Stóra Laxá They shouldn't! A floating fly line that is made of a braided nylon core, onto which PVC is added as a coating is the subject of this post. The specific gravity (SG) of nylon is 1.2 and the SG of PVC is 1.4. With those numbers, the line should sink. So, why does it float? (For perspective; Aluminum has SG of 2.7 and marble, for instance, has SG of 2.6) Specific Gravity / Relative Density SG over 1 - denser than water (sinks), conversely, SG less than 1 - less den

Versileaders – Polyleaders – etc. Housekeeping Most lines are designed so that when you add a correct leader and a fly, the outfit will turn over beautifully and we are happy. In other words, the fly lines are designed to turn over a certain mass, i.e., the mass of the leader and the corresponding fly. As I have repeatedly mentioned in these technical blogs, a fly line without the leader will kick when cast. All fly lines are designed to have a leader added to the end of the

Bluefish All fly casters have experienced a fly line "kick." So, what is this kick? The fly line kicks when the tip part suddenly accelerates at the end of a cast and careens about (like a whip does). The reason behind the kick is that there is undissipated energy left in the loop when it straightens. That energy must go somewhere, and the end of the fly line kicks, thus dissipating energy. When casting floating lines, the kick is mostly a casting error (too much power), but

Laxá I have covered the ready-made leader in a previous post: https://www.everyjonahhasawhale.com/post/ready-made-leaders-no2 Three types of a leader Now I'll have a go at the latter two leader types. When it comes to building leaders, you should be cautious. Numerous articles and guides exist on the subject, and many individuals claim to be experts. Don’t get overwhelmed by the extensive literature on leaders. Focus on the three fundamental aspects of leader construction: t

Lots of companies offer ready-made leaders. I use SA's leaders (Scientific Anglers) because I know exactly what I am getting, and all the information I need is readily available. All companies state the length and the break strength of their leaders, but if the diameters (butt-tippet) of each leader aren’t stated, I will not buy that leader. I have defined the three parts of the leader. First comes the butt end, which needs to be 70% of the diameter of the floating fly line

The leader was fine (video Capt. Nick Angelo) The leader  is probably the most overlooked or misunderstood part of the fly casting system. It is impossible to do the subject any justice in one blog; therefore, I will parse it out (3 blogs). This part covers various generalities on leaders. Intro Much is written on leaders in fly fishing. A Google search - "fly fishing leaders" - yields millions of hits . It's impossible to chew through. Some pieces are, of course, excellent

One of my students a beginner (casting rather well) recently had an outing casting from a boat. There was the eternal wind blowing and the boat moving and all that. But the main issue was that the leader was misbehaving and didn’t turn over. The caster was struggling to lay out the line and the leader straight. The caster had no control over the leader and fly, and never was able to lay the ensemble out straight. We all have been there at some point in our journey. Now, I did

I was recently fishing the flats of South Andros. Megan Nellen, an angler in our group, was relatively new to the sport, and she was asking all the right questions. We fished together for a day. As she took the bow of our boat, I noticed her ready position was suboptimal but still had a lot of positives.  We were fishing from the Mars Bay lodge ( https://www.androsbonefish.com/welcome.html ). Megan's ready position I gave her some pointers that seemed to work well for her. Me

Straight top leg is key When we cast a fly line, its most aerodynamic shape will be that of an arrow, i.e. straight. The top leg of the line is moving fast, and the bottom leg is stationary and tethered to the rod. The fast-moving top leg folds over, forming the apex of the loop. The location of the apex is important, and the higher it is, the better (more on that). Above is the line shape we strive for. The all-important part of this shape is the straight  top leg. There are

Salmon from Grímsá river. In my professional life, good instructional videos were priceless to me. However, I did not get much help from the videos before I had mastered the basics, and only then did I understand what was going on, and they became extremely valuable. So, I think complex motion is very hard to teach to beginners unless some basics are mastered first. We all have seen on some thread or the other that a beginner queries. " How can I learn to fly cast ?” The ans

“ Why can’t I cast this Clouser ?” is a question I often get. “ I am using my #8 rod and #8 line, and I have no control over it .” The misbehaving Clouser usually has big lead eyes and is very heavy . We all have experienced this problem at varying stages of our development. To analyze  the situation, we consider the equipment. The rod Of course, we use what we have, but soft rods are not ideal in the salt. The line The line’s weight must match the fly's mass . So, it follows

Hrútan A fly fishing set up is costly. Let's look at the ingredients. The fly itself isn't so expensive, especially if you tie...

It happens once in a while that there is no wind, but it never lasts. It might be beneficial to our casts, but we soon realize that it...

Backcast was into the wind - line is not straight - slack Sibbi my fishing buddy is here casting – the wind is blowing down the river....

Starting fly casters are taught to false cast on grass, and the casts will naturally be parallel to the ground. But, casting parallel to...

Are you a drifter? You probably aren’t. If you don’t know what I am talking about, you definitely aren’t. Generally, casting instructors...

Tracking At the Suncoast Club’s casting clinic, there was a caster (right-handed) who asked - “Why does my fly line hook to the left at...

The key to avoiding a tailing loop is to make sure that the rod tip travels in a straight line. For a rod tip straight line, we...

Creep is one of the major causes of a tailing loop. Creep usually happens during the pause after the back cast. The movement of your hand...

TAILING LOOP ON THE DELIVERY CAST You are on the water and suddenly casting rather well. Damn, is it possible that those lessons Jonas...