This new book on flycasting skills has been published by Merlin Unwin http://www.merlinunwin.co.uk ISBN 978-1-906122-49-2 and will be available from all good booksellers from 1st March 2013 – price £9.99.
There are also many helpful sections on such topics as fly rod characteristics, fly-lines, casting in tricky situations and modern techniques.
All of the popular (and some less orthodox) casts are included in the book with descriptions for both the single and two handed fly rods; left and right-hand bank; in all cases. The casts include…..
Overhead
Static Roll
Jump Roll
Single Spey
Double Spey
Snap T
Snake Roll
Below is an example of one of the many diagrams inside the book.
When fishing from the left hand bank, the right hand is used in the conventional manner for a right-handed caster but fishing from the right hand bank then it is necessary to cast across the body. Face in the direction of the forward cast (for stability and comfort the one foot may be pointing slightly downstream whilst the other points across stream). The upper body should then be turned to face downstream and the casting arm should be hanging down in a relaxed manner.
The rod tip should be close to the surface of the water so that there is no slack in the fly-line [1].The first move involves lifting from the elbow and slowly sweeping the fly rod in towards the bank using your wrist [2]. The length of this initial back sweep is determined by the change of the direction angle. It will also help to lift the fly-line off the water. The in-swing also increases sweep length when the fly-line is aerialised and helps to achieve good anchor placement. After this preparatory sweep, the rod is moved in the opposite direction so that it sweeps out into midstream. The force used will load the fly rod and then carry the fly-line as the line tip is released from the water. Rotating the body round to the forward casting position [3], continue to sweep the rod tip out and round until it is over the anchor point and then accelerate and circle up [4], by lifting the elbow, to form a D-loop. The tempo of the cast should then be slowed to allow the D-loop to form fully [5].
After the D-loop has been set up, with the anchor, lined up in the opposite direction to that of the forward cast and the hands in the key position, the rod-tip is accelerated forward, slowly at first, along a straight-line path, pulling the fly-line behind it. Towards the end of the forward stroke the rod-tip speed is increased very quickly and then brought to an abrupt stop, as close to the straight line path as possible, which causes the fly-line to turn over with a narrow front loop.
The success of this cast depends upon the initial sweep into the bank, followed by the wide sweep around across the river (no short cuts), the rapid acceleration of the fly rod backwards as the D-loop is formed, which also pulls the anchor back, and these are all achieved by manipulating the wrist.
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