Hi all. I?m throwing this question to all you experts out there. Being relatively new at this, I?m having a problem transitioning what I know about casting to heavier flies.

I can cast wet or dry flies with my 5 weight with nice tight loops and good control over a pretty good distance. I have a St. Croix mid-flex 8 weight on loan from a friend that I?ve been using for salt water fishing. Standing in the field by my house practicing, I can get a nice double-haul and shoot all but the last 8' of fly line without putting any extra effort into it. No sweat!

Then I head out to the flats near my home and tie on a fly. I tie it onto the 8 weight floating line . I try to cast. With the additional weight on the line, my casts fall apart. My loops are big, my distance is terrible. It?s worst with a heavy Clausser, it improves with a less heavy popper, and when I go down to a light deceiver I can cast reasonably well again.

Here?s my set-up
  • 9? 8-weight St. Croix mid-flex (not sure what model)
    8-weight weight forward floating line (not ideal for fishing the salt around here, but it?s what I have)
    7? 12 pound mono knotless leader

On the initial back cast, I can feel the rod load up as the line extends behind me. The rod tip starts to return forward naturally, but then the fly hits the end of the line and cancels out the forward momentum that?s started to be transferred from the rod tip. The rod feels a double ?bump? as first the line, then the lure hit the end of the back cast. If I start the forward cast when the line loads, the lure slows it down. If I wait for the fly to go all the way to the back, the line drops before I begin the forward cast.

Should I be doing something to compensate for the heavily fly that I?m not? Is my borrowed rod just being overpowered by the heavier fly? I?m going to buy a rod so I can return this one, and have been leaning toward a 9 weight anyway (for striper and blue fish). However, I always wonder what I?m doing wrong before I blame the gear. How can I fix this?

Thanks in advance!