Casting in WIND

Walter & Group.........

I thought it might be timely to discuss casting in WIND.   (Fits right in with the class I'm organizing for the Conclave.)

Al Crise's Group has been discussing this.  Borrowing from him, I'll start with a message from Troy Miller who, as you know, is also a member of our Group.  It is taken out of series.  Troy is talking about the very article which I've recommended in my reply :-

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from Troy

All good and fine.  But, 90% of my flyfishing is either on land or along saltgrass which MOST DEFINITELY slows the wind to something significantly less than the wind that's 15' above water level.  If you're on a boat in the middle of the ocean (or a lake that feels like the ocean), then it's probably futile to try to cast low to defeat the wind.  But if you're fishing the types of water I frequent, there's a DEFINITE advantage to it.  Trees, bushes, tall grass -- they're ALL my friends when there's a stiff breeze ablowin'...

 

The other highly effective technique that I use in windy conditions is to triple haul.  Not many people talk about that, but it's a seriously useful method to encourage rapid turnover of the leader and fly right at the instant you need it.

Regards -- TAM

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Al...

 

Troy is correct !    One sometimes calls these, "wind breaks".  When fishing from shore, they can appear as anything from a cut bank, a large rock, trees, bushes, etc., etc.

 

He's also right about the, "triple haul".   This is also called a, "check haul".  The idea is to make a cast using a double haul, then.... as the fly line loop unfurls, a third haul is made timed carefully to pull back on the rod leg in such a way to quickly increase the speed of the leader turnover.

 

Jason Borger wows the troops by calling it a, "Momentum-Mangling, Fly-Flipping, Super-Special Haul " !  ( THE NATURE OF FLY CASTING, Jason Borger, pp.223-226.)

 

That technique is also sometimes used to flip over a large bass bug, wind or no.

 

Any of you really interested in the physics behind, "casting under the wind" should read a lead article on the subject written by, Larry Pratt, PhD. (Physics Professor who teaches fluid dynamics at MIT ... and oceanographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute... also an FFF CCI .)  It's entitled, UNDER THE WIND,  The Loop, Spring, 2001, p.1.  It can be accessed via the FFF Website under archived Loop articles.

 

Rarely, I've been casting in the open ocean to dolphin (dorado) and have noted that a low cast made with a horizontal rod plane literally in the trough of big waves will have a great deal less wind resistance.  When fly fishing for billfish, it is of little or no consequence, since you are making, "chuck-&-duck" short quick casts to fish only a few feet from the transom.

 

Sometimes, when permit fishing on the flats with a howling wind at my back, I'll make a very low horizontal rod plane back cast, change rod planes for the forward cast (elliptical cast) and finish with a forward stroke with the rod in an off-vertical plane.  I don't get much effect of, "casting under the wind", but it gives be a measure of control so I can stay connected rather than having my back cast loop blown back at me.  This works mainly because it is a type of continuous tension cast.

 

 

Just to add a note for those anticipating their MCCI exam :

 

I'd suggest you not do that in order to turn over the leader on the distance cast task or the distance roll cast.  Some examiners won't pass on that .  The idea is that the candidate ought to be able to make the cast without resorting to this as a separate means of getting the leader to turn over properly.

 

Gordy

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Tomorrow:  A little quiz on casting in the wind.

 

Gordy

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