Fly casting practice . . . Stage 6: line hand in

 Ahh! . . . on my own at last!

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Preparation

Description

Purpose

1. 

Set aside 20 minutes

go outside; no overhead problems

Practice with 50' in front & 50' in back

2. 

Warm up with Stage 5

always "pick up where you left off"

Warm up, get back to where you were

3.

Lay out 30', keep 5'

put 30' of line in front of you & let 5’ droop loosely in your pile between your rod finger (on the grip) and the reel

Set up properly for implementation of the line hand in the cast

4.

Use your line hand

reach over to the rod grip with your line hand & take the fly line off your finger (reach from below your finger, not from above it)

Turn responsibility for the fly line over to your line hand; this allows proper shooting of the fly line

5.

Hold line secure with your line hand

The line hand, acting as an “anchor”, must keep the fly line tight between itself & the rod as the cast is made

“Tight line” control is a must if the rod tip is to receive and retain pressure, thus allowing the rod to load & provide energy to the line when you stop the rod tip

6.

Let go with your line hand

as you complete the forward power stroke, let go of the fly line being held by your line hand

When you punch the forward cast, the 30’ of fly line in front of the rod tip pulls the additional 5’ of line in your pile behind it, thus “shooting” the line

7.

Regain line control

Reach over with your line hand, re-grasp the fly line & place it in the finger of the rod hand (from below the finger, not from above it)

This mandatory step regains control of the fly line; it turns “responsibility” for a tight line back to the finger

8.

Repeat, get timing down

the proper point at which to release the line can be gained only through trial & error

practice timing of this release; if it is not done at just the right time, the cast will "implode", i.e., lose the tension between rod tip & fly line...result? cast loses energy & goes nowhere