Bonefish on the Brain Bonefish and all that relates (maybe a bit about tarpon too).

4 comments

1. Fishbaydoc

   January 8, 2012 at 7:53 am

   I’ve seen this and just bought Prescott Smith’s TAMING THE WIND vid. Been bone fishing once and lucky enough to catch a few… I’m challenged to understand how to get enough line out with a minimum of false casting. One casting instructor and my experienced friends recommend a roll cast followed by one or two false casts. So this takes a lot of practice… Have you seen anyplace that teaches this method? Furthermore, I would try a “line up” method. Next time I’ll use an 8 wt rod and line for calm conditions and for windy conditions my 9 wt Hydros with a 10 wt line…I’d love a 8 wt rod and a 9 wt line too. I don’t want a 7 wt since I want to land as quickly as possible. I’m looking at te TFO Axiom. I don’t want to start a rod war tho.
2. Andrew

   January 9, 2012 at 7:02 am

   Good information. I will respectfully disagree on his commentary regarding tailing loops. He described the tailing loop properly; fly below the flyline. He failed to describe the cause; starting your forward cast before the line is straighten out from the back cast…

   As far as Fiahbaydoc’s question: I learned to cast using George V. Roberts Jr’s “Saltwater Flycasting, 10 Steps to Distance and Power. I do not know if it still available, but the way he breaks down the cast worked to me. Once you get it down, it still requires maintenance, or at least my casting does!!!

   Good Luck,

   asg
3. WindKnot

   January 15, 2012 at 4:45 pm

   Agreed, Andrew but that’s not the only cause. The typical flycast will always flip the fly down on the end of the backcast, just like the forward cast. Without proper timing and form the fly remains below the flyline on the forward cast, tailing the loop. Prescott’s method flips the fly up on the backcast, automatically placing it above the flyline and eliminating tailing loops. Using his ‘oval’ cast method any angler can eliminate tailing loops pretty much forever.

   As for Mr. Baydoc’s question, I can only recommend watching Andy Mills’ vid on this same site where he talks about waterloading the rod. This works great: walk (or float) along with about a rod-length of flyline out the tip (+ leader of course), holding the fly by the bend. When you see a fish simply flip the fly out and let the line fall to the water (assuming the fish isn’t too close). Now you have a reference point for how much more line you’ll need to reach the fish and when you make your backcast you will load the rod with the water tension. Haul deeply and shoot line on your forward cast and you should be able to reach the fish in 2-3 falsecasts. Of course, this method can’t really be practiced on the lawn, you need that water tension to work for you.

   Hope this helps and goodluck.
4. WindKnot

   January 15, 2012 at 4:46 pm

   PS. That guy has a sweet looking cast. Tight line.