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Sinking a dry fly


deeky

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No, that's not what I want to do, but it's what I am doing. I have been having trouble with the fly smacking the water so hard that it waterlogs it and it sinks immediately.

Any suggestions?

I did notice I had more trouble the less line I had out. I was fishing a pocket around a dock from the dock, so I was fishing from the far side of the dock and sometimes only 15 feet off the dock.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Deeky

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A couple of ideas;

1)Apply a little floatant to the fly before use.

2)A couple of false casts will dry the fly out if it gets wet.

3)Use the patch gizmo that dries flies.

4)Change your technique so you're not slapping them on the water.

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Steve's suggestions are all excellent. Regarding technique, it sounds from your description that you may be applying more power to your cast than necessary when fishing close. You might try "gentling up" your forward cast a bit. It may also be that the tippet section of your leader may be too short. If the leader turns over too fast, the fly will smack the water. A longer tippet will slow down the delivery.

Good luck.

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Along with the orther good suggestions.

Where are you aiming your cast?

Is your fly turning over on the water?

You want to aim above your target. That will let it turn over and then just drop to the water.

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I'll second Ice_shack's suggestion. Cast above your target. Once you learn to "drop" your fly on top of your target, you will also spook fewer fish.

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Sounds like it could be line speed. If you are casting shorter, you may have to slow down your cast so you dont turn the leader and fly over too far, so to speak. Aiming higher may not necessarily work since the fly can still splat on the water or drift away if it's windy. Try using less force or SLOWING down your cast.

You can still cast a fair amount of line even with a slower casting motion. with less line out, less energy of your cast will be absorbed by friction and the taper in your line.

What type of leader are you using? How big is the fly? If you dont have the right leader you can have problems turning over a heavy (relative) fly with a light tippet.

If you are going to be casting in this situation a lot you might want to try a double taper line which can help turn over short and mid distance casts easier with a slower action fly rod and/or slower line speeds.

Just my 2cents.

BD

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I'm using a 4 wt. with a 9' 5x leader. 5x may be a little heavy for the sunnies, but I also run into the occasional bass and northern, so I am happy with the 4 lb. test. Thinking back, when I tried to aim higher, it didn't turn over all the way and the leader ended up piling. When I aimed higher, I don't think I was stopping the rod and the end of the stroke, but following through like a spinning rod. I think I just need to work on aiming higher, but getting it out there with less force. I don't usually fish that short and generally fish more wet flies. But practicing sounds like a good reason to get back to the lake.

Thanks for the help.

Deeky

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you'll get the leader pile up if you aim higher or too high. Try less effort in your cast and you'll do great.

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Quote:

Thinking back, when I tried to aim higher, it didn't turn over all the way and the leader ended up piling.


When I have the leader (or line) piling up it's almost always the result of a poor back cast (sometimes wind). Either not abruptly stoping the backward motion, breaking my wrist, or not allowing enough time for the cast to unfurl backwards.

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SteveWilson's onto something here: The foundation of any good forward cast is a good backcast. A string-straight backcast with a nicely formed loop will aid immensely in putting the fly where you want it in the fashion that you want it to land. A malformed backcast forces you to either rush or overpower the forward cast. The adage "speed up to a stop" is good advice. Remember, the line mirrors what the rod tip does, so be certain that you don't dip the rod at the end of the backcast, or introduce shock waves to it. The tip should be at its highest point then. Fly lines go a long way with amazing ease if that long, long rod is made to do the work. Nothing imroves your casting like actually casting. Practice making one cast at a time and always cast to a specific target. At the end of every cast, think through how it looked and felt. Don't hesitate to experiment with applying more or less power or speed to the stroke. That way you'll find out how much or little effort is required to cast a particular length of line.

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