Casting in wind

[zimno1]

Wyoming outdoors: Tips aid fly casting in wind
Bob Krumm
WYOMING OUTDOORS

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges to a fly fisher is casting on a windy day. Many anglers wail, "I can't cast into the wind" and quit fishing in despair.
If a fly fisher lives close by, quitting is a viable option on a windy day, but if he or she lives a considerable distance away, quitting may not be a reasonable option.
Often, difficult conditions bring out shortcomings in a person's casting ability. I have had anglers tell me, "I can cast a dry fly well, but I have a tough time casting nymphs." I usually find out that the angler can't cast well with a dry fly either, but powering the back cast is not as critical in dry fly fishing as it is in nymph fishing. Hurrying the fore cast might result in an occasional wind knot when a person is fishing dry flies, but if he or she hurries the fore cast while nymph fishing an incredible macram? mess is quickly created.
Windy days are often very productive for fishing because the water is ruffled and many food items are blown onto the water. Since many anglers are scared off by the wind, an accomplished fly caster can have a great day of fishing with little competition.
My friend, Dave Whitlock, explains fly casting by likening the casting strokes to positions on a clock. Normally, the back cast is powered from 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock; stop the rod, let the line get behind and wait for the loop to start to straighten out. Then the fore cast is started, powering from 1 o'clock and stopping at 11 to let the loop start to straighten out before presenting the cast by lowering the rod from 11 to 9 o'clock.
About 60 percent of the power in a casting cycle should be in the back cast under normal circumstances.
When the wind is blowing head on, the angler merely has to invert the clock a bit. Instead of powering the back cast from 11 to 1 o'clock, the clock is tilted forward a bit so that the back cast is from 10 to 12 and the fore cast is from 12 to 10 or more. I still have to wait for the fly line to get behind me. More power should be put into the fore cast. I like to push the rod nearly all the way to 9 o'clock so that I nearly pound the fly line into the water.
If an angler has a tendency to drop his or her back cast, casting into the wind will magnify the problem. The open loop created by a bad back cast will often be blown into an angler's face due to the slow-moving wind-resistant loop.
If the wind is blowing at a person's back, many fly fishers feel that he or she has the best of a bad situation, but the angler can be "bit" by a strong tail wind. Whitlock recommends that an angler invert the casting clock back a bit. The back cast should be from 12 to 2 or 3 o'clock and the fore cast should be from 2 or 3 o'clock to 12. By dropping the back cast a bit, an angler will avoid being hooked in the back, ear or neck. By stopping the fore cast at 12, the angler can let the wind power the cast for a nearly effortless long cast.
The windy cast that I dislike the most is when the wind is blowing on my right side. The wind will drive the fly line into my rod and cause the hook (and sinkers if I am nymph fishing) to hit the rod. Often the nicks that the hooks and shot cause create weak spots in the rod and will probably serve as a spot where the rod will fail (fighting a big fish, for instance).
The easiest way to overcome the wind when the wind is blowing perpendicular to the casting shoulder is to cant the rod toward the opposite shoulder and have at it. I like to cast across my chest but other anglers pronate their wrists and cast without canting the rod to the opposite side.
If the wind is blowing on your shoulder that is not your working shoulder, you have it made. A side arm cast will sail just as well as can be on a windy day.
Well, I might not have solved all the problems of the world today, but if I have helped you become more proficient at fly fishing, I will consider my efforts successful. I hope you learn that windy days are normally great fishing days, so don't let the strong winds chase you from your favorite fishing hole. Adapt and you will enjoy windy fishing conditions.

[onDriver]

Another way to beat the wind is with a two handed rod and a shooting head system. I had a 14' diamondback 9wt. that I rigged up with a 12wt. floating 40 plus foot shooting head, man does that combo rocket out there, on relatively calm days it must go 125', in a head wind at Montauk it was probably doing 80'. My buddies with their single handed rods just sat it out. lol.

The other plus is that its relatively effortless.

