Oregon Fly Fishing with Stan

Everyone at one time or another needs or wants to cast just a little bit further. If you are already casting with a tight loop, here’s a tip you may want to try, I call this casting on the spline. The fly rod guides on all good quality fly rods are wrapped on the rod blank spline. This just happens to be the stiffest and strongest part of the rod blank; the reel-seat is lined up and set in line with the guides. So by watching the fly reel when someone is casting you can tell if they are casting on the spline because the reel is on the spline. For example if the reel is pointing away from the caster on the back cast and the forward cast then he is not casting on the spline. The reel and the fly line loop need to be in the same plane to get all the power and line speed out of the rod. It’s normal for a caster who is tired or has the bad habit of letting his hand and wrist turn or roll off to the side, thus allowing the rod and reel to turn out and away from the casters body. In other words, the fly reel needs to be pointing forward from the casters body on the forward cast and pointing forward on the back cast and in the same plane as the fly-line loop because only then are you casting with the stiffest part of the fly rod and you will get more line speed and a tighter fly line loop. This easier to do than it sounds, just try making the forward cast with the fly rod almost vertical over your head and also keep the fly rod more vertical on the back cast while not allowing the reel to point away from the your body. This technique will also help when using the double haul, chest deep in water or fishing from a float tube.