HOW TO CAST THE FLOATING FLY
The sportsman who has fished only with the wet fly may rest
assured that should he take up dry fly fishing he will discover
a renewed interest in the sport of fly fishing for trout, which,
perhaps, through custom, may have lost something of its former
charm. Moreover, in dry fly fishing he will find a sport of such
wide scope that, it is safe to say, he will never consider himself
other than a beginner in the art. For the scientifically inclined
sportsman--the man who chronically seeks to know the "reason
why"--it is difficult to name any outdoor recreation which would
prove more to his liking or more worthy of serious research and
study in its various branches, particularly that dealing with the
entomology of the trout stream.
In photographic work most people are perfectly willing to "follow
the directions," trusting that the results will be good enough, and
caring little for intimate knowledge of the scientific details
of the various processes which produce the completed photograph.
This, certainly, is not at all the state of mind with which to
take up dry fly fishing, or, for that matter, angling of any sort.
In fact, the dry fly man should be a student of causes as well as
of effects, for the simple reason that only in comparatively rare
instances can the desired effect be produced unless the angler
knows the underlying cause and proceeds to utilize it practically.
This is particularly true of the selection and manipulation of the
floating fly and, in a lesser but quite considerable degree, of
casting the fly.
Almost every book on angling contains a more or less understandable
treatise on fly-casting, and it is only for the benefit of the
virtual beginner at fly-fishing for trout, and further with a
view to completeness and the emphasizing of certain points which
even the old hand is prone to forget or possibly neglect through
carelessness that the following brief explanation is incorporated
here. Casting the floating fly differs little essentially from
the manner of casting the sunken fly; in detail, however, the
difference is very great.
Casting the floating fly divides naturally into two quite
distinct phases; first, the actual cast which places the fly,
cocked and floating, upon the surface of the stream; second, the
subsequent manipulation of the fly in such a manner that its action
approximates with all possible fidelity the action of the natural
fly--the fly must float in the exact manner of the natural fly
under like circumstances. Granting judicious selection of the fly
in the first instance and some skill and finesse in placing it, it
is with the correct action of the fly--after all the most important
thing in the whole art of dry fly fishing--that the sportsman has
chiefly to deal, and the dealing is not always of the easiest.
It should go without saying that properly and effectively to
cast and fish the floating fly it is essential that the tackle
be correctly assembled. In this regard I believe the point most
in need of emphasis is the question of the right way to fit the
reel to the rod; that this should be done so that the reel is
underneath the rod with its handle to the right (in the case of the
right-handed caster) is in my experience the only satisfactory and
thoroughly efficient way. With the reel thus placed it is never
necessary, when playing a fish, to turn the rod over so that the
reel is above, as in the case when the reel is fitted to the rod
with the handle to the left. After a fish is struck, if it becomes
necessary to use the reel, the rod is simply shifted to the left
hand--without the awkward necessity of turning it over to bring the
reel on top--and the fingers of the right hand fall naturally upon
the handle of the reel.
Of the English books on the subject of dry fly fishing I have seen
only those of Mr. Halford. In "Dry Fly Fishing," by this author,
the cut illustrating the proper grip of the rod shows the reel
rigged underneath the rod with its handle to the left, and this is
the method advised by the author. It may be said with certainty
that this manner of assembling rod and reel is not sanctioned by
the majority of American fly-fishermen.
The manner of casting a fly is best described by an explanation
of the overhead cast--the typical cast although by no means the
one exclusively used in fly fishing, and in dry fly fishing, for
reasons stated below, a cast which is used only when the horizontal
cast is for any reason rendered difficult. Having assembled rod,
reel, line, leader, and fly, using the knots shown in Chapter III.,
and taking pains to see that the leader before bending on the fly
and attaching to the line has been previously well-softened by
soaking in the leader-box, proceed to make the overhead cast as
follows.
In the case of the beginner at fly-casting, the first practice
casting may best be done casting downstream as the current will
help to straighten out the line and leader. Two distinct motions
constitute the complete overhead cast; first the back cast which
throws the line behind the caster, then the forward cast which
returns it in the desired direction. Fifteen or twenty feet is
enough line to use for the first practice casting. The right hand
should grip the rod firmly with the thumb extended along the upper
surface of the handgrasp--this is the only proper grip of the rod
and is a distinct factor for accuracy in placing the fly and also
tends to make the caster use his wrist.
