Walter & Group.........
Hello Gordy-
In review of a fantastic week of fishing for "POON", I have some thoughts I
would like to share and get some feedback on. While set up for the quick
cast, I had the fly in hand, open portion of the hook facing away, a
reasonable amount of line off the reel and carefully stacked in the line
tamer so that the coils would unroll top to bottom, 2 rod lengths of line beyond
the tip, never take your eyes off the fish once spotted, keep the line under
tension and shoot into the backcast, always keep the slack out...
Beyond the casting fundamentals, there are a few things one of the guides
pointed out, which I think are equally as important -
A. Keep your rod pointed upward at 12 O'clock and don't move it. Keep
completely still while the guide spots fish for you. While the guide has
fantastic visibility from top of the platform, any unnecessary movement in the
boat could distract him and fish could be missed.
B. Communicate with the guide. If you can't see the fish, let the
guide know you don't see the fish, so that he can pilot your cast.
C. Always listen to the guide. If he tells you to "lay it down"
- do it!
B and C are obvious, but as for A, I wonder how much line you start with
beyond the rod tip. Do you keep your rod elevated so that the line doesn't
drag under the skiff or do you keep the coiled line draped over your
fingers in the fly hand? Less line beyond the tip when windy, and possibly
a full 30' in calm conditions?
Jim
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Jim....
You came close to answering your own question with your last
paragraph.
The length of line beyond the rod tip will be situation dependent with wind
conditions most important. It will, also, depend on your fly line (short
front taper / one or two designations beyond the rod rating = less line needed,
etc.) (If all the fish are presenting at a great distance, then you'll
need more line out of the rod and vice versa.)
Sometimes I keep the coils in hand. When seeing very few fish .....
long intervals between casts, that can be annoying .. so I'll keep the line on
the deck or in the water. I can't do that if there are lots of floating
weeds, for obvious reasons.
Some guides are really expert at pointing out the position of the fish ....
some are NOT. Biggest problem, I find, is the guide who tells the angler
that there is a fish at ...._____ O' clock, but doesn't accurately point out the
distance.
Some anglers mix up 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock. Some guides do, too
!
What works best for me, is to tell my buddy on the casting deck this:
"Look LEFT". "Fish at 10 o'clock". "Three casts away
...... coming towards us."
If THAT doesn't work, I say, "POINT YOUR ROD" ..... " MORE TO THE LEFT.....
NOW BACK A BIT .... STOP THERE !"
You are correct about unnecessary movements, but pointing your rod at 12
o'clock for a full hour or so, is tedious. Big guys on the foredeck who
lurch as they move about or when they cast are a big problem. Firstly,
when you have an angler like that, you are thinking of NOT being thrown off the
poling platform .... takes your attention off the fish. Second, that
movement sends shock waves from the moving skiff which can alert a wary fish and
prevent a strike.
When I have a friend as my angler who can only make right or left handed
casts creates a problem because I'm constantly pivoting my skiff to give him a,
"good cast". Fewer hookups, because the fish feel the skiff shock wave as
I turn plus the fact that by the time I set him up for a, "right hand cast", the
critter is gone or alerted. An angler who can present accurately at at
least 40' with a back cast or Galway cast has a
big advantage.
Having Steve Rajeff on my foredeck is a real pleasure. He's a
big guy, but uses very little body sway when he casts. I never have to
turn the skiff, because he can reach a fish at any position or angle. All
that translates into a much greater likelihood of a strike from super spooky
fish. It's that kind of performance which makes him as superb an
angler as he is a caster.
Gordy
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Interesting aside from Jim Laing:
Gordy,
Last fall I hosted my daughter's girl scout troop at the lake for a day of
fishing. We talked about what fish eat, where they live, how to catch them
and then created our own fish by painting, drawing and glueing beads etc.
Here is a link to some pictures -
Brought flyrods, but with 10 girls, there was no way I could do that, so
we used casting rods.
Jim
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Jim...
I really like teaching girls and ladies. They are not MACHO, and they
listen. Boys can't help being competative. Their idea of competition
is to see who can cast the farthest. They translate that into a preceived
need to cast harder.
Gordy
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From Peter Morse:
Backing to reel should be the strongest in the system - if something's
going to give it should be right down at the business end, I don't think you
want hundreds of meters of backing being towed around the ocean and I don't know
an angler who's going to let go of their rod in that situation - point it at the
fish and hang on.
Over the last few years I've been completely spooled 3 times by milkfish -
350 metres of backing down to the arbor knot - yep it does happen. Lessons
learned were outstanding. The triple turn surgeons knot for connecting
fluorocarbon tippet to nylon is (for me) without peer. It held all 3 times, the
hook straightened once, both other fish were landed, one I had to follow for 150
meters on foot and the other we chased with the boat (we were at anchor). The
triple turn surgeons has become my favourite knot for several connections
including shock tippets - just double over the end of the class tippet. Its a
knot that really needs to be seated properly before tightening (don't they all)
but with its multitude of strands its easy to have one not bedded down
properly.
My preferred loop knot these days is the perfection - I like the way it
sits straight.
Peter
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Peter...
Agree. Amazing how those milkfish (Chanos Chanos) can pull for
their size !!!! I've caught them. "down under" where you are as well as in
Central America. This may be due to the huge tail (??).
I, too, have been experimenting with the X3 surgeons knot for that purpose
and have had good success. A bit bulky, and not a, "pretty knot"..... but
it works and can be tied quickly even at sea.
The perfection knot is a good one. I find these
disadvantages: 1. While it does pull straight, it tends to sit
proudly open when tied using stiff material, when you might want the loop
smoothly closed. 2. A bit of a pain to
use when attaching the fly to the bite tippet.
I've been, "spooled" many times by tuna but have never had my backing break
when that happens .... Yes, partly because my backing is stronger than the class
tippet, by far.... but, also, because that class tippet is under ever increasing
strain the farther the fish runs. Most especially when the critter
turns.
This is a reason to decrease drag as this
happens.
It is also the reason that we cut the fly line back to the minimum needed
to make the cast when big game Ocean fishing.... so that the drag of the fly
line against the water is minimized. Also, one reason to use a sinking
head which has less drag since it's mass per diameter is greater.
Gordy