish, permit will strip off a flyline in seconds. This can cause serious line burn. Backing line is usually braid, and will cut through your fingers to the bone if you are not careful. You can buy, or make finger guards made from lycra They are simple to make, and save a lot of sore fingers

They also reduce abrasion when you are casting and retrieving for extended periods Barramundi in Australia are known as “the fish of 1000 casts”, and stripping the line back over your line finger all day becomes unpleasant. Some lines like the Sharkskin series are highly abrasive

Chapter 6: LINE MANAGEMENT

6.5 Stripping baskets and line clips

There are many types of stripping baskets, line mats and line clips to help hold the line, especially under windy conditions They all have advantage and disadvantages.

Boating

With our fisheries in Australia, when boating under windy conditions we often use collapsible laundry baskets with a piece of plywood or foam in the bottom fitted with silicone nozzles to hold the line On occasion we also use fly line mats to hold the fly line on the deck.

Wading

There are also a variety of stripping backets and line clips which are very useful when wading or walking the shoreline The line clips are especially useful with Spey lines.

Chapter 7: APPLICATION OF POWER

Timing is everything as we quickly learn when we try to cast distance. There are lots of videos and articles on distance casting Stance, tracking, picking targets, energising the backcast, rotation and application of power are all important But there is more to application of power and casting distance

We recently (like a year pre CoVid) fished for tarpon in the Cano Negro Wildlife Reserve in Costa Rica. The Rio Frio (Cold River) is a muddy brown river and home to large (150+lb) tarpon

This is the most amazing sight to see the backs of large tarpon rolling and porpoising in a brown river that is 20 50 metres wide. Hook one of these and it's like a horse jumping out of the river

This is a combination of sight fishing and blind casting, but mostly blind casting. I was casting either a WF12F line or a 500gr Rio Leviathan on a 12wt rod. We found the tarpon were mainly subsurface and so most of the casting was with the Leviathan, fast sink line This was repetitive casting, and so the more time the fly was in the water the greater the odds After a few days of this, the tendon below my elbow become sore which encouraged me to think about power application.

I’m a slow learner and it dawned on me that I was “pushing” the rod during the stroke. I switched to using the haul for power useful but too late it took months for the tendon to repair.

This event caused me to rethink power application and the role of the stroke and the haul. Some of my thinking also came from casting spey rods. Essentially the stroke is for direction, and rotation (haul) is for line speed

Chapter 7: APPLICATION OF POWER...continued

Some tips I have collected: and not to push into the stroke

Rotate as late as possible (unless you want a dome cast) Some people call this flipping the rod. Paul Arden says lead with the butt, then rotate when you run out of stroke

Haul as late as possible, ie when you are rotating.

Use the stroke for direction A common fault is to put too much power into the stroke, which can cause RSI (tennis elbow) and push the loops out of shape Learn to put the power into the haul

Lefty Kreh put it this way "Don't use any more power than you did on your last false cast. Haul faster. Let your haul hand be your accelerator."

Use the haul for line speed

Back off the power. Learn to cast Energise the backcast

as soft as possible

Chapter 8: CASTING IN THE WIND

I was inspired to write this series of articles about fly fishing by friends who can cast reasonably proficiently in the park, but who became frustrated under real life fishing conditions because they could not make the cast to catch the fish Wind amplifies the problems, and there are a lot of fly fishermen (and women) who become disillusioned if they wake up to or arrive at a windy day

For those who are instructors, this is an important part of our teaching syllabus for fly fishing There are a number of casts that can be used effectively to cast in the wind Whichever cast you use, the primary objective is safety to avoid hooking yourself, your mate or the guide. The aim is to keep the fly on the downwind side, away from your body

Make the wind your friend, and learn a repertoire of casts you can use in a headwind, tailwind or sidewind. If the wind is from the side, it will blow the flyline away from the target Some practical tips before you cast are move closer, minimise false casting, keep rod tip close to the water. You can also upline, use a heavier WF line (eg OutBound Short), heavier leader, and select smaller less wind resistant flies and indicators. Check often for wind knots!

