Shooting line is a way to increase the length of your cast to a distance greater than the amount of line you’ve held in the air. After the rod has unloaded on your final forward stroke and the loop of line has be- gun to unroll toward the target, you’ll release the line trapped in your line hand. The force of the unrolling cast will take several additional feet (or a number of yards) of line along with it, extending the length of your delivery. (As a rule of thumb, I’ll shoot line when I have to reach a target that is more than 40 feet away.) To shoot line for the first time, begin with a total of 15 feet of fly line, plus your leader, outside the rod tip. That is, when the line and leader are fully extended in front of you, the yarn fly will be a total of 33 feet away from you (assuming you are using a 9-foot rod and a 9- foot leader). The line should be lying on the water in front of you with all the slack removed. Strip in 3 feet of line for a total of 12 feet outside the rod tip. Pick the fly line off the water and false cast it, moving your rod hand and line hand in unison. Pick the fly line off the water and #false cast it, moving your rod hand and line hand in unison.
False cast several times to gain command of the cast and get a feel for the timing of holding the 12 feet of fly line airborne. Plan on making a delivery. When shooting line on your delivery, your timing changes on your final back cast. Rather than beginning your final back cast just before your line has unrolled completely, as you would for all of your other false casts, let your final back cast straighten completely (as you would for the back cast of a pick-up-and-lay-down cast). You’ll feel this as a tug on the rod tip. The force of the back cast straightening behind you will pull your rod tip into a slight bend. That is, when the fly line straightens behind you, your rod will be preloaded. Make your forward cast. After you’ve stopped the rod on the forward cast and the loop of line has formed, simply release the fly line in your line hand. If you’ve done everything correctly, the force of the unrolling cast will take the additional 3 feet of fly line with it. As with every cast, as the loop of line unrolls toward your target, you’ll follow through with the rod tip to the water. The timing of the forward stroke is critical to your getting the
The force of your back cast straight- ening will pull the rod into a slight bend. That is, your rod will be pre-# loaded for the forward stroke.
After you’ve stopped the rod on the forward cast and the loop of line has formed, release the fly line in your line hand. The force of the unrolling cast will take the additional 3 feet of# fly line with it.
most out of the cast with the least amount of effort. You must begin the forward stroke the instant the back cast has straightened—and not a fraction of a second later. You’ll feel a subtle tug on the rod tip as your back cast straightens, and for an instant you’ll experience the feeling of the airborne fly line stretched taut against the rod tip, flexing it backward slightly. You must begin the forward stroke at this instant. If you wait even a fraction of a second after you feel the tug, the preload will vanish and your line will lose its tautness and begin to fall. You may still be able to shoot line and deliver the fly, but such a cast is not nearly as efficient as it could be. As a beginner, you probably won’t be able to time your casts per- fectly. However, as you become, through practice, more cognizant of the fly line’s weight against the rod tip, and you can utilize this feel- ing to help you execute your stroke, your casts will become increas- ingly efficient. The most common mistake for casters learning to shoot line is to release the line too soon. If you release the line during any part of the casting stroke, you’ll kill the cast. You must complete the forward stroke—the rod must be stopped, and the loop must already be formed—before you release the line. Use the loop of line as your visual cue. Once you’ve stopped the rod on the forward stroke and you see the loop of line ahead of the rod tip, simply open the fingers of your line hand (or stick out the middle finger of your rod hand, for a single-handed shoot) and release the line completely. Another common mistake is to overpower the delivery such that you rip your loop open and kill the cast. Very often I’ll see fly-fishers make three or four perfect false casts, and then they’ll slam the de- livery, rip their loop open, and destroy their cast. If your form and timing are good on your delivery stroke, you’ll easily be able to shoot the additional 3 feet of fly line. You don’t If you release the line during any part #of the casting stroke, you’ll kill the cast.
The Single-Handed Shoot If you have trouble shooting line using both hands, it may help to try it first using only your rod hand. Trap the line under the middle finger of your rod hand with the 3 additional feet of line hanging from the reel, then false cast several times to gain command of the stroke. After you stop the rod on your final forward cast, and you see that the loop has formed and begun to unroll toward the target, stick your middle finger straight out to release the line completely.
To shoot line with your rod hand alone, trap the fly line under the mid- dle finger of your rod hand with 3 ad- ditional feet of line hanging from the reel. False cast several times to gain command of the stroke.
After you stop the rod on your final forward cast, stick your middle finger straight out to release the line com- pletely.
need to add any additional power. At this short distance, your deliv- ery cast should look no different from any of your false casts. Work with a total of 15 feet of fly line until you’re comfortable with it, and then lengthen it to 20 feet. Hold 15 feet of line outside the rod tip as you false cast, and then shoot the additional 5 feet on the delivery. The more of the fly line’s weight you have outside the rod tip, the easier it’s going to be to shoot line, and the more line you’ll be able to shoot. If you can hold 20 feet of fly line in the air as you false cast and shoot an additional 5 feet on the delivery, assuming that you have a 9-foot rod and a 9-foot leader, you can deliver a fly in excess of 40 feet. That’s more than far enough to fly fish for any species of freshwa- ter fish on just about any body of water. As your line-hand skills develop, you’ll be able to shoot a bit of line after each forward false cast, to lengthen the amount of line you have outside the rod tip. To do this, you’ll release the line briefly after the rod unloads, allowing a few inches of line to shoot through your fingers, and then pinch it off again before you begin your next stroke. With practice, you’ll be able to shoot line on both your forward cast and back cast to make a long delivery with minimal false casting. You can also use your line hand to control line on the shoot to make a long accurate cast. Make the cast, allowing the line to shoot through a C formed by your index finger, middle finger, and thumb. As the fly nears your target, trap the line. When shooting line through your fingers, make sure you do it in such a way that you create the least possible resistance. That is, dur- ing the actual shoot, no part of your hand should be in contact with the fly line. Many fly-fishers try to shoot line without actually let- ting go of it. Even a powerful fly cast is a very delicate creature. The slightest friction against the fly line will hinder the shoot. Controlling the shoot with your fingers is useful when you need to make longer accurate casts, but whenever your goal is maximum distance, release the line completely.
