Hi

I seem to have developed more distance recently but quite often on my final false casts the fly is catching on the fly line and getting hooked up. I would expect this if the wind was blowing from the right, I'm right handed, but it happens too often when there is no breeze.

I have a reasonably relaxed style of casting so i dont think its because of too much "welly"

Any clues as to what im doing wrong ?

You're coming to 'up-right' on your forward cast. Remember the line/fly follows the rod tip. Come through too vertical and there you are ... Where you really see this is with a '2-hander,' our version of the 'tailing loop.'

First of Tommy if you have access to a qualified instructor pop along and speak to him and he will help sort it for you.This is by no means any detrement to your abilities at casting a fly but to see your cast in action to spot the fault itself and rectify it.I understand when you say about the "welly" and then you say you have a relaxed casting style which.freda is right as when casting the it is the line will always follow the tip of the fly rod and the tip of the fly rod will always follow the path of the thumb.There fore look at the thumb and grip to start .Complicated to explain and far better shown.It is to do with the path of the fly line and tip of the rod and can be sorted by an instructor.If you are being to relaxed on the forward cast you may be opening up a wider loop than normal and the fly is not travelling forward fast enough that it catches the line as it is hanging in the air.You could also be snatching the rod tip backwards or dropping the rod tip below the path of the fly line.There is many reasons for it and it will only be spotted and sorted by someone who knows.As I say it is hard to describe in writing and would only confuse you more so you are best to seek out a qualified professional who will sort you out in no time.well worth it.

Sound advice already. The maximum amount of line that you can easily aerialise varies a little with the type of line that you are using. But around 12 to 15 yards is about what I do. Plus a shoot at the end say 20 yards. If you want to cast further then you need to haul. You can put all the welly in the world into your cast and it won't help one jot, quite the contrary. What is happening is that you are overpowering the rod. At the end of the backcast (haul) you need to let the rod drift a little past the vertical. This unloads the rod to allow you to reload it in a more controlled fashion on the forward cast (haul). I strongly recommend that you seek personal advice from somebody who knows what they are doing. A professional instructor for preference. In the meantime have a look at www.sexyloops.co.uk or is it .com................................................birdsnest

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Thanks for your help chaps

Hi Tommy,

It may not be a question of putting too much power into your casting but of how that power is applied during the forward and back cast. In both cases you should try to accelerate the rod to a sudden stop through the power stroke. See if that makes any difference.

As others have already said, a good casting instructor will soon spot the problem.

Mugsy

good advice seek help from an instructor GAIA or APGAI

Tommy, try casting with something tucked under your arm. Advice I got from the instructor at Hardy Greys. I had the same problem.
Andy

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I would not advocate trying to cast with anything under your arm at all (the old book thing), most instructors would now consider this to be rather outdated as it severly limits you stroke length and is impossible for anyone who casts with an open stance. If you are getting tailing loops on the final cast it is probably as a result of hitting it too hard, bending the rod too much for the length of stroke and forcing the tip to deviate below a straight line path. On the final cast, once your backcast has straightend try to consciously accelerate the rod to a stop instead of whacking it in an attempt to get the distance, you'd probably be very suprised how little force is needed to cast. An intersting exercise is to take about 20' of line past the tip (with wool for a fly) and try to cast the tightest loop that you can with the minimum effort, keep reducing the effort until the cast collapses, and increase to the point that it just works. Pull in a few feet and repeat, you will find that you need a shorter stroke to get the same size of loop, go back to 20', then increase to 23 - 25', you will find that you need a longer stroke for the same effort otherwise the loops will beging to tail. Keep repeating with various lengths of line and watch what happens to the loop size & shape.

Let us know how you get on.

Cheeers

Ben

Very comprehensive advice Ben, i think i might give it a go myself.
Thanks