Rod and reel question

[Steven McGarthwaite]

Yes, Berkley is not known for it's fly rods (neither is Martin) but that does not rule it out, special since you already have it.

1. There are medium action fly rods, that are slow to cast, and are quite flexible in the cast. Originally these were meant for wet fly, and streamer use. Medium action, when the line is under load, will bend down to the hand grip, which is a good thing. Wherever the rod bland stops bending is where the rod blank will fracture, when overloaded.
   
2. Next, there are the quick action, mostly for dry fly fishing. The rod when under load, will bend to the half-way point on the fly rod. Less flex in the rod blank, the more vulnerable the the fly rod blank becomes.
   
3. Finally there is the quick-tip action, strictly fly fishing. The rod when under load, will bend to the top quarter portion of the rod blank. These are very fragile. These rods have the tight loops, and give the fly caster distance, but with a penalty. Tip have a habit of breaking from the strikes by beadhead fly patterns that fracture the fly rod tip.

• Each fly rod has its own action, and you need to learn the pace of the cast that best suits the rod blank. The correct casting motion, at the right tempo, will get you out to about 30 or 40 feet, which in most cases will do the job, 90% of the time. As for casting, since you are a beginner....
• Keep the slack out of the fly line when casting.
  
• Keep the reel seat pressed against your wrist, and avoid doing the spin cast flick during the false casting. This destroys the level action of the fly cast.
  
• The arm is is the delivery mechanism, for direction and control, for the power use your feet and body.....left foot out front of the right foot (for right hand casting) and rock the whole body to supply the kinetic energy for the casting. (Works for tennis players, golfers, baseball player, and football quarterbacks).
• Short arm movements for short casting distance, longer arm movement for longer casts. Remember as you release more line out for the cast, the you need to allow more time for the forward and reverse casting motins.
• As for the spin cast flick, save that for when you are laying the fly on the water. As you are just about point the tip of the fly rod to the point on the water, where the fly is going to land. Go ahead and flix your wrist.

Last but the most important, is that the handle/grip on the fly rod is the correct diameter for your hand grip diameter! If the handle/grip is too small, for your hand size, this will cause your casting motion to be slow. Your casting arm tendon's and mucsle's will be tight, and you will not feel the weight of the fly line during the casting. This was my problem when I started to learn how to properly cast a fly rod. When I built my first fly rod I had to come up with a way to determine my hand grip size and shape... so I wrote an article for FAOL on my solution to my problem.

Custom Handle Grip Design

Some cast smaller diameter handles/grips with their index finger on the top of the fly rod. That is a great way to get sprained index finger. I have the same diameter and shape handle on all of my fly rods, The rod weights may change (I have twelve fly rods, over various actions, ranging from 3 weight to 9 weight. They all have the same handle/grip diameter and shape, the rods may change, but my hand doesn't!

If your fingers are touching the palm of your hand, when casting, you either need to wear a glove on the casting hand (baseball players and golfers use them). Otherwise you might have to wrap some 2mm foam strip around the handle/grip.
Then your arm action in the cast is fast, and free from restrictions, from tight tendons and muscles, in your casting arm!

~Parnelli