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PostPosted: Thu Feb 25, 2021 3:28 pm • # 1 
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Joined: 10/20/20
Posts: 76
Location: Humble, TX
im fishing a 6' 3 weight while wading waist-deep in the creek. I'm finding that I have to try real hard to keep the line from hitting the water while "false" casting, or whatever its called. is that bad casting technique on my part or do I need a 10' "nymph" rod to get the line higher up off the water?


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 25, 2021 5:23 pm • # 2 
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Joined: 01/20/21
Posts: 45
Hi Wildcat
My question would be-
If you are able to use a longer rod say 9-10 feet,then why are you using a 6 footer?
Generally 5-6 footers are for the tightest brooks.
I use 5-6 footers in small streams while wading like yourself sometimes and don’t get that problem,so something is wrong there?
How long is your leader?
Short rods do not cope with longer leaders as well as longer rods.


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 25, 2021 8:36 pm • # 3 
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If you are having to go to a 9-10 foot rod to keep your backcast off the water, you need to work on your casting. I fish 6' 2 and 3 weight rods all the time with no problem. You may be doing what I used to do, that is, letting your wrist break on the backcast, thus letting the tip of the rod drop, causing your line to fall below horizontal.

Larry


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 25, 2021 10:31 pm • # 4 
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Location: Humble, TX
i only have one 3wt rod, it's 6'. i will work on my technique some more. thanks.


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 26, 2021 7:53 am • # 5 
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Might want to confirm that your rod is weight-rated correctly, too. I have rods that are as much as 2 weight classes off the manufacturer's rating.
brent


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 26, 2021 10:06 am • # 6 
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I have a 7' 3-wt and many times it hits the water on the backcast when I'm in my float tube, but the fish don't seem to mind so I don't care either. As long as the fly goes where I want it to, who cares?


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 26, 2021 10:12 am • # 7 
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If you’re fishing in waist deep water I suspect you could easily fish a 7 1/2 or 8 foot rod. But if you’re stuck with the 6 footer I’m sure a change in technique would keep your back cast off the water. In the extreme you can put your back cast vertically above your head; just look up the steeple cast.
Harry


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 26, 2021 10:27 am • # 8 
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Wildcat, it’s hard to tell what the real problem is and to know the solution for it just from your description. However, I have been using short fly rods ever since getting started and have had similar problems. To begin with, I started out on my own without any really good instruction in casting. For a while one bad habit was that of dropping my back cast, causing the line to slap the water behind me. It was partly bad timing, insufficient line speed, and mainly, letting the rod tip drop too low.

One tip that helped me, even though it was a stop-gap measure, was to put my forefinger on the front of the grip when casting. That does two things: it prevents lowering the rod below the one o’clock position on the back cast, and also helps with accuracy by pointing the index finger where the cast is supposed to go.

If you have a problem like what I described, of letting the rod go down too far on the back cast, a longer rod won’t really solve it. If you can it might be a good idea to have a more experienced fly fisherman (a good caster) assess your casting. Since you live in Texas where there are a number of UL fly fisherman, that could be a possibility.


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 27, 2021 9:39 am • # 9 
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Location: Humble, TX
i tried the forefinger tip yesterday. it helped a lot. i tried to consciously stop the back cast at 1. i was fishing with the 9' 5wt. today I will be using the 6' 2wt. that will be the test.

thanks for the tips.


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 27, 2021 5:23 pm • # 10 
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One more tip, since dropping the rod too far on the backcast is a common problem of mine too:

Change the plane of the cast so that instead of the rod moving in a fan shape from 10 to 2 o'clock (or whatever) with the line path parallel to the water, cant everything forward so that the rod goes from 9 to 12 o'clock-ish and line is descending on the forecast and climbing on on the backcast. You should be trying to throw the line nearly straight up on the backcast, even though it won't actually do that. This is actually a really good delivery cast for a lot of situations, but the cue of stopping your rod nearly straight up on the backcast is an easy one to maintain and it makes it nearly impossible to dip the line on the backcast. Plus it's probably the best way to cast into the wind. And it tends to keep your line up over obstacles behind you allowing you to fly cast in places where you might otherwise be forced to roll cast only.

Edit:
A shorter rod is no problem from a low position or wading deep with good form. With that said, there is a reason everybody uses 10' rods from float tubes. There are real advantages to the longer lever for casting so long as your form is good. Getting the fish landed is harder though, and it lacks a certain style...


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