This may be a question that gives a headache…
Say you are an average…or less than average… caster who can’t double haul…if you work on learning to double haul will the technique of your general casting stroke also improve?..put another way…or would you be better off just working on the casting stroke?
ducksterman I think if you learn to double haul it will improve your general casting becouse to double haul you have to get the timing right. Getting this right is bound to improve your casting stroke.
Just my opinion but everyone that I have taught to cast has improved out of site once they learn to double haul properly.
All the best.
Mike.
honestly…I don’t think I could cast if I didn’t put a bit of a haul in to almost every stroke.
In the yard one day I put the line under my rod hand on the grip…no haul, no nothing. I could not believe how hard it was to cast.
You have no control of line speed without hauling.
In my opinion if you can’t double haul you aint castin.
These threads about “casting as far as I need to”, “I can single haul (what the hell is that?) thats all I need” and on and on…kinda make me giggle…how silly.
Learn to cast.
You can believe this or not, but it’s true. I got my first rod and started to cast it before looking at any instruction books or DVD’s.
It seemed natural for me to pull on the line on the back and forward stroke. I didn’t even think about it. I just did it without thinking. It was only later while watching a DVD of casting instuction by Joan Wulff did I realize what I was doing had a name. I thought for sure I was doing something wrong, but then glad to see I was doing a double haul.
ducksterman,
My personal opinion is that it will improve your casting. Reason for my opinion stems from the fact that the double haul for me initially was like rubbing my belly and patting my head. I just could not do it. Training my brain (many headaches) to perform the double haul has taught me to be a better caster. It’s comes down to rhythm.
Hey Mr. Ducksterfellow
you may ALREADY be hauling on your foward cast, many folks do without noticing. The timing necessary for the double haul is more specific & a bit tougher. HOWEVER, lots of practice, preferably with someone that is experienced to watch & correct your casting stroke, would be beneficial to you. Timing is everything here.
It’s like patting your head & rubbing your tummy… it can be done, it’s easy once you get it BUT until then… you just feel like a fool.
Don’t worry you’ll get it… travel a little further east & I’d be happy to help.
Later,
Peter
Central Oregon
You have two hands, might as well use them both.
fishbum
Dividing the work between two hands is a smart idea. Right?
The double haul is a great technique but I don’t think only using a double haul and nothing else will improve your casting stroke. Sometimes you are in a position where the double haul is not an option. If you are a good caster you should be able to cast as far as you need to with and without it. I think trying to improve your stroke without using the haul will make you that much better once you do start to double haul.
I think that only using a double haul and not worrying about a casting stoke without it is as foolish as not needing to learn the double haul at all because you don’t need it.
Duckster, you must have a need for double hauling? Remember the old saying…when in a boat we cast to shore, when on shore we cast to the middle of the stream/lake. If you want to double haul, you will have to practice. Yes you may be doing it with out knowing it but that is like eating stake with your eyes closed and told it is liver on your plate. You’ll never savor the moment if you don’t open your eyes.
There will be certain waters that you may need to double haul, I can remember on specific stretch of Puget Sound beach where the incoming tide made a point of beach appear like a river with the best water heading out from the beach. The salmon and cutthroat hung just out side the bend 60 to 90 feet from shore. Wading was not an option so a hard crank at a double haul put your fly in front of the fish. Letting line out wouldn’t work, that would send the fly too far down into the water. I learned the hard way, practice, practice, practice. The rewards were worth it. By the way, I was using a WF7F line. Good luck, Jonezee
I will just add this. :lol:
I just watched a video of Joan Wulff casting a fly without a rod, just using the double haul and her hands. It went more than 20 feet. Amazing! :shock:
The double haul is my casting goal for the upcoming season…as soon as the snow goes I’ll be out on the lawn catching stares and weird comments from the neighbours :lol:
Good answers all…thanks…and I’ll say this…sometimes my questions aren’t about me and this one was and wasn’t…
I consider myself a little better than average caster…[at least measured by folks I fish with…except guides]…and am a very long way from expert…
So going out the other day and practicing the double haul…which I believe I can do but have much work to do on it…I got to wondering…“If I’m working on better timing for the double haul will the other things in the cast improve also…or should I spend time also without double hauling”…what would give more bang for the buck…sort of like in golf how much on the short game and how much on the full swing.
Anyway sorry to belabor this…
Good answers all…thanks…and I’ll say this…sometimes my questions aren’t about me and this one was and wasn’t…
I consider myself a little better than average caster…[at least measured by folks I fish with…except guides]…and am a very long way from expert…
So going out the other day and practicing the double haul…which I believe I can do but have much work to do on it…I got to wondering…“If I’m working on better timing for the double haul will the other things in the cast improve also…or should I spend time also without double hauling”…what would give more bang for the buck…sort of like in golf how much on the short game and how much on the full swing.
