Pendulum Casting on the Loyalhanna

[Sparse_Grey_Hack]

I returned to the Loyalhanna to test my mettle in some decent cool weather (and some unexpected frustrations). I put on a big, weighted streamer for a fairly deep hole in which I suspected were trout significantly above average. By "I suspected were trout significantly above average", I mean someone once told me there was a 20 incher in there. He was a fisherman so I believed him.

My eyes and fine-hand coordination do not permit me to tie flies right now. So I buy them, mostly online, unseen (except for a tiny picture). This streamer was called a bandit leech. When it arrived, I started drooling. It looked good-real good-all furry and substantial. It was dark brown with a black splotch around the middle. Whoever tied it put some serious lead under that fur. I really wanted to try it out. I did not know how hefty it was until it got wet. I could have cast that thing with my old bait casting outfit. I could not cast it with a fly outfit--not fly-cast it. It would be like trying to cast a quarter ounce jig and pig and I would have to get air clearance for the back-casts.

So I came up with a scheme. I used physics. Not force equals mass times acceleration physics. That was way too frightening to summon. More like Newtonian pendulum physics. First, I'd let it hang down about a rod-length and begin swinging it back and forth, pinching the line tightly in my free hand. On a good fore-swing, I’d quickly flip my rod forward to load it and whip that streamer around in a big loop, letting go of the linea at just the right moment, and send it on its way. My line would shoot out with that plastic slithering scream and that streamer would go flying in a high parabolic arc, splatting into the water near the far shore. It was a new technique for me and good science.

Accuracy didn't enter into it. Not that I couldn't get good at it with extensive practice far from any no-fly zones. It's just that it wasn't needed. It was a long hole and that 20 incher could be anywhere. I worked it in slowly and it hugged the bottom like it was part of the stream eco-system. When I could see it, I couldn't decide what it looked like but it looked good slithering here and there as it appeared to be searching for a hidey-hole.

At one point, mid-swing, my eye caught another fly angler upstream watching me. This completely interrupted the precise timing of this new, experimental casting technique, and sent the streamer high into the sky above me. Ever shoot an arrow straight up to see if you could dodge it on the way back down? Yep, that was me. And if that was you, upstream, watching, well, all I can say is on one of those casts, something hit that beast on the end of my line with a good, deep thump. And, no, it wasn't a plane coming in for a landing at the Latrobe Airport. That section of stream is NOT in the flight path.

 

[hammertime]

Chuck-n-Duck

 

[wetnet]

I know everyone on this site must think I'm an idiot but I can flip almost anything any weight. I keep mentioning just tossing my nymph out here letting it drift by and at the end of the swing setting and sending it forward. When nymphing you can sink your nymph fast and with heavy weights like you mention you may need to wait just a touch longer then you would with a weighted nymph then you would a hefty streamer. Let the water do the work, like you would do with any ordinary cast you always wait for the line to load behind you before sending it forward. The water current isn't any different and you can also use it to load your line to get power forward. I'm no power house but timing is everything. It took me awhile but I'm amazed what I can launch now.

 

[Sparse_Grey_Hack]

wetnet, I do that too. It's especially helpful on small streams overgrown with brush and trees on the banks. I also use it nymphing. It seems to take the least time getting my nymph back upstream for another drift and, once in a blue moon, they take a whack at the fly while the rod's loading. I'm not very good at it as far as accuracy. Fair on distance.

But even if I didn't do that, I wouldn't think you're an idiot. After all, you do fish for trout with flies, successfully.

 

[wetnet]

I never fished anything too heavy until I started fishing for smallmouth with my brother in deeper streams. I fished heavily weighted wooly buggers and it felt like I was throwing rocks instead of fishing. There was nothing delicate about their landing, but compared to what my brother was casting with his spin rod it was a blimp on the radar as far as the bass were concerned. Have to say the first casts were non too pretty when I started out and I can relate to your arrow story. Have to say the entertainment value was priceless. Not probably as funny as watching me learn to bow cast however.

 

[Sparse_Grey_Hack]

Ah, yes. The bow cast. I fished overgrown streams a lot this summer and had to re-learn that cast. I find it very useful. One trick is to hold the fly line, not the leader or fly, when loading the "bow". I do hold the fly, lightly, too but only to prevent it from catching me on the launch. Another was to try to keep the bend vertical (limbs permitting) rather than off to the side or down.

I don't practice casting. It's a flaw. I look silly enough doing it astream. My relationship with my neighbors does not need further deterioration by them seeing me practice bow casting under the shrubbery.

 

[afishinado]

SGH wrote: "Ah, yes. The bow cast. I fished overgrown streams a lot this summer and had to re-learn that cast. I find it very useful. One trick is to hold the fly line, not the leader or fly, when loading the "bow". I do hold the fly, lightly, too but only to prevent it from catching me on the launch."

Yup, good point. When you hold the fly on a bow cast, it only allows you to cast the length of the rod. Holding the fly line allows for a longer cast, but MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE FLY AND LEADER FLOATING SAFELY IN FRONT OF YOU before you attempt it.

 

[wetnet]

This is probably the stupidest thing to admit but I can't tell you how many times I've hooked a nymph on the bottom (bad enough to have to break it off) and instead of keeping my tip under water grabbed the line and pulled it straight back. What a stinking mess! Did it about 3 times when I started out until I realized patience is a virtue. You would think I could just reverse the direction and be a champion bow caster. NOT!!!!