David Siskind | Sunday, 4 May 2025
OK - So I’m still confused. I’ve lost some confidence in my diagnosis last week of my lazy tail. I need to film it - and watch the work of my betters. I know how to fix it, but just don’t know what it is. I’ve fallen into a rat-hole. I’m out on a limb, circling the drain. I’m all over the road. I re-watched all 44 minutes of Graeme Hird’s “The importance of Tension...”- twice. What jumps out at me is his demonstration and discussion of the speed and spacing of waves moving toward the end of the line toward the fly. Hird says and shows that waves caused by rebound or intentional wiggles in any plane maintain their spacing throughout the cast. They all move at the same speed as the loop “nose” traveling through the line until, with skill or luck, the fly rolls out to its intended target. The waves formed after the loop is formed remain in the rod-leg when the line hits the water. The waves that form before the loop is formed, such as that formed by too-early power application and a concave tip-path, affect the fly’s flight, forming tailing loops or other intended or unintended fly paths because they are queued up ahead of the “nose” and play out out before the final turn-over of the cast.
Graeme's "The importance of Tension"
A corollary here is that, presenting a fly in full control, accurately, is anchored by the backcast and transition to the cast to target. All transition bumps, humps, and tracking mis-alignments made before loop formation, move the fly as the loop rolls out at the end of the cast.
In any case, the leader design, the weight and air resistance of the fly all have a big impact on all of this and training up capability for all types of fishing takes a lot of work - needs to cover a lot of ground. I’ve been taught and I’m hoping that training a variety of skills enhances proprioception and adaptability across the board.
So taking this all to the beach this morning was humbling. The fast sinking 235 grain line I was using is skinny and snakey as hell. The flies I was casting varied in size, weight and air-resistance. Changing flies meant finding a new casting stroke. In addition a fisherman about 1/4 mile down the beach, semi-shrouded in fog, was fishing what appeared to be a 10' foot spinning rod and, while it was hard to tell, appeared to be catching and releasing what I assumed to be small surf perch. I wasn’t getting bit. I tried a lot of flies and retrieves and walked a good stretch of the beach and assumed that the fish were just out of reach. Later in the morning, at a higher tide, I got a few eats but no hookups. I need a hook hone and some fresh flies.
David Siskind