Chapter 8: CASTING IN THE WIND

8.1 Casting in the wind

We teach high backcast, low forward cast, tight loops into a headwind, and high forward casts, open loops, low backcast in a tailwind. This is useful to know, but there is a lot more to presentation casts in the wind that can be taught/learnt

A great presentation is the review of Taming the Wind by Prescott Smith. https://youtube/obOQxpzYqEs

The key message from Prescott Smith is constant tension, ie no slack and keeping the flyline moving by using an oval or Belgian cast so the flyline never stops He also talks about hauling and reducing friction through the guides, which applies to all casts This is achieved either by tilting the rod/reel plane, or twisting the top three sections of the rod. This gives an amazing difference, particularly if people don’t haul in line with the guides. Such small details make a big difference

Useful wind casts include the Mulson wind cast, Belgian/oval cast, off shoulder cast, cast with the non dominant hand, backhand cast, and sidearm cast. There are plenty of teaching videos on these and other casts

Fishing

Chapter 8: CASTING IN THE WIND

8.2 Application of power

I have fished at Kiritimati (Christmas Island) for bonefish for many years where the wind blows continually at 10 15 + knotsI was under the impression that you must have tight loops and drive the flyline into the wind, ie apply more power. The head guide Eketi Tekaibo for The Villages Lodge can cast a full flyline into the wind with either hand.

He was the Team Captain for the Republic of Kiribati at the World Fly Fishing Championships in Tasmania in 2019 I have enjoyed fishing with him over the years and we have spent more time casting and me learning than fishing.

His mantra is “less power” and “float the line into the wind” The casting physicists will b

Chapter 9: CASTING WITH NON DOMINANT HAND

Casting with your dominant hand can he hard enough. Why then would you make life harder and try and cast with your non dominant or less intelligent hand? It really depends on what sort of fishing you do

I am a fly fishing tragic and would fish in a bathtub. I have thoroughly enjoyed the never ending journey of fly casting and fly fishing, and the endless quest to be able to make the cast to catch the fish Some of these casts would never pass an instructors exam, but then this is about fishing, not standing in a manicured park casting perfect loops and a piece of wool There is a time and place for that

There were several moments that encouraged me to learn to cast left handed. I was fishing for bonefish with my son in Kiritimati (Christmas Island), and as usual the wind was blowing He started swapping hands depending on which way the wind was blowing being young, agile and ambidextrous, he made it look simple. He was getting better and faster shots, and better angles and he encouraged me to learn big call for an old dog to learn new tricks It worked

I was fishing for trout in the lakes in New Zealand with one of my Kiwi mates. He is right handed, and because of the restricted size of his boat, and that it was his boat,

back casting all day was problematic So I started casting left handed, and was hopeless at first, but it eventually it allowed us to fish safely two up on his boat. And I got to fish

We were fishing for Murray Cod in one of our inland rivers in Australia A cod was hard up against the bank under a blackberry bush on my right By changing hands, I was able to get the angle and catch the fish. I suppose a backhand curve cast may also have worked, if you are at that level of casting skill One of my friends who was with me was so inspired by this that he has persisted to learn left handed

Chapter 9: CASTING WITH NON DOMINANT HAND... continued

With fast running fishing (which are most saltwater species), being able to swap hands as you are casting allows you to make the shot and maintain the angles As Andy Mills put in in “A Passion for Tarpon”… it's all about the angles.

Are there any tricks to learning casting with your non dominant hand. Not really. The key is making the decision to cast with your non dominant hand When you do decide just do it! It will be frustrating, you will miss fish initially, but you will get better with time, IF you persist

The trap is to swap back to your dominant hand when you see a fish because you don’t want to stuff up the cast. This is where commitment comes in. Initially you will push the rod, but with time you will teach your left hand to guide the rod, and the right hand to haul This is like patting your head and rubbing your stomach Right brain/left brain stuff but the persistence does pay off.

