Troubleshooting.

[joeirv]

New to fly fishing only been trying it for about a month or so. I have a 5 wt and I'm finally starting to get the hang of the rhythym. There's no more snaps and I stopped hitting water behind me. But still for some reason I cannot throw my line more than 20ft or so. I was wondering if it has something to do with my poles wt. possibly or if its just one of those things that will come.

[Brown duck]

First off, you're a fly fisherman now - it's a rod! But all kidding aside, it takes time and practice. You'll need to learn to "haul" and "double haul" to get any real distance (if its even needed - if I'm fishing a trout stream and have to cast much more than 20', something's wrong). Do a YouTube search for "double haul fly casting" or something along those lines and you'll get some tips for casting longer distances.

[Chromedoggy]

I would go to the lawn, strip out 35-40 ft of line with yarn tied on the end of the leader. Start with a pick up cast. Tighten the line, back cast firmly watching your line unroll. complete your forward cast leaving the line in front of you on the grass again.
This will get you to a point of the proper feel of your rod loading. If your rod is loading properly, it is difficult to make a cast of only 20ft.
You did not mention if your line is properly weighted to the rod, this could cause problems as well.
Once you can pick up cast routinely, work in to hauls.
Rod loading issues sound like you hang up.

[MstrAngle]

lol, yea its a art, its just one of those things that takes practice.

[Kelly Johnson]

Proper line on the rod makes a huge difference.

I tried improperly 3-4 times in 10 years or so and always got frustrated after a week or so.

Turns out I had 3wt line on an 8 wt rod.

That don't really work too well.

I even bought a combo 4wt that came with line...for whatever reason the line from the factory didn't really work. I added 5wt line and I can shoot nearly all the line off the reel now.

Practice in the yard is good advice

[cruncher]

First, as Kelly stated, the rod and line need to be matched up correctly. You can sometimes overline a rod by 1 or 2 weights of line when you start using 7 weight rods and higher but with 6 and lower weight rods, I stick with the exact line to rod weights.

Also, you need to make sure your leader is sized right out of the packaging or if you build your own leaders, it has the progressive step down in line sizes for the length you are using, i.e. 7-9-12 foot leaders. A bad leader setup will collapse your casts just as well

If that's finished, then it's practice-practice-practice. You'll find the rhythm soon enough and will be booming casts in no time.

[Jackster1]

Seriously, think about getting a good, basic overhead cast down before jumping to the double haul.
Consider an instructor. They will give instant feedback to what you're doing wrong and get you to correcting your cast on the spot.
Here's a link for certified instructors... hopefully there is one near you:
http://www.fedflyfishers.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4465

If you can't find and instructor, You Tube has a ton of instructional videos.

Good luck with this!

[brookie~freak]

your avatar is disturbing

[DHise]

Its all in the timing and muscle memory. If your timing is off and your not getting a positive stop on both the back and forward cast, your not loading the rod properly. Add some power and be sure your rod tip is traveling in a straight line not in an arc. If your rod is traveling in the form of an arc, your breaking your wrist and therefore not loading the rod properly.

3 things to remember- hand below the shoulder during the stroke, hand at the same height/level from front to back, and punch your thumb forward at the end of the forward stroke (this will help to eliminate tailing loops).

The motion is very similar to that of throwing a dart; your throwing the dart at the board not in the air or to the ground.

Hope this helps

[Shoeman]

Originally Posted by Jackster1

Seriously, think about getting a good, basic overhead cast down before jumping to the double haul.
Consider an instructor. They will give instant feedback to what you're doing wrong and get you to correcting your cast on the spot.
Here's a link for certified instructors... hopefully there is one near you:
http://www.fedflyfishers.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4465

If you can't find and instructor, You Tube has a ton of instructional videos.

Good luck with this!

So true!

Also keep in mind that your final stroke should be in sinc with all the false casts. That being said, once you master basics, you might be able cheat some. I had a problem just like yours and ended up with pile casts while throwing nice loops prior.

Don't give up.... This fly thing isn't learned overnight. I've found that trying to overpower the rod ends up with a "diminished" capacity, regardless of single or double haul, which you might be able deal with after learning load and acceleration of the line.