Long Distance Casting

[Bobinmich]

Here's one maybe we can have some fun with.

Learning to fly fish in Michigan, I rarely had cause to cast much more that 60 to 70 feet. Almost no one I knew ever double hauled or worried about long casting techniques. But when I started doing salt, I found 60 feet was a short cast and 80 to 90 feet was more the norm, some over 100 feet. Now I never dreamed you could cast a whole fly line and shoot backing to boot, so I never learned.

Since my great salt revelation, I have found that long distance casting is normal in many places and double haul is the only way many people cast. I have found that people on bulletin boards from NZ and UK consider 100 feet as sort as a rite of passage and there are even 100' clubs. They put great emphasis on distance.

Now I am sure many of you west coasters are familiar with this and even have casting clubs for long distance competition. But I have not seen it around here.

My question then, is this. Am I living a sheltered existence and all of the rest of you out there can go out and double haul 100 feet of line? Or throw a whole line and shoot another 20 feet of backing? Don't worry, you won't hurt my feelings if you say I'm a wimp.

Bob Bolton

[Betty Hiner]

If the fish are only, say, 35 feet away, why would you worry about distance shooting? It's fun to shoot the whole line, even to the backing, but unless you're going to fish the salt, I'd say accuracy is more important.

[Gramps]

This is where I fish. I don't think a 100' cast will fit.

[Jerry]

I credit Woodperson on the VFS board for this post....I wish I had made the
post



"Anyone who says that they have never tried to reach a fish that was @ the
limits of their casting range is a baldfaced, lying fisherman..."

A big Yeah to that.

And any fly fisherman that says they would not like to be able to cast 90'
is kidding himself too. (but not fooling me), Tell me you would not do it in
a fishing situation, tell me that you don't want to work that hard on your
casting, but don't tell me that deep down you would't like to be able to
walk up to a 5 weight in the parking lot and pop the backing knot out of the
rod with a little snap when it comes tight.

There is nothing about being able to cast long that hurts one as a fisherman
that I can tell."

[dudley]

I fish saltwater most of the time.
If I concentrate (and the planets are all aligned just right) I can cast a full line.
I find though, that more often that not, a distance cast of 50 to 70' is more in the range of where I will most likely be able to hook and land a fish
Maybe I'm an underachevier, maybe I don't get out enough.
I'm not going to worry about it.

[Gramps]

Call me a liar then Jerry. I fish many streams, but they all look like the picture I posted. I feel better about doing some tricky cast that put the fly right where I was looking. Especially if I get a take when the fly lands.

I used to be a golf pro. I was never a long ball hitter. I was very accurate though and would beat the long ball hitter on a regular basis.

I see no value on casting beyond a distance that you can see the fly. Unless you're using lures...sorry..streamers.

[J Castwell]

the continual argument,,, "I would rather be able to cast accurately than long". I only can assume that means they are incapable of doing both; and imply that one can not do both. Most I find who can cast a long line actually know enough about line control that accuracy is not a problem. There are those who enjoy limiting themselves by only casting short, that works for them, but not me.

[Betty Hiner]

Actually <not to boast> I can do both!! Took a few lessons from this guy who dressed funny ... and I can wing it out there real good!! Do the short casts too, cuz that's where my fish are ... usually.

[danb]

I credit Woodperson on the VFS board for this post....I wish I had made the
post



"Anyone who says that they have never tried to reach a fish that was @ the
limits of their casting range is a baldfaced, lying fisherman..."

A big Yeah to that.

And any fly fisherman that says they would not like to be able to cast 90'
is kidding himself too. (but not fooling me), Tell me you would not do it in
a fishing situation, tell me that you don't want to work that hard on your
casting, but don't tell me that deep down you would't like to be able to
walk up to a 5 weight in the parking lot and pop the backing knot out of the
rod with a little snap when it comes tight.

There is nothing about being able to cast long that hurts one as a fisherman
that I can tell."

You are really off base. Look at gramps post. For some of us a 60 foot cast would put out fly out of the water by 40 feet on the other bank.

The only real skill most of us need is to be able to cast 40 feet without a full backcast, with a bush or trees behind us, and to be able to do a spey cast on a single handed rod. This would not even apply to gramps.

Now yes, while I can double haul, I can only cast about 65-70 feet with a 5 weight, and think it would be cool to "rip out a 5 weight in a parking lot and cast 100 feet or throw the whole line plus 40 feet of backing". Most of the MEN here with testosterone would probably agree. I dont know about the women folk as they are more practical.

[Wild One]

bdesavage, if you live a sheltered life, then so do I. In fact, I am not ashamed to admit that I had never even heard of the double haul until I found this site. As others have said I honestly never had the need. Yea, there were times before that I couldn't reach fish with a single cast from where I was. My solution? Walk closer to the fish. Since I have learned that there is such a thing as a double (or even single) haul, I've tried it often on still water and it is a lot of fun. For a while I could cast a decent cast (not a good judge with distances by sight) but I'd guess around 70-80 ft., but I couldn't get a decent hook set with that much line out. I was so used to just a little tug or a little lift of the rod tip and a good enough hook set. Finally a few weeks ago I did hook and land a nice little 2lb LMB from a pond on a double haul cast. It was lots of fun, but took forever to reel all that line back in too. I usually stick with the typical 20-40 foot casts and still manage to catch fish. HHMMM, go figure!