To control line on the shoot to make a long accurate cast, form a C using your index finger, middle finger, and thumb. Allow the line to shoot through the C. As the fly nears your target, trap the line. Weight-Forward Fly Lines
Running Line. Also called shooting
Weight-forward fly lines are designedRear Taper. Most often 6 to 8 feetsively by Royal Wulff Products, con- such that all the weight of the line isin length, but sometimes as short assists of only three parts: a single con- concentrated in the first 30 to 40-plus3 feet, the rear taper (also called thetinuous front taper for the first 40 feet of the line, depending upon theback taper) forms the transitionfeet of line, followed by a short rear manufacturer and the style. Nearly allbetween the belly section and thetaper, which is backed by a smaller- weight-forward lines are composed ofrunning line.diameter running line. The front and the following five parts:rear tapers serve as the line’s head Tip. Also called the point, the tip isline, running line is the small-diame- the short section of small-diameterter level line that follows the rear level fly line (usually 6 to 12 inchestaper (most often, the running line long) to which you attach your leaderand the tip are the same diameter). connection or butt-section.This lightweight length of line, which
you attach to your fly-line backing, allows you to make long casts easily.
cast that is longer than the amount of line you are holding in the air.
late Lee Wulff and distributed exclu-
Front Taper. Usually 6 to 12 feet infront taper is only 30 feet long.) The length, this tapered section of linedynamics of a continuous taper—a joins the belly section and tip. As aTaken together, the tip, front taper, rule, longer front tapers (8 feet andbelly, and rear taper comprise the head longer) are recommended when moresection of a weight-forward fly line. delicate presentations are desired, asThe head of the fly line contains all the when fishing dry flies for trout oreffective weight of any weight-forward stalking spooky quarry on the flats.line and allows for the possibility of a Belly. Also called the body, the bellyfore making your delivery. Once you is the thick, level section of fly line (20get the entire head of the fly line out- to as much as 37 feet long, dependingThe major exception to the weight- on the design) in which most of the flyforward design is the triangle taper. line’s weight is concentrated.This patented design, developed by the running line rear taperbellyfront taper tip
Weight-Forward Taper Line
Triangle Taper Line
50 feet 40 feet 30 feet
and make a single inch-long bar around the entire circumference of the line. At 40 feet make two inch-long bars, and at 50 feet mark the line with three bars. Let the ink dry thoroughly before putting the line on a spool.
To mark a fly line for weight, use a dash to signify the number 5, and a dot to signify the number 1.
Many “waterproof” inks don’t live up to their name and will bleed and smudge when wet, making a mess of your line. The best pen I’ve found for marking fly lines is Sanford’s Rub-a- Dub laundry marker (available in the stationery section of most stores). Cut the point of the pen off flat with a razor; this gives you a much larger mark-
Marking LinesTo mark a fly line for length accordinging surface and makes the pen easier for Length and Weightto the method described above, use ato work with. Savvy anglers use waterproof ink to100-foot tape measure to measure 30 mark their fly lines for both lengthfeet back from the tip of the line (not and weight.counting the butt-section or leader) Marking your fly lines for length offersuseful to you. However you decide to several advantages. First, lengthmark your line for length, keep it markings will help you to make longfairly simple. Also, you’ll be best casts consistently. For example, I markserved if one of your marks more or all of my fly lines—fresh- as well asless signifies the end of the head sec- saltwater—with marks at 30, 40,tion. and 50 feet. If the head of my fly line is 37 feet long, I know automatically that when I get my 40-foot mark just at the rod tip I’m in good position to4 wt. make a long cast. If the head of my line is 43 feet long, however, I know I need to get the 40-foot mark a few6 wt. feet outside the rod tip before making my long cast. Length marks give you an accurate1 measure of how far you’re actuallyon the line designates the number 5, casting. For example, if you make afor exampleand a dot represents the number 1. So cast that puts your 40-foot mark 2= 4 wt. feet outside the rod tip, you know that= 6 wt.signify a 4-weight line; one dash and you’ve delivered the fly 60 feet (as-= 12 wt.one dot would signify a 6-weight, etc. suming you’re using a 9-foot rod andWhen marking lines for weight, it’s a 9-foot leader).helpful to code them on both the for- Length markings on your fly line canward taper (about a foot or so above also help you relocate a missed fish.the tip) and also at the rear end of the Imagine you were to turn a fish in openline, just above the running line-back- water with no rocks, pilings, or othering connection. This will prevent your reference points to give you an idea ofhaving to remove a fly line from its where the fish was when it made a passstorage spool to see what weight it is. at the fly. Suppose that, immediatelyAs a matter of form, I always mark after the fish showed, you were to takethe line so that the longer dash faces note of where one of your length marksthe tip of the fly line; this lets me in- was in relation to the rod tip or one ofstantly distinguish the front from the the guides. This information would al-rear of the line. low you to work the fly through that same piece of water again.