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Post Info TOPIC: Leland Casting Method


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Leland Casting Method
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The following briefly describes the 3 principles to efficient fly casting. They may look familiar if you know the 5 principles the FFF uses however we felt only 3 where needed to both teach and implement. Feel free to ask any questions you may have here or in person at the Leland Ranch.

http://www.lelandfly.com/In-Stock/Classes-Articles/Celebrate-the-Cast.html

Contrary to what you might have heard, fly casting is quite easy. The true goal of fly casting is to efficiently control your fly line, and you can do it!

Although there are subtleties to just about any physical activity or sport, including fly casting, there are only three important principles to fly casting efficiently. More on this in a bit.

Let's start with a fun word exercise that will help you better understand the goal of an efficient fly cast. Although the sport of fly fishing is aptly named, as we are using a lure called a fly to catch a fish, the defining attribute of our sport, fly casting, is improperly named and here's why.... We aren't at all casting the fly. In fact, we are casting a weighted fly line that carries the fly to the fish. So maybe a better name for fly casting might be “fly-line casting.” But we still have a problem with the word casting. The term “casting” seems to impart a flinging or flicking motion, the more casting energy (power), rather than efficiency becomes the focus. A better term to properly describe the efficient action of a fly cast is, “fly line pulling.” Pulling fly line with the help of a fly rod being an extension of your arms movement as well as an amplifier is really the secret to a butter-smooth, efficient fly cast. Knowing this, you're now ready for the three principles.

  1. No-Slack (Straighten Line): In order to pull anything like a rope tied to a cart or a fly line for that matter, you must have direct contact with the rope or line. We call this straight line contact. Imagine trying to start a water skier with slack in the tow rope. It won't be pretty when the tow rope goes tight between a charging ski boat and a static skier. Someone might get hurt and nobody is going to be skiing. So, remove all slack in your fly line prior to attempting to cast and maintain connection with the fly line.

  2. Constant Rod Load (Pull): Remember, you're “pulling” your fly line. A pull starts slow, then accelerates. When you pull the line during your casting stroke, good things happen. Your fly rod's tip bends (storing energy) and stays at a constant load throughout the casting stroke as the weighted fly line resists movement. Fly rod tips love a constant load and conversely hate erratic applications of power, which result in erratic waves of fly line...not efficient. Back to principle 1. you'll also create slack with these erratic movements.

  3. Efficient Transfer of Rod Energy (Stop): Now that your fly line is moving and you have stored energy (in the form of your flexed fly rod) it only makes sense that we efficiently move the energy from the rod into the fly line. This is easily done with an assertive STOP of the rod, during the casting stroke. At the stop, the fly rod comes out of flex, and the stored energy is happily and efficiently transferred into the fly line, and off the line goes. A bow hunter doesn't slowly decrease tension and then expect the arrow to fly off the string. They let off the string/arrow and it goes!

The good news is that the principle-based “math” of an efficient fly cast is the same on both the back cast and forward cast. Remember, there is a slight pause after each stop, which allows the fly line loop to “almost” straighten out, then the next casting stroke begins. How soon or late you stop your rod's tip during the cast dictates the size of your loop. With just a bit of practice, you'll be forming efficient loops of fly line in no time at all. All fly casts (overhead, roll, underhand, etc.) rely on the three basic principles explained above. Understand these simple principles and you'll be able to fish in more challenging situations, catch more fish and enjoy every cast.

 



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Leland Fly Fishing Ranch 24120 Arnold Dr. Sonoma, CA 95476

Ty


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I like that a lot.  I'm giving my nephew his first fly rod today for his 17th birthday.  I'll be reading this to him.  Pretty simple to understand.  Thanks for sharing.



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Ty wrote:

I like that a lot.  I'm giving my nephew his first fly rod today for his 17th birthday.  I'll be reading this to him.  Pretty simple to understand.  Thanks for sharing.


The principles and method where designed not only for us to teach a clear and concise method but also for those who have gone through our classes or understand the writing above to pass along to newcomers. We have seen too many dads and grandfathers pass along their bad habits, frustrations, etc to the youngsters. Dad crouched down over their kids' shoulder shouting 10! 2! is not the way to learn. So glad you understand and will pass it along. Print it out for him too. Roll it up and rubber band it to the rod tube.

Start him with a fixed amount of line and don't focus on the line control hand. 20-30' out the tip. Too little and he won't feel the load, too much and you've got trouble. Stress that 90% of the fish you catch on a trout stream will come at 40' and under. If you want any more tips on teaching just give us a call.



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Leland Fly Fishing Ranch 24120 Arnold Dr. Sonoma, CA 95476

Ty


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Right on. Thanks.  I will definitely use that info!



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Great article !!

Thanks



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Thanks for the great tips and simplifying the cast mechanics. I need to go out and practice more and fish less 😉. I know it would ultimately benefit my catching rate.

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Just wanted to update everyone with a few new videos on our casting method.

Click the link which takes you to our blog. Here you'll see a learn to fly cast page.

blog.lelandfly.com/learn-fly-cast/

Videos

Principle 1 - blog.lelandfly.com/learn-fly-cast/leland-method-principle-1-remove-slack/
Principle 2 - blog.lelandfly.com/learn-fly-cast/leland-method-principle-2-pull/
Principle 3 - blog.lelandfly.com/learn-fly-cast/leland-method-principle-3-stop/

I think everyone of all levels of casting can learn a thing or two from these. If you have a solid foundation and understand the 3 principles your casting options become almost limitless, especially when you learn to break some of the rules...

If you have any questions fee free to ask.

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Leland Fly Fishing Ranch 24120 Arnold Dr. Sonoma, CA 95476

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