Good casting results only from utilizing the elasticity of the
rod; the casting power of the rod is brought into play in one way
only--by using the wrist in casting. Keep the elbow low.
In the back cast swing the rod smartly up to a position but
slightly beyond the vertical and inclined a little toward the right
so that the line when passing to the rear, or returning, will not
tend to strike the rod. In the back cast throw the line up in order
that there may be no possibility of its falling upon the water
behind you--a high back cast is very essential. Lift the line from
the water quickly and neatly. Care must be taken not to carry the
rod too far back--only a little beyond the perpendicular--as this
will inevitably result in loss of control over the line.
Instantaneous photography has conclusively proved the fallacy of
the orthodox advice of the older school of angling writers, to
"wait for the line to straighten out behind you" before starting
the forward cast. This fact was noted sometime ago in a short paper
in one of the outdoor periodicals and the writer at once proceeded
to verify it--since which time I have often seen in print the old,
familiar warning to the novice stated above. However, it is now
generally recognized by well-informed anglers that when casting any
fair length of line there is a considerable loop of line and leader
which straightens out only after the forward cast has been started;
that, in fact, the right time to begin the forward motion of the
rod is when the line first begins to pull noticeably on the tip of
the rod--a psychological moment soon readily recognized after a
little practice. To avoid weakening the leader by whipping, or in
rare instances snapping off the fly, the forward cast should not be
started too forcefully.
Start the forward motion of the rod, then, when the line, having
passed to the rear, begins to pull back on the rod-tip, and carry
the rod forward and down with increasing speed, stopping it when
it is a little beyond parallel with the water. Before beginning
another back cast be careful to reel or strip in any slack
line. The beginner should concentrate on casting accurately and
delicately; ability to cover average fishing distances is soon
gained without much conscious effort to that end. As for accuracy,
the dry fly man cannot possibly over-rate its importance or more
profitably seek to perfect himself in any other branch of the
sport. Particularly when casting to a rising fish, other things
being equal, everything depends upon accuracy.
At this point it seems best to note the matter of the use of
the left hand in fly-casting for the purpose of controlling the
rendition and retrieve of the line while casting, playing a trout,
or floating a dry fly. In brief, the caster should control the
line, practically at all times, by holding it in his left hand, as
it comes from the reel, stripping in the line through the guides
of the rod when it should be shortened, or allowing it to run out
through the fingers when a longer line is needed in casting or when
giving line to a hooked fish.
It should be understood that the left hand, when used in this
manner, need not be held in an awkward position, that is, close
up to the reel, but may be held in a natural way at about the
waist-line; it is simply a matter of the length of the loop of line
drawn out by the left hand between the reel and the first guide of
the rod. When this loop for any reason becomes so long that there
may be a possibility of fouling it may be taken care of by shifting
the rod to the left hand, clipping the line to the handgrasp of
the rod beneath the fingers of the left hand, and winding up the
superfluous slack line.
The beginner should accustom himself to handling the line in this
way when first learning the use of the fly-rod; later it will be
all the more difficult to master since at the same time he will be
under the necessity of correcting other casting habits which may
have become almost second nature. Further reference to this manner
of manipulating the line--a most important factor in effective
fly casting and fishing--will be found in connection with various
subjects such as playing and landing a trout, methods of preventing
drag, and so on; in fact, in one way or another the method is
essentially a part of practically every phase of the purely manual
side of dry or wet fly fishing.
It has been noted above that the overhead cast, although the
typical cast and the one, by the way, with which the greatest
accuracy and distance may be attained, is less used in dry fly
fishing than the horizontal; in the latter the rod, in the back
and forward casts, moves in a plane about parallel with the water.
The reason for this preference is a very real and practical one
although difficult to explain in detail; the fact of the matter
is, however, that the horizontal cast is far more apt to cock the
fly--to place it upon the surface of the stream with its wings
upright and not floating on its side--than is the overhead.
