Trouble Casting Large Flies

Wildbrowntrout

Wildbrowntrout

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Joined
Aug 10, 2013
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Location
Berks/Tioga County
Last year I purchased a 9 foot, 9wt fly rod for musky fly fishing and I am having a lot of trouble casting any more than 25 yards max with wire leader and a dry 9" streamer. Is that normal or should I be able to cast further than that? Also, is it possible that the fly being wet would make it less wind resistant, making it easier to cast?
 
I'm no expert but when I'm casting big streamers my loops are anything but tight and sexy. I've never fished a 9" streamer but I would think if your casting within a couple meters of your backing that's a great cast with a 9" streamer.
 
25 yards should be a far enough cast.
 
WBT: No offense, but did you mean "yards" or feet"?
 
Yards yes. I just feel like I should be casting further to avoid spooking the fish. I suppose lawn casting might make it look a bit shorter than it really is. Then side question, if my hand and wrist hurt after about a half hour, would gripping the rod too hard be what causes that?
 
Agree that a 25 yard cast is quite good.

As one who does a fair amount of musky fishing, I have found that the large flies are much easier to cast if you double haul and use a shooting head. Even still, such a big fly can get pushed around by the wind and often seems to be all over the place in flight. It's an unusual feel if you're used to trout or small bass flies...and takes some gettting used to.
Dropping down to flies in the 6-8" range might make the transition a bit easier too.
 
Hand/wrist pain: I've been there.

The jump in rod/line weight without changing technique can cause mild overuse symptoms. One way to acclimate is to treat it like one would approach weight training. In other word, start out with short casting sessions with brief warm-ups and incrementally increase the number and length of casts. Warning: this may be boring.

Another approach is to rethink your casting technique as Dave_W suggested. Yes, definitely double-haul if you are not doing so already. Also, focus on "aiming" your back-cast higher and racking your hand in more of a straight line (as opposed to an arc). I learned this tip from a pro at an expo and it instantly added 20% to my distance without any extra effort. Bonus: you keep your wrist static (mostly) so it should reduce tendon and muscle strain.

Otherwise, NSAF & ice every 15-20 minutes. ;)

I hope this helps.
 
Wildbrowntrout wrote:
Yards yes. I just feel like I should be casting further to avoid spooking the fish.
- Hooking a fish 75 feet away is very likely going to end in you not catching it. Especially a musky. I would not worry about getting more distance. Just make sure you're accurate with the distance you now cast.


Then side question, if my hand and wrist hurt after about a half hour, would gripping the rod too hard be what causes that?
- It's what happens when you use a real rod to chase real fish and not one of those sissy little 3wts used for bait. haha
Click to expand...
 
1. Keep your wrist stiff. Joan Wulff used to sell a device that wraps around the wrist and rod butt in order to keep things from moving. A simple analog is to tuck your rod butt into your shirt cuff when you cast. This will protect your wrist and elbow from the higher torque of a power cast with a heavy-weight rod.

2. Either open your stance and let the rod drift to create a longer stroke a la Lefty Kreh or Ed Jaworowski, or watch the old Mel Krieger videos and, as my late friend and mentor Bill Hayes used to say, "answer the phone and hammer the nail". This will help protect your shoulder and elbow.

3. You must learn to double-haul to get the most out of a heavy-weight rod. It doubles the line speed and allows you to just make a nice even stroke with each cast.

4. 25 yards is a pretty nice cast with a 9wt and a huge fly. It's hard to consistently bang shots out with large flies much beyond 80-85 feet. A large fly's wind resistance + gravity = limited distance. One thing about certain large flies is how much water they absorb whilst in the water. Some can cast like a wet sock after a few retrieves. Avoid these flies.

5. You may want to start making your final cast with a slight upward trajectory to try to mitigate some of the effects of gravity, particularly if you feel as if your fly is hitting the water while there is still forward momentum in the line.

Good luck.
 
I'd switch to spin gear and a big Rapala for musky.

