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Question 1 - Bow and Arrow Cast
Question 2 - Stray Hackle Barbs
Question 3 - Single Strand Nylon Floss
Question 4 - Dying Deer Hair
Question 5 - Tying The Mouserat
Question 6 - Obtaining Dave Whitlock Flies
Question 7 - Clear Water Trout Tactics
Question 8 - The Gerbubble Bug
Question 9 - Rod Choice
Question 10 - Young Fly Fishers
Question 11 - Stray Hackle Barbs
Question 12 - Rod & Reel Choice, Family Lessons
Question #1Simon Lusk of New Zealand asks:
Could
you please describe the technically correct method for the bow andarrow
cast? I have had difficulty with this cast for brown trout in a
smallNew Zealand Stream that is surrounded by blackberry and trees.
Specifically,
what kind of grip should be used, on what angle and quartershould the
fly be drawnback, (should the fly be above the reel, below thereel, or
beside it) and how do I prevent the splash that often occurs whenmy fly
hits the water?
Thank you.
Simon
Davy Wotton replies:
Dear Simon:
Your
question is a good one, though in all probability it is not a castoften
used, as other casts would normally allow presentation of a fly atany
angle required. In fact, if you know the techniques, a fly may be
presentedat any position up, down, and across stream. In such cases no
back castis utilized. Flow of the water and direction of rod and line
control, utilizingthe movement of the water will enable the fly to be
positioned. The determiningfactor is that you can do it without spooking
the fish, and having the controlof the fly line to enable you to
tighten onto a strike. Once mastered youreally can present a fly a good
60 feet plus away from you.
There are of course very many
factors also to take into consideration whenfishing in close confinement
of vegetation and over hanging plant growth.Primaries would be your rod
length and your leader/tippet make up, yourposition also in relation to
the target area, the former being particularlyimportant.
In
such situations as you describe it may not be possible to float downa
fly into position, so a very fast tight loop set up is required for
quickaccurate turnover. I fish many such water systems, and you really
can coordinatecorrect rod movement to achieve a high degree of accuracy
in tight situations.You may only get one chance.
What you
describe as a bow and arrow cast is just that. The rod is heldrigid
while the fly is drawn down to flex the rod. When the fly is releasedthe
energy is of course transmitted to propel the fly to the target.
I
first saw this demonstrated some 20 years ago by an American bait
castingchampion demonstrating casting tricks. This guy could really
achieve highlevels of accuracy on targets.
To achieve the same
degree of accuracy using a fly tackle set up is notso easy. The fly does
not carry such a weight factor as a bait would. Ifyou intend to
practice the bow and arrow cast do so with caution, you couldcause the
tip of your rod to snap. I've seen it happen twice, particularlyif you
make the draw down too close to the rod. The tip may be bent downtoo
suddenly at an acute angle.
So far as your direct questions are concerned:
Grip?
For the fly you make damn certain that after you release the fly
thatthere is no chance of the hook point driving into your finger. With
practiceyou will be able to hold the leader or even the fly line to
achieve greaterdistance. Your grip on the rod handle initially must be
firm with the linetrapped between your finger and the cork handle. If
you coordinate the releaseof the fly with rod hand movement you can
alter considerably the directionof delivery, speed of delivery, and
tight or open loop control.
Fly Position above or below the
reel? It really does not matter in my view.You can facilitate this cast
with your rod hand and fly grip close or youcan do so with your arms
well apart from your body. The length of fly linefrom rod tip to the
held position is relative. With practice you can shoota fair amount of
line. You must of course have slack line off the reel priorto the cast,
below the right hand grip of the trapped fly line. Naturallythe degree
of push and pull you apply at the two angles will dictate theinitial
tension you will apply. This is in direct relation to the speedthat the
fly will be released to its target.
This leads to your third
question. Splash Down? You have basically two choices:to direct your fly
at, or above the water. In your case I would suggestyou are directing
your delivery at the water.
You may wish to put this into
practice. Go out with a friend to some opengrass area. Have your friend
walk behind you holding onto the end of theleader/tippet say 10 to 15
yards to start with. You stand still with yourfly rod held pointing
either to the left, right or overhead. Tell your friendto now take a
firm hold on the leader/tippet. You now start to draw thefly line back
until tension starts to flex your rod. At a point which isnot extreme to
the bend in the rod tell your friend to release the leader.Naturally
the spring tension in your rod will propel the fly line forward.Now do
the same again but this time push your rod hand forward. You shouldnow
be able to increase the line speed.
Your bow and arrow cast is
basically just that, except of course you doit by yourself. Your
direction or rod position would be dictated by yourtarget area and
available space to place the fly. If for example your targetarea is
tucked under overhanging vegetation then your trajectory must beangled
low, so you would have your rod held low to the more parallel
position.If your target is between say a small open space with
vegetation to theleft and right, then your rod would be held in a more
direct alignment withthe target area, from a low to a high position.
One final point, do you pull against or with the rod spine? I have doneit both ways.
Davy
Question #2Michael Zuch asks:
I
have been tying for about a year and consider myself an advanced
beginner.My flies are starting to look at least satisfactory to me. One
persistentproblem I have is that, no matter how carefully I finish the
head of a hackledfly, a few fibers invariably are left sticking out over
or under the hookeye. It doesn't take more than one to make threading
the fly onto the tippetdifficult, especially for small flies. Any tips
on how to keep all of thehackle barbs out of the way would be greatly
appreciated.
Davy Wotton replies:
Dear Michael:
Many thanks for your question.
First
a good tip for you on removing excess material from your hook eye.Use a
regular sewing fine point needle, not your dubbing needle. Stick theeye
of the needle in a cork then heat the needle tip with a lighter so
itbecomes red hot. Now place it in the eye of the fly. It will of course
burnout all fibre, leaving a clean eye to thread your tippet.
The
direct answer is this. It does take practice to achieve absolute
neatnessand perfection tying flies. Winding hackles does also require
attentionto detail in initial preparation and tying procedure. Without
actually watchingyou, it would be difficult in one way to help you other
than say this:
When you tie off a dry fly hackle keep the
hackle at a position directlyup or down and maintain the thread tension
for at least 3 turns as you windbehind the hackle stem before you cut
off the excess stem. Before you takethe final turns to complete a neat
head make certain that any odd fibressticking out are removed.
For
a wet fly generally the hackle is inclined rearward during the
windingof the winding process, again thus at the termination of the
hackle wind,the initial securing threads should maintain a tension on
the hackle stemwhile excess is cut away, then by using the left hand
fingers the fibresare held away from the thread so as again a neat head
is forward, withouttrapping fibres out of place.
Davy
