Casting / fishing information

Walter & Group...

[GH] Waiting for Paul Arden to teach us more about the "upside down roll cast"......

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Some casting Q&A and fishing reports/info.:

[GH] From John Sally :

Hello Dr. Gordy,

Thank you for your work on the Master's group I am learning a lot as I prepare for my Casting certification, with Rick Whorwood.

I am presently in Islamorada until mid April then back to Canada.

I went to Long Island Bahama's last week for a wade trip for bonefish.

The fish were very spooky in the thin water.

I tied 4 of your father's flies as I saw them in Dick Brown's book.

I don't know what the bonefish thought they were but every fish I cast that fly to ate it.

I had to give my wading partners one of these flies as they didn't seem to spook the fish on landing.

Well we lost all the flies eventually when fish broke them off on the strip or on mangroves.

I just wanted to let you know they worked very well compared to other flies we tried.

Tight Lines

John Sally

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[GH] John,

Thanks for the report.

You've got a great mentor in Rick Whorwood.

As you know, that fly is tied so it lands and sinks to the sand bottom with the hook POINT DOWN.... not up the way most bonefish flies are tied. *

The idea is that the fish there are usually targeting little creatures which puff the sand as they move. Nature has "camouflaged" them so they are almost transparent and almost impossible for us to see on the bright white sand bottom. With the hook point down, each twitch as you retrieve makes a similar puff.

Pop designed that ultra simple tie for the very circumstance you experienced. Not for rocky, grassy, mud or coral flats where the down-hook-point would get stuck on the bottom.

When the bones are "super spooky" when tailing in water only about 8" deep on a cloudless, windless day, you can spook even fewer by using a long fine tippet and these flies tied on # 4 or even #6 hooks.

Dropping down to a 4 wt. outfit helps, too.

Glad you did well !

Best,

Gordy

* BONEFISH FLY PATTERNS by Dick Brown, 1996, pp. 138,139.

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[GH] From Steve Smith :

Gordie

I was running the casting aisle at the Moncton Fly Fishing Show this past week end. It was a great hit !

Rick Whorwood came down as well with G Loomis and was giving a casting demo.He is quite a proponent of the 3 point grip (thumb off to the side). Wristing almost always seems to be an issue when I teach. So many use far too much wrist.One thing about having them grip it similar to the top hand in golf is that is seems to curtail the wristing by a body block (rods tends to stay more vertical 1 o'clock) and Rick also feels it cuts back on tailing loops as they don't tend to flick it forward prematurely.

I don't think it is as strong a grip as the thumb on top but it certainly seems to give me some food for thought. So I was wondering what your thoughts were.

Thanks,Steve

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[GH] Steve,

Steve,

In general, I agree with both Rick and you.

The 3 pt. grip does help reduce the likelihood of an out of control wrist. * **

Jason Borger goes in to great detail on the 3 point grip. He points out that Steve and Tim Rajeff use a modification of this when distance casting and that Lee Wulff used another modification of it for what he called his, "heavy tackle" grip. Jason says that this grip gives him, "the most complete overall level of control. **

For me, it is not quite as strong a grip as the thumb-on-top grip, however, so I and many other fly fishers use it when using heavy equipment as for salt water fishing .

Let me add that grip is a matter of style. As such it must suit the anatomy and skill of the caster as well as the prevailing fishing/casting circumstances.

Lefty Kreh and Joan Wulff both use and teach the use of the "thumb on top" grip. They both have superb wrist control, however. Both teach the use of the thumb / target line. (Joan placed an orange marker on her students' thumb nails when I took her instructor class, years ago.)

Joan teaches a style with the wrist in the neutral position at the end of the back cast such that the rod butt is at a 45 degree angle with the forearm and at a cocked down position at the conclusion of the forward cast. *** This is seen clearly in her new book along with a related hint for instructors:

"TIP: Make sure that the reel seat and rod grip are under your forearm, not next to it." (addressing a fault that is commonly overlooked). ****

Lefty teaches the use of a stiff wrist throughout the cast. He teaches that the thumb should be on top and directly opposite the target no matter what rod plane the caster is using.*****

* PRESENTATION, by Gary Borger, 1995, pp. 204-205, Fig. 7.1.

** Jason Borger's NATURE OF FLY CASTING....., by Jason Borger, 2001, pp. 44-49.

***Joan Wulff's FLY CASTING TECHNIQUES, by Joan Wulff, 1987, p. 26.

**** Joan Wulff's NEW FLY CASTING TECHNIQUES, by Joan Wulff, 2012, p.19, Fig. 2.6

***** CASTING with LEFTY KREH, by Lefty Kreh, 2008, pp. 21-37.

Gordy

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[GH] Salty fly fishing string. From Greg Rahe:

Hola Gordy,

I think you and I were in complete agreement, a few years, as the fact that cudas won´t eat hooked permit. Right? Well, it happened yesterday. The first time I have seen it in over 25 years of permit fishing. I asked my head guide if he had ever seen it happened, and he had approx. 10 years ago in the exact same spot. I´m thinking I need to get that big cuda out of the gene pool!

Greg

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[GH] Greg,

If you sent a picture, I didn't find it.

Another thought: Should we condemn a big cuda for only two permit eaten in 10 years ????

I fly fish for permit regularly here in the Florida Keys and have done so for years. I HAVE NOT SEEN THAT HAPPEN.

Once, off Key West, out on the Quicksands, I landed an immense permit. It was on a 10 lb. tippet and in water about 12' deep.... not on a flat. It took me a long time to finish off that fish. A monster cuda followed that permit during the latter 15 min. or so of the battle. He never made the move to strike my fish.

I started my motor and released the critter a few hundred yards away to be reasonably sure that cuda wouldn't attack after the release. That is the closest I ever came to having a cuda go for a permit.

This happened over a small wreck. I figured that big cuda would return to the wreck ..... so we went back to target that fish and used Ralph Delph's trick to tease that cuda .... flipping a big white fly into the water after letting the cuda cut a dappled blue runner runner in half. Hooked the beast. THEN A HUGE SHARK CUT THE BIG CUDA OFF LEAVING ONLY THE BLOODY HEAD. That head weighed 17 lbs.

Best,

Gordy

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[GH] Rick Williams his wife Shauna, son Chris and Molly Semenik just got back from a very productive trip to Christmas Island. They were wading and fly fishing white sand flats. The catches included bonefish, GT's (Giant Trevally - Caranx Ignobilis) and Shauna's Milkfish (Chanos Chanos). I have Rick's permission to share a few of their impressive pictures with you.

>From Rick:

Folks,

We just returned from a week's fishing in Christmas Island. Thought you might enjoy seeing some of these.

It's a long ways from the Tenkara fishing we were doing the three days before we left on this trip!

Take care,

Rick Williams

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[GH] Tenkara fishing: Tenkara, Radically Simple, Utralight Fly Fishing, by Kevin C. Kelleher, M.D., with Misako Ishimura, 2011, ISBN 978-0-7627-6394-8

http://www.tenkarabum.com/

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[GH] These salty critters are all great fighters. The sheer power of the GT is awesome ! A lot like hooking a steam locomotive.

It is a challenge to entice a milkfish to take a fly, because they feed mostly on algae and tiny jetsam . Once thought to be strictly algae eaters, we now know that they will also eat small invertebrates such as worms, larvae, etc. (Years ago, I caught one on a purple marabou salmon fly !!)

I've attached a few of their photos.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_trevally

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkfish

Gordy

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