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"Practice fly" ?

GaryO
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"Practice fly" ?

#1

Post by GaryO »

I am new to all this and just took my first Orvis 101 class on Saturday. The rods they provided us did not have flies tied to the leaders. Question: Do I need a "practice fly" tied on when I practice casting? Thanks...
Gary O

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Paul Arden
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"Practice fly" ?

#2

Post by Paul Arden »

Hi Gary,

If I'm practising I usually use wool on the end. If I'm practising targets over water a comp fly with the bend removed. If I'm practising over long grass I'll cast without the fluff, sometimes, but I think it's best to practise with fluff.

Cheers, Paul
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Galah
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"Practice fly" ?

#3

Post by Galah »

Hi Gary,

I am far off a casting expert and perhaps unqualified to dish out advice. That's the disclaimer.

IMO it depends what you're practicing for. I don't know what they do in competition, but I practice to improve my fishing casting and so I always have a fly tied on. The line casts quite differently with a big saltwater or pike fly tied on than with nothing at all. Even a fat moth or terrestrial pattern causes a big difference to me or on a light rod.

So I have tied some super bright fluro flies, just for visibility, and cut the end off the hook at the bend. On the sharp cut end, I apply a small blob of UV goo so there's a round ball instead of sharp bit of cut metal. I have these in various sizes for different weight rods and some with weighted eyes too.

For me there's a massive difference casting a big weighted fly to casting a leader. I want to learn to make fishing casts personally, so that's my personal approach.

I think it only makes logical sense to practice with flies that are close to what you fish with. Perhaps overkill if you're only fishing tiny dry flies. I dunno.

I also examine how the different leaders (I tie my own) land and react with different shape and weight flies.

No expert at all. Just sharing my thinking.
John Waters
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"Practice fly" ?

#4

Post by John Waters »

I've yet to meet an "expert", met a few blokes who convey the impression they are but when the crunch comes, they fall short, however, your advice about flies and leaders is an expert comment. Thanks for posting.

John
t.z.
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"Practice fly" ?

#5

Post by t.z. »

Hi,

I´d would assume that one should always have something at the end of the flyline.

a) for air resistance
b) security - no fun trying to find the rod on the bottom of a lake or on higher grass in the evening
c) to catch bats when casting in the evening / night (been there - done that)

/t.z.
Gmstuart1
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"Practice fly" ?

#6

Post by Gmstuart1 »

No posts here in a while, but I'll add something anyway. I'm bored at work :D

I just tie egg yarn on with an improved clinch and trim it pretty small. Even more important are good practice leaders. I use Sunset Amnesia with a nail knot to the fly line and blood knots for each section. 4' of 30 pound, 1' of 25 pound, 1' of 20 pound, and 2' of 15 pound (This is MCI Tom Rueping's formula from what I've been told). Some people extend the butt section a foot or so and same with the 15 pound tip section....I know Peter Morse prefers to use 10 pound at the end, but just try several out and figure out what is yours!
jarmo
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"Practice fly" ?

#7

Post by jarmo »

Gmstuart1 wrote:I just tie egg yarn on with an improved clinch and trim it pretty small.
Same here, very fast, very neat.
Even more important are good practice leaders. I use Sunset Amnesia with a nail knot to the fly line and blood knots for each section. 4' of 30 pound, 1' of 25 pound, 1' of 20 pound, and 2' of 15 pound (This is MCI Tom Rueping's formula from what I've been told).
Same approach here, hand tied with blood knots in between. I tie my fishing leaders tapering classically with 0.002" decrease in diameter from one section to another. For casting work I do it with fewer sections, with larger differences in diameter. Here Gary Borger's idea can be of help. For example, my current casting leader for a 6wt is a 7.5' Night Stalker with formula
  • 30" of 0.0190 (07X)
  • 30" of 0.0150 (03X)
  • 30" of 0.0110 (0X).
In between the sections I use 4/5 blood knots. Can't say that this leader would be "optimal" for casting, but in the current situation (casting on ice, in wind) it seem to perform ok. I will give your formula above a try once conditions allow for comparisons.

Quite a few leader formulas can be found in LeaderCalc.
I'm bored at work .
Now that you reminded me: time to get up from the computer and go casting!
Boisker
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"Practice fly" ?

#8

Post by Boisker »

I generally use either a bit of bright orange line backing, I normally tie a small perfection loop in it and leave a small tag on the end or more commonly a size 14 hook with the hook/bend cut off, again with something bright whipped on it. I generally have to practice on grass, using a made up leader along the lines of 3’ 20lb, 2’ 15lb, 2’ 10lb and 2-3’8lb, I tend to use a figure of 8 knot when making a practice cast leader up, purely as it’s so quick.
Gmstuart1
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"Practice fly" ?

#9

Post by Gmstuart1 »

jarmo wrote:
Gmstuart1 wrote:I just tie egg yarn on with an improved clinch and trim it pretty small.
Same here, very fast, very neat.
Even more important are good practice leaders. I use Sunset Amnesia with a nail knot to the fly line and blood knots for each section. 4' of 30 pound, 1' of 25 pound, 1' of 20 pound, and 2' of 15 pound (This is MCI Tom Rueping's formula from what I've been told).
Same approach here, hand tied with blood knots in between. I tie my fishing leaders tapering classically with 0.002" decrease in diameter from one section to another. For casting work I do it with fewer sections, with larger differences in diameter. Here Gary Borger's idea can be of help. For example, my current casting leader for a 6wt is a 7.5' Night Stalker with formula
  • 30" of 0.0190 (07X)
  • 30" of 0.0150 (03X)
  • 30" of 0.0110 (0X).
In between the sections I use 4/5 blood knots. Can't say that this leader would be "optimal" for casting, but in the current situation (casting on ice, in wind) it seem to perform ok. I will give your formula above a try once conditions allow for comparisons.

Quite a few leader formulas can be found in LeaderCalc.
I'm bored at work .
Now that you reminded me: time to get up from the computer and go casting!

For accuracy and testing use I wouldn't ever have 7X on there. The one I mentioned works well or you can go down to 10 pound at the end. A whispy thin leader isn't great for this kind of stuff....
askel
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Re: "Practice fly" ?

#10

Post by askel »

I understand that's an ancient topic, but I got myself in a situation recently.

How do you guys match fluff size and shape to a line class and leader? Is there any "common sense" about that?
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