Rickard Gustafsson | Saturday, 10 May 2025
The past week or so, the weather has been a bit strange—lots of wind and colder than usual, with some nights even dropping below freezing. So, long johns and warm jackets have been back on the menu
When there’s a lot of wind—say, 10 m/s as the base wind with stronger gusts—I usually leave the boat in the harbor. The drift gets too fast, and everything becomes more annoying and more dangerous. So instead, I go rock-hopping. Sometimes, I might be a couple of meters above the water. This, combined with hard wind, makes for very poor contact with the fly. I’ve caught fish like this, but I’ve also seen small fish literally go airborne in these conditions. Long casts can get really messy—if the line doesn’t land directly on the water, it might end up several meters away from where you meant to place it.
But I find that the biggest challenge in hard wind isn’t the casting itself—it’s the line management. I usually fish with a line tray. The line hangs there, and the wind does its best to spin interesting knots out of the loose coils. Or it finds a loop and neatly tucks it under your shoe. Loose line, shoes, and barnacles can make for a bad experience. (Though barnacles can be your friend sometimes—they give great grip, something that’s often in short supply.) The moment you relax, you’re almost guaranteed to find some algae with a negative friction coefficient right under your feet.
So I try to reduce my casting distance—using just the head of the line and maybe a bit of overhang. This also gives better control in the wind since I can keep tension on the line by not shooting it. That should easily give you a reach of about 15 meters (50 feet), which is plenty to catch fish. Try telling that to the spin fishers chasing seatrout by casting as far as possible toward the horizon.
And now… the secret 170 drill.
This is a pantomime drill—no fly, no line. Just the rod butt, or maybe two sections of the rod if you’ve got a high enough ceiling. Be careful not to turn your living room ceiling into a sketchbook with your expensive pencil.
The idea is to pick a front and back target, and perform your 170° casting stroke as naturally as possible. Use the same flow and speed you would during a real cast. Then observe:
• Where does the tip of the rod point at the end of the stroke?
• How does the rod move during the stroke—especially at the end?
• Do you end up pointing straight at your target—or a bit below?
• Do you pass directly through your target—or does the rod path curve?
These details matter—and noticing them without the distraction of the line can be surprisingly useful.
Cheers,
Rickard