[zimno1]

i need to upgrade like that. i got out and nailed 11 or so bluefish last week in the surf but time is my enemy. need to just enjoy any fishing instead of searching for the cow bass

[skegfish]

windage... Hiall new to this board, name is jeff in pa,

A good trick for heavy wind is to drop the rod tip after the stop. get the line in the water and the wind can't hurt you. The line is going in the dirrection that you stopped no mater what you do. You may lose a little distance but you will lose some anyway and your line will be straighter, ready for retreave. Right wind and right caster, just turn 180 and cast your backcast looking that way, keeps it on your good side. Then turn and forward cast with a vertical stroke, it should stay on the left side.
Don't forget the old sidecast, lower is better for wind.
but just my 2c. nice to meet yins.....jeff in pa

[zimno1]

welcome jeff, don't worry about putting your 2 cents in, very glad to have it in this forum and don't be a stranger, zim

[heynine-ah]

Tough to beat the double haul in the wind.

I used to fish a 7wt and 9wt depending on wind and size of the fish I was chasing.

I always had a hard time finding or matching 9 wt lines for the rod.

Changed to a 8wt and 10wt and I fish the 10 wt now 98% of the time.

Haven't been blown off the water yet. 400 grains of sinking line helps too :)

I dabbled with spey casting this summer with the basic over hand cast and the amount of line one can shoot is just amazing.

[zimno1]

sorry if i didn;t remember but where do you fish?

[JoeSixpack]

Hey y'all.

After having a few clousers slam me in the back of my head, I find the turning 180 degrees method works for me. I see someone else mentioned it as well.

Let's be honest. We are not throwing nymphs here. If I were, I may never have turned around!

I used to fish out on the marshes and wind was a real factor. I remember one guy, who used to have his flyrod loaded with 20# test and a shooting head. That was it.

If you remember him, you know where I used to go a lot. Some of those windy days can be the best. If for nothing else they keep less obsessive folks at home.

[zimno1]

the windiest days are imo the best days to be fishing as this sets up prime conditions for predators to move in and hunt. and i think when people see me with a flyfod going down the beach sitting in thier cars waiting to see if the system is gonna pass or get worse they just shake thier head in disbelief.(not withstanding lightning) i get overly excited when a system is moving in and the wind is churning up the surf and with stealth not nearly as much of a concern & with a fish;s visibility hampered i can run the risk of being in a better spot undetected for the most part to get into what i FIGURE to be an ambush spot by flats/jetties or bridge structure

[onDriver]

One thing about two handed spey rods that is critical when matching it up to a shooting head system is finding the correct head to load the rod properly, like I mentioned before I had a 9wt. spey rod that performed best with a floating 12wt. shooting head. The 9wt. shooting head just didn't do it, you really have to experiment to see what works.

[zimno1]

i have the specs somewhere for matching up rods to lines. for instance, my 8w reddington 13ft spey is a 12w rio outbound or i would go with the 11w shortened shooting head if i were to use one with a running line. but i have a 10w 15ft tica that the tip is not so fast that loads a 12w outbound and shoots really nice. as you can tell i am frugal with my rods but my take on it is if you can;t catch a fish with a cheap rod and reel what makes you think you can get one with an 800 dollar Thomas & Thomas (although i would Drool over the prospect of owning one). just not in my ball park at all. i have yet to fish the Hudson with one so if it is in the making i would like to give it a go next month when we come up.

[onDriver]

Originally Posted by zimno1

i have yet to fish the Hudson with one so if it is in the making i would like to give it a go next month when we come up.

I use the spey for Montauk and the South Shore, for the Hudson tribs you can really get by on as little as a 6wt. ;-)

[zimno1]

very missleading that outfit. a schoolie bass (here 28-30in.) on an 8wt doesn;t even feel like such a big fish.

[onDriver]

For schoolies here (5-21") the 6wt is a lot of fun, when you get up to the 28-33 + inch stripers, if you catch one it will be the last fish you'd want catch that day, you will be played out.

I've beefed up to a 7wt. for this season ;-)

[zimno1]

i'm nowhere near as good as you with a stik. but i got all beefed up just in case here as bluefish may suck but they freak me out. the only way i like to catch them. a 15# fish on a 6wt would be really nice i;d think