Your chances of catching a musky would be much better. And your risk of causing problems to your shoulder, elbow, and wrist would be much lower.

 
Wildbrowntrout wrote:
Yards yes. I just feel like I should be casting further to avoid spooking the fish. I suppose lawn casting might make it look a bit shorter than it really is. Then side question, if my hand and wrist hurt after about a half hour, would gripping the rod too hard be what causes that?
Click to expand...


You will not spook them they actually come and see what the commotion is all about so the louder and more water the fly pushes, it will work. As for your wrist just sounds like a good day Muskie fishing. When I'm done spin or fly you better believe I'm sore. That's a lot of weight I throw around. Their not a fish of 10,000 casts for nothing.
 
salt water rods help in my opinion but I would say 25 yards is more than enough. Ive never caught a musky but Ive put some time in and by the end of the day I'm always more concerned with accuracy than distance. When you shoulder and forearm are killing you its better to let the boat do some of the work and drop that fly right where you want it. Just my opinion. I want to measure out yards and see how far I actually cast musky flies now.
 
Go to an 11 wt rod and get a good line with a heavy shooting head. I have the SA streamer express with a 450 grain shooting head and it can bomb any size fly fairly easily. Shorten your leader too.
 
CLSports wrote:
Go to an 11 wt rod and get a good line with a heavy shooting head. I have the SA streamer express with a 450 grain shooting head and it can bomb any size fly fairly easily. Shorten your leader too.
Click to expand...

+1

If you are looking for a rod for musky fishing, I also use an 11wt rod with a 450gr sinking line.

Casting a muskie fly is like casting a wet dish rag. I have a 9wt and a 10wt that I use for SW and you can manage if I have to, but the 11wt makes it a lot easier to cast muskie flies.
 
Get a heavier rod, some 400-450 grain line. My casting mechanics are probably not the best, but I figured out what I needed to do to get my fly out there. 25 yards is pretty short for a deer rifle, pretty decent for a musky fly cast. Most of my casts are probably not even that far. I don't care, or think that it matters much. A full day of fishing from a boat and you have covered a lot of water, regardless of a 60 or 75 or 100 foot cast. 3/4 of all the takes I have are within 15' of the boat anyway. I also don't false cast much, one forward and one back and then let it rip. If I can I get the wind to my back and let it do some of the work for me.

I disagree on the big rapala statement. The action from a well tied and fished musky fly is extremely hard to reproduce with any gear. I see a lot of gear thrown side by side with flies for these fish. I can't say that the gear guys move more fish than the fly guys. Opposite seems true from my experience.
 
TygartMusky what length flies do you typically use? I've been getting into musky fishing myself. Moved one on the upper potomac this weekend, spooked at the boat.
 
I change it up a lot. I have really been turned on by these dragon tails, wiggle tails, etc. It really helps extend the profile of the fly, gives it some awesome action. The fish seem to be responding to it as well, although this time of year helps that too. A lot of people gripe about using bunny strips, saying they get heavy, etc. I really like them too. It is as much the aerodynamics of a big fly that makes it tough to cast as it is the weight.
 
Thanks for the reply, I was mainly curious if you buy into the bigger flies being best, it sounds like you do. Some well respected musky anglers have been going the opposite direction and saying that 7-8" flies get eaten more often. And the conventional gear guys catch them on bass lures occasionally. I'm not sure how much difference it makes because it probably just comes down to finding a fish that is hungry.
 
One thing about going smaller- it gives you a better chance of catching something. After hours of casting, catching anything is a welcomed surprise. While out yesterday I started with my typical musky fly which is about 10"-11". After seeing a few bigger bass I decided to downsize my fly to about 6" in hopes of getting a good smallie. After a few casts with the smaller fly, I caught a 20" pickerel. Not the toothy I was after but a pleasant surprise.
A guide we met in Wisconsin believes in the smaller fly theory as well. He said something to the effect of " You don't always want to eat a T-Bone steak but you'll always have room for a snickers" . It makes sense but I'll still like to throw the T-Bones, this time of year especially.
 
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