The reader should carefully note the above point and, wherever it
may be possible, always employ the horizontal cast. It would not
do to say that every trout would refuse to rise to the fly when
floating down on its side--although I have seen a statement made
to that effect; but with shy fish the probability of a rise to the
correctly cocked and floating fly is greater than to the fly coming
down upset. Apart from the known advantage of the horizontal cast
cocking the fly is a matter quite beyond the caster's control.
Where there is smoothly flowing water with little chance of drag,
and little if any wind, if the fly is cast with some skill it will
float properly with wings upright more often than not. If the
horizontal cast cannot be used, owing to the conformation of the
banks or other reasons, the caster in employing the overhead cast
should direct his fly at an imaginary point in the air some two or
three feet directly above the spot where he intends to place the
fly; the greater delicacy in delivering the fly resulting from this
will tend to multiply the chances of cocking the fly.
As I have said, the horizontal cast is made by swinging the rod, in
the back and forward casts, in a plane parallel with, or slightly
above, the water. The back of the caster's hand should be turned
toward the water, the fingers uppermost. The attempt to cast too
long a line, or the slightest delay in starting the forward cast,
will cause the fly to fall upon the water behind you--a thing to be
religiously avoided.
The above includes the essential details of the first phase of
casting the dry fly--the actual cast which places the fly, cocked
and floating, upon the water over a trout which has been seen to
rise or where the angler may have reason to believe a fish is
lying, the latter being more frequently the case upon American
streams. We come now to the second phase of dry fly casting, the
subsequent manipulation of the fly in such a manner that it
simulates as accurately as possible the action of the natural fly
floating in a like position. The importance of simulating with all
possible fidelity the action of the natural insect has previously
been emphasized; the subject is one of very broad application, but
at present we may note merely the necessity of upstream casting.
I believe that printed briefs for or against up or down stream
fishing with the fly are wearisome to the average well-read and
experienced angler; wherefore brevity in discussing this point
seems advisable. As regards wet fly fishing any broad-minded angler
willingly concedes that under certain conditions it is best to fish
the stream up and under other conditions to fish down. The dry fly
man, however, has no option in the matter; regardless of all other
factors for upstream fishing, the practical fact remains that the
floating fly cannot be fished downstream for when thus cast it is
drowned almost at once.
But even if this were not the case the application of the rule
of exact imitation of nature upon which dry fly fishing is based
would prove the method of casting downstream and pulling the fly
up against the trend of the current wholly wrong. Even the wet
fly should never be fished in this way. Parenthetically, the
present writer has always recognized a distinction between fishing
downstream and casting downstream; the progress of the angler may
be with the direction of the current--always most advantageous
upon the swift and rocky mountain trout stream--while the actual
casting may be cross-current, a very effective way of fishing the
wet fly under normal conditions, or upstream and slightly across if
desirable. When upon the water the natural insect floats downstream
as the current directs it; wherefore, as invariably as may be, the
dry fly caster should cast upstream, allowing the fly to float down
toward him without restraint from the line, following the natural
trend of the current.
Leaving aside for later discussion the matter of drag, a state
of affairs wherein the artificial fly tends to travel at an
unnatural rate due to conflicting currents in the stream which
affect line and fly differently, and also passing over for the
moment certain other points more or less intimately connected with
the advisability of upstream casting, there remains for present
consideration the matter of false casting, or drying the fly.
As a rule, when casting a fair amount of line, the fly will be
quite free from moisture--if previously well-waterproofed--when
the angler has again lengthened out his line after having made a
cast and allowed the fly to float down over the water he desired
to cover. Unless the fly has become thoroughly soaked four or five
false casts are enough. These should be made as gently as possible
to avoid whipping the fly; the constant casting tends to shred
the wings, and if this results the fly loses much of its natural
appearance and is more difficult to cock.
The longer the line used when drying the fly the longer distance
the fly travels through the air; thus a lesser number of false
casts are necessary to dry it. But it is better to take more time,
use a shorter line and more casts, and endeavor not to whip the
fly out of shape. After playing and landing a fish the fly will
be thoroughly soaked and draggled. Ordinarily it is then best to
put up a new fly; if this seems unnecessary, much of the water can
be removed by holding the fly close to the mouth and blowing off
the moisture, after which the wings should be nursed into their
original form.