Choosing a fly line basics..

[Captmikestarrett]

First a fly line is like a woman... UHmmm let me restate that...
First a fly line is like finding a good woman ...whew that was close..

Over the years the idea of over wieghting the line has gained some ground. This is primarily true of floating lines. For instance putting a 9wt line on a 8wt rod. If the rod is a fast tip it will allow you to "punch" thru wind and add distance. But I need to step back a bit..

In LGMouth the moto is real estate....you know location location location..

So long casts are not needed most of the time. Hitting an area the size of a pie plate is the most important skill.

Now take a 8wt rod and use a 9wt line and wind is no longer an issue. But the first thing you will notice is the rollover going sideways all the time.

So you miss the target by two or three feet even though the line layed out straight but the curl at the end floated. This is where you need to pay close attention and watch the lever point of the cast. If you need to understand lever point think of the line on it's final decent and where it no longer rolls is the lever point.

The bait monkey will now make your cast better or cost you 50-75 bucks..

Cut the fly line back a foot at a time till it rolls over clean. I suggest a quick whip loop each time. Tieing a loop knot in the fly line will only make matters worse.

When you find the correct rollover the big bug will slap the water with a ploop. Whip the end loop and cement it.



I finish with Zap a Gap as my cement.

Capt Mike

[walkeraviator]

ok.. that was all greek to me...

[HarveysMinnow]

Thank you, Capt Mike, for taking the time to clarify these various points. One question comes to mind...

You said, "So long casts are not needed most of the time. Hitting an area the size of a pie plate is the most important skill."

"Long" is a relative term, and I realize it varies with the rod & line wt, but in feet or yards, what do you consider 'long' for the particulars you described?


.

[Captmikestarrett]

A 40 yard cast is long. Most of LGMouth fly fishing I have done up and down the east coast on fly has been no more than 10 yards. Saltwater is a whole different animal where casting out all the fly line to the backing is ideal.. not obtainable but still ideal.

In other words putting that big fly deep in the pads in a single little opening 10 yards away is ideal. Keeping your backcast to a minimum is also ideal.. line spooking LGMouth is common among trout fishermen. They tend to feed the line out over a series of 10 false casts. A LGMouth fly fisherman will cast one false cast and shoot the fly at the target. Pickup false cast once to get in line with next target and shoot the line.

Keeping the rollover straight allows this style of chuck and move in fly fishing for LGMouth. An buddy of mine discribed it as chucking a fly.

Capt Mike