Surprisingly you will learn about how much you are overpowering with your dominant hand

Is it worth it?

That depends on what type of fishing you do. For me, it taught me a lot about power application, but more about building confidence in having another cast to suit particular situations to the point where I fish almost as much left handed as I do right handed

Again, it's about practice Become proficient at casting with your non dominant hand This will open a new world of possibilities. it's all about angles, being able to change direction quickly, fishing more water and making it easier fishing two up on a boat

Chapter 10: REPOSITIONING CASTS

The aim of this series of articles is to share the information that I have been privileged to collect over the years from the great people I have fished with around the world Everyone has something to offer, and I was inspired to write these articles by a friend who came carp fishing with me and sadly summed up his day “Im not a very good fly fisherman” He comes to all the casting days/nights, he has put in the hours, and he can cast very well. BUT...he has not done enough fly fishing, he was taking too long to unstring his rod and make the shot, getting caught in bushes on the back cast, the line getting caught around his feet, and not being able to reposition his fly as the fish moved frustration Other friends who are great bass fisherman in still water lakes have struggled with trout fishing in rivers…their short game, line management, and repositioning were lacking

It’s a long way back to the start and it's easy to forget our beginnings. There are many who are far better at fly casting and fly fishing than me, and I still have a lot more to learn. However, I have been privileged to fly fish around the world, and caught a wide range of both fresh and salt water species I wrote these articles to share what I have learnt

The aim is to keep the fly in the zone as long as possible, feed the fly to the fish, entice it to eat the fly, release the fish unharmed and salute the fish if it wins. Repositioning the fly quickly after a drift, or if the fish has moved is key to keeping your fly in the zone. The more repositioning casts you have in your quiver, the more time your fly will be in the water. There are many scenarios. Jump roll cast to lift your fly over lily pads or snags, roll cast pickup when fishing upstream, circle C to change angles, and many many more Most of these casts are spey casts, and there are now “spey” lines for single handed rods. A marketers dream

Chapter 10: REPOSITIONING CASTS...continued

When I first started fly fishing, there was single handed and double handed (spey) casting which was a bit like downhill and cross country skiers, there was little cross over...they were considered different sports I learnt spey casting so that I could fish the wide Mongolian Rivers for Taimen it was an interesting journey because the language used in spey casting made it sound like a whole new artform Rightly or wrongly I thought about the fundamentals of levers, and particularly application of power and timing My light bulb moment with spey was when I likened my bottom (rod butt) hand to my hauling hand (clearly you don’t haul a spey rod), and I timed the pull (rotation) on the bottom hand as if I was hauling…it worked for me

Interestingly, pulling with the bottom hand and steering with the top hand has worked a treat with my surfcasting and GT popping rods much less effort now required It's what you think about that’s the key!

Spey is catching on fast There are lots of spey rods being walked up an down the New Zealand Rivers where people fish streamers across and down. Spey rods are particularly useful on the wider pools on the Tongariro like the Judges Pool New lines like the AirFlo Skagit FIST (Floating, Intermediate, and three types of Sink Tip) have appeared on the market Great for casting across the rivers and saves a lot of deep wading. There are lots of great teaching videos on spey casts and spey rods. I published an excellent presentation by Simon Gawesworth on my You tube channel TimKFishing. (https://wwwyoutubecom/watch?v=acwLUo0JP3k)

Tim

Chapter 10: REPOSITIONING CASTS...continued

These are great repositioning casts. Moreover, most spey casts can be delivered with a single handed rod, as the principles are basically the same Single and Double Spey, Snap T, Snake Roll, Circle C, Tongariro Roll Cast (TRC) are all great casts to learn. Some of these casts like the TRC require overlining with WF lines to get more energised D loops.

Pre Covid we fished the Tongariro a lot at night with dry flies for the late evening (in the dark) rise Snap T, cast at right angles, let the line drift with the current and hang, wait for the splash or the weight. Great fishing for cracker fish. Maybe one day we will get to return

Great fishing everyone. Tight lines! Cheers, Tim

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