mending to a dry fly

flipnfly

flipnfly

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this weekend i fished with ryguyfi and troutslammer , they both did well as for me , not so well im thinking that it has to do with my drift . is there a way to cast a dry to where you do not have to immediatly mend ?
i dont think my casting is all that bad im sure it needs some work but dont we all? anyways i catch myself mending as soon as my fly hits the water . and i know i have to because i can forsee the current pulling my line and dragging my fly in ways i dont want it to drag, causing it to "wake".
ryguy and trout slammer if you guys seen anything you guys think that i need to fix feel free to speak out here i will not be offended thanks
 
This should help. You'll be tested in two weeks, so practice up! ;-)
 
Look up reach casting or just side arm it, that causes a up stream or down stream belly in your fly line . I'm a lefty and I always try to fish on the left hand side of the stream so my line bellys up stream ( when side arming). Or try an aireal mend. I'ts mending while your flyies in the air just before any of your line hits the water. Just before your fly and line hits sweep your rod tip up stream. It takes a lot of practice but its very efective.
 
There's a name for it, but I don't remember what its called. I can do that thing where you wave your rod in the air as the line comes down and form S'es on the water so it has a moment to sort of open up.

I imagine, upon typing that, its called an S cast, but whatever.
 
The deffinitions of reach casting and slack line casting from 1 of my casting books.

The Reach Cast, simply reach your rod upstream as you present the fly. This will put the belly of your fly line upstream of your fly and leader. The secret to a good reach cast is to make sure the entire line is in front of you before you reach your rod upstream.

Slack Line Cast
To preform this cast, wiggle your rod tip with short, quick strokes up and down just before the line hits the water. This will put a snake-like slack in your line which will keep the drift of your fly drag free.
 
There's air mending.

Pile or bucket cast, which is when you don't finish your casting stroke and allow the line to drop on the water (in a pile).

Curve casting -- casting with extra force and the line will snap back in a "c."
 
All good options given. Here are two more:

Never cross the water with line
when your waders will do just fine.

-- Art Lee

When dealing with trick currents (usually cross currents), get as close to your rising fish as possible without spooking it. The broken water should help.

Also, keep the line off the water as much as possible. This is easier to do if you obeyed the first tip above.

I had a situation this weekend where the trout were rising in a back eddy that was the only deep water in the area. I couldn't get a decent drift standing back as far as I was. I walked in a low crouch into closer position and took a knee. By eliminating about 10-15 feet of fly line to be drug, I eliminated drag just long enough to catch all three fish. The rod tip was held high during the drift so that the leader and maybe a few feet of line were on the water surface.
 
Sound advice!

I like to fish up stream as much as possible, my favorite way to get good drift fishing across stream is the reach cast, works well for me. If fishing down stream you must have slack in your line, a pile cast will work. I keep my rod high, pull back on the rod a little and lower the rod.

Good luck!

PaulG
 
thanks for all the advice fellas now to find time to practice
 
I prefer curve casting. I naturally overpower my casts a lot of the time, and am a natural sidearmer (I think that's normal). I often have to consciously prevent the curve casts, but they come in handy when appropriate.

I also take the easy way out and cast a few feet farther upstream and away, and pull everything into place.

Like paco, I'm a lefty. I try to pick my banks accordingly. If you're not a lefty, you're doing it wrong IMHO. :)
 
Hey JayL,

God made everyone right-handed, the truly gifted overcome it.
 
jayl always seems to steal my rythym

fish upstream, dude, if you can.

If you have to fish across, I've found that over-powering your cast plops the line behind the fly for you, but this only works for a small window of time, so hit your target accurately, and plop it in the feeding zone.

this weekend's success wasn't about the drift at all. It seemed that working on one fish was not key, but rather on groups rising in one general area. Maybe it brought about some competition. We were also surprising the fish, giving them little time to inspect by placing the fly just before their rising position.

Take those times when across fishing to advantage as well.. Use those lies to skitter the caddis you have not tied on yet in search of may fly munching. Or just throw some slack, or as they call it, S-cast.
 
If you're not a lefty, you're doing it wrong IMHO.

Well said!

As far casting goes, If your a new fisherman or even someone who has been at a long time you have to learn to reach and puddle cast.
 
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