geartalk

The Cast: It Starts With the Grip

In golf, nine out of ten swing flaws can be traced to your hands and how you hold the club. The same is true of the fly cast. It starts in your grip. You want to be firm, without over-clutching the handle. The line goes where the rod tip directs it to go, and your grip dictates the direction of the rod tip. Because of this, line your hand up so that it can control how the rod flexes. Hold your thumb on the top of the grip, then snap those casts. If you visualize looking “through” your casting thumbnail, odds are that the line will unfurl right through that window.

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Stack Mending for Longer Drifts

As long as your flies are floating naturally, and the drift is good, there’s no rule against making multiple mends to cover lots of water. In fact, in big rivers, like the Colorado at Lees Ferry in Arizona, and up on Oregon’s Deschutes, stack mending for long drifts is a smart way to fish.

Make your cast, let your flies settle, then make your mend. As the flies float downstream, make another mend, feeding more line as you go. Then another. And another. Mete out line gently by wiggling the rod tip to feed line through the guides; at the same time, don’t get caught with so much slack that you cannot set the hook when your indicator stalls 50 or 60 feet away from you. It can be tricky. The key is making many small, gentle mends as you feed your line through the run.

Wax Your Ferrules to Avoid Broken Fly Rods

How many of you take the time to wax your rod ferrules a couple times a year? I know I usually don’t, and I’ve paid the price of broken rods too many times to count.

Finally after doing that very thing on a tarpon trip a couple weeks ago, I came home and took out every rod I owned and did them all at once. Breaking a rod anytime is a real drag, but when you’re on an expensive trip where you’ve traveled somewhere far away it stings even more.

Here’s the problem: The male and female section ends of rod ferrules can become loose after repeated casting. The ferrule is the part of the rod that joins the sections of the rod together. The hollow (female) portion at the end of a rod section receives the male end of the next section. After a time the male end can slip to the very edge of the female end and when enough pressure is applied (like a hard cast), it can actually crack or “blow out” the blank wall, resulting in a broken rod.

Here’s the solution: Many manufactures actually give you a little package of paraffin wax to help keep your rod pieces together when you buy a rod. Take this wax before the first time you use your rod and apply it to all of the male sides of the ferrules. If the manufacturer doesn’t provide you with any, simply get a candle or chunk of beeswax and gently brush it forward towards the top of the male ferrule, coating the entire piece. If your rod is old and has been used a lot, remember to clean out the female side with a Q-tip or something similar before applying wax.

Now your rod pieces should hold together much longer and tighter, minimizing the chance of a silly rod break.

Study the Water

H is for Hawk—put the fly rod away and study the water. That’s where the mystery is happening. Raptors and fishing guides spend a lot of time hunting with their eyes, because their success depends on it. Every future expert starts at the same place: knowing nothing. The most powerful assets you can bring to the water are an open mind and willingness to learn. Get a great pair of polarized glasses, stop thinking about fish counting and try to identify the natural patterns in front of you.