Casting error

[Minnesota]

What deficiencies in my casting stroke cause the line to collapse in an ugly pile? I am casting a line and leader only, no fly or even a piece of yarn.

[troutnut]

Slow down on your casting stroke. Bamboo will load differently than your graphite rods. Or you might have the wrong line wt. for the rod. Depending upon the rod you have it will be alot slower than graphite rods or even some of the newer fiberglass rods.
Fred

[Brooks]

Hard to know without seeing the cast, but it sounds like you might be opening up your loop (too wide an arc of your rod tip). A good exercise is to stand sideways to your cast so that you can watch it equally on the back cast and the forward cast: Cast (sidearm style) rod parallel to the ground. You’ll be able to watch the loop, back-and-forth, the arc of the rod, and you’ll be better able to make adjustments to tighten up your loop. When you get the loop the way you want it, start raising the rod on your back-and-forth, face forward, until the cast is upright in your normal position. If it falls apart, go back to sideways again. This a good way to work on timing and rod stroke.

If you know how to double haul, another trick that works for some is to haul harder and quicker, but cast (at least in your mind) softer and slower. You’ll be amazed (sometimes) how that tightens up your loop into a tighter V shape.

[Sparquero]

Assuming you are trying to cast a fair bit of line and providing line size is correct, you may be starting your forward cast without allowing the backcast to fully extend, wait for the slight tug at the tip before starting the forward cast.
Happens to me early each season, big hurry to catch a trout. As troutnut wrote above, slow things down a bit.

[Loogie]

What deficