Fly line : REAR TAPER FUNCTION / Haul

Rick....

The rear taper of the fly line can assist in smoothing out the cast. If long, it can blunt the effect of overhang since it doesn't leave a precipitous drop in mass between the head and the running line.

This can, also, allow some casters to carry a bit more line than otherwise without destroying their tight loops as they try for increased distance when not using a long belly line.

While (as you know) the forward taper mainly controls the delicacy of presentation, a slightly better .....( less splashdown ) presentation can be achieved when placing the fly at a great distance when you have a very long or continuous rear taper line.

This, "CRT" (Continuous Rear Taper) line was designed for that purpose by Jason Borger. It is briefly described in his, THE NATURE OF FLY CASTING, p. 111.

For benefit of some of our new members, lets review the basic functions of each part of a standard fly line:

FORWARD TAPER: Mainly controls the delicacy of presentation.

BELLY : Carries most of the energy of the cast.

HEAD : Determines where the main mass of the line is located. (See p 85 of Bruce Richards', MODERN FLY LINES.)

REAR TAPER: Helps to smooth out long casts.

RUNNING LINE: Maintains tension between the remainder of the fly line and the rod. It's mass, coefficient of friction and diameter help determine the unltimate distance of the cast.

Gordy

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From Craig Buckbee:

gordy,

as for the "saltwater quick cast"... i have used it countless times in fresh

water, up here on the delaware, while waiting for THAT trout to come back up.

it works wonderfully with the river's flow... the dangle helping.

as for the haul and it's timing... as i practice my casting i've noticed how

easy it is to get a tailing loop on my backcast by hauling too soon. this also

shows me how easy it is to use a haul to band-aid a poor stroke... aka fix slack

in the system.

of note, floyd (mr franke!) refers to the double haul as the pied piper of poor strokes.

craig

ps: i concur with paul's decision to switch to a dark (black) fly when the sky darkens.

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Craig....

Remember Lefty's statement: "Poor casters use the haul to throw their mistakes farther.".

The ultimate, "dark sky" occurs on a dark-of-the-moon sky at night. I've caught many fish in that situation on a black fly !

Of course, the reason a poorly timed early accelerated haul can yield a tailing loop is that it is inappropriate application of power which produces acceleration of the rod tip which cannot be maintained. The rod tip bends down and then returns before completion of the stroke. That's a concave rod tip path. Same mechanics as when the rod hand executes a spike of power early in the stroke, except it is done with the other hand.

Gordy

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