Anyway sorry to belabor this…
When I practice casting I try to make the best loop I can…at any distance be it short or long. Depending on the rod and line I’m using that will involve adjustments in my stroke. I may have to put more power in the snap, or less…a bit more cocking of my wrist, a bit more haul or perhaps less.
All sorts of things change the shape of the loop…but hauling is an intregal part of most of those things.
When you practice don’t consider anything else but the shape of the loop…
I realize there are situations when an open loop is required but if you make a nice tight loop when you practice it will help you develop your timing.
Jerry, … Hmm, … Shape of the Loop. Very nice idea.
I’ll have to remember that.
A to Duck’s question, … imho, … Yes. Thed DH is one of many tools to carry around just in case.
Like when you’re under gunner into a head wind, or the darn trout rises “jus another 15 feet sir” and you can’t change positions.
I’m an average caster. I look and the fly (usually) goes there. But I have to concentrate NOT to think about my casting.
DH’ing MAKES me think about timing and NOT casting. When I do that, … it all comes together (in my mind’s eye at least).
I don’t mean to disagree with most of you. But since the Double Haul is meant to help speed up the line if your casting is not right your just adding speed to mistakes. If you casting properly a double haul is just a flick of the wrist in time with a “power snap”. Those Long pulls you see people make are adding slack to your cast when you up stroke. Somewhere in that log pull you make a power snap which bends the rod more so it helps some, but not as much as if our timing is right.
A single haul can be useful for picking up the line for the next cast by helping to pull slack off the water.
It’s harder to describe than to show. Check out a Lefty Kreh or Ron Jaworski demo if you can.
Tom
I have to agree with Tom Trout regarding the power snap…good name for what I’ve been doing for so many years and it made me ‘look’ at how I DH most of the time. I do make the ‘long hauls’ so to speak and they do load the rod but wow, did that take some practice and I’m not a good enough caster to do that without watching the rod tip on the second haul plus watching my loop. It does work for me though but I also know it’s just compensation for mistakes and I’m just doing ‘repairs’ to my cast in the attempt, usually successfully but not always, to cast further for that fish way out there.
The power snap is about all I usually do and please know I’m no FFF cert nor do I even consider myself an above average fly rod caster, but my DH most times consists of my working line hand at my left hip, or even completely relaxed at my left side, line held tightly between thumb and index finger, thumb on top of the line more or less and the hauls consist of quick away from the rod or body turns of the hand, or if you will, flicks of the wrist.
This will be considered bad form I know, but I also will allow the line to cross the entire front of me diagonally and I’ll lean into the second haul if I’ve let it collapse somewhat, thereby salvaging the whole process because it helps take up slack I’ve created with bad timing.
This may all be a bass ackwards approach but when I was a kid learning all this from the likes of those that wrote back pages for sporting magazines, I barely knew what they were talking about so I kinda had to make up parts of it. I decided from written descriptions of it, usually tongue in cheek, that DH’ing was something I had to learn and I did…doubt I’m doing it right, but it seems to have helped. Ok, hopping off the box now…next ?
Merry Christmas and
Happy Double Hauling !
MontanaMoose
duckster, try this.
Put about 40 feet of line out in front of you.
Pull with the left hand while you lift the rod.(single haul)
move your thumb and forefinger with the line between them up to the first eye.
When your finger and thumb are pulled up, pull down and move the rod forward. (dbl haul)
Don’t get overly agressive on this though. It will really help you to cast more accurately and using less back casting space.
This really works for me. I kind of need the nudge the line give me.
The DH is all about timimg. If you using a long haul then applying the power stroke during the haul, your doing it wrong!! The Haul is executed at exactly the same time as the power snap. The longer the haul the faster the haul has to be to keep in sync with the power snap. Start the haul and the power snap at the same time and end the haul and power snap at the same time. (It took JC & Deanna almost an hour to get me to get this down, my haul was a touch to early, there is a column of JC’s here somewhere about the lesson they gave me)If you don’t do this you will get a nasty tailing loop(trust me)(See JC’s archives Oct. 1998 called “street-casting”). Learning the difference between a long and short haul is the hardest part. A short haul will only load the tip of the rod where a long haul can load the rod all the way to the grip. I short haul is perfect for wind, it will give you a good fast tip load and keep your loop tight. A long full rod loading haul is for maximum distance using the power of your entire rod to shoot the most line possible.
Fish small streams. Double haul not needed. 