Overhead casting help needed

[Andrew Wiggins]

Anyone down to help teach a relative newbie basic single-hand overhand casting (am willing to bribe)?. A little background: I've been fly-fishing for about 2 years and have self-selected forms of fishing which don't really require much casting. i.e. small brushy streams  such Beaver Creek MD/SNP/Gunpowder where I can use short roll type casts for almost everything. I'm looking to branch out a little and have started practicing overhead casting with and w/o double-hauling after work (on grass). This has been fairly comical especially as I try to carry more line and  vary my orientation with respect to the the wind. A persistent problem is that my backcast doesn't stay high enough. I've been working through some of the tutorials on sexyloops and Joan Wulff's book, but thought there might be some good resources here. Thanks for your help. 

[TurbineBlade]

Where are you located?

There are several, very skilled casters in the group -- I'm not one of them, but I've worked with them (and on my own of course, relentlessly) and viewed probably every casting tutorial that exists (Borger, Wulff, Kreh, that Orvis guy who sounds Australian and wears the blue shirt, etc.). 

What do your loops look like?  That always seems the most central component to me -- everything should build (hauling, shooting line, etc.) on good, narrow loops and should not "stand in" in place of them.  It's easier for me to carry a lot of line in the cast if I have really good loops on the backcast, moving "upward" and behind me with good line speed.  

Someone watching you would probably help.  And yes, trout fishing can be more about managing a drift with very short amounts of line out than actually launching a cast out there.  I consider saltwater fly fisherman among the most technically sound casters in the world because (to me) there isn't anything more demanding than quickly making a 40-60' cast to a moving target, with nearly guaranteed wind and a long leader and typically heavy fly.  Most of the trout fishing I've done in NO WAY prepares the angler for this.  

Hence:

Gene

[Terry C]

Andrew,  You Tube is the greatest thing as far as casting demo's.  I have spent countless hours working on my 2 handed casting and going back to videos on Y.T.   Saying that, nothing beats a lesson from a casting instructor, which I am not.   There are several in the club who are.  Worth the money. .  

On Thursday, October 30, 2014 10:47:33 PM UTC-4, Andrew Wiggins wrote:

[Yambag Nelson]

I consider myself a to be a good one-handed caster, but have taken up the 2 hander the last few years for steelhead fishing.  Youtube is ok, but as a left handed caster it can be difficult translating what they are doing to what I should be doing.  i made much more progress when I went out with one of the guys from a shop back in Buffalo for a couple hours.  Even though he didn't cast left handed, he was able to show me what I should be doing/was doing wrong. 

 

I guess what I am saying is getting one on one help is the way to go.  A good caster/teacher will speed up your learning curve way more than videos will.  Even if you have to pay someone a couple hundred bucks, it will be worth it.

 

I remember about ten years ago I considered myself to be a pretty hotshot fly caster after fishing mostly trout/steelhead waters for my whole life.  Went down to the keys to fish for tarpon and learned very quickly how wrong I was.  The skills required are on a whole other level. 

[Andrew Wiggins]

Awesome, thanks for the tips. I'm in Bethesda and may try taking a lesson or two with a local casting instructor. To this point, I'm basically self taught from YouTube etc, which has almost too many casting videos. I was thinking that I should try video taping myself (catching leaves) and attempt to diagnose what's going wrong ( or right) . I often find that a good feel ( loading) doesn't always translate into a good cast. In terms of my loops, they're generally pretty open, particularly with the longer rod (9-9") I've started using. With shorter rods I can develop a decent tight loop, however i find that it's not always repeatable. I likely need to practice more and figuring out what went wrong. The other night I was working on my loop with no haul and a target at 30 or so feet. My first 5-6 or so were tight and right on target, and then they my attention let up or something and the loop opened up and the cast would start to hook. I suspect this is just how it goes (at least for the uncoordinated).

[TurbineBlade]

You're on the opposite compass direction from me -- but I think you're up near Trent.  Though I've never watched him cast, he's a FFF dude and I picture that he's pretty darn good.  

Nothing improves your driving like a ticket!  Having someone watch you is great -- even just video is helpful, because you can swear that you're doing something only to realize that you are not.  Even just talking to Dan one evening he explained that I was likely throwing a curve into my backcast due to combination of side-arm style and looking over my shoulder a lot, and he was spot-on.  My loop is better now that I'm aware of it.  

Gene

[Matt Geiman]

I agree a one on one instructor will help you improve faster. It sounds like your on the right track with seeking other resources, just keep practicing. I encourage you watch your back and forward casts and learn how your movements effect your loops. It's all about learning to send movement from your body down to you fly with the least resistance in between. Lefty Kreh's approach has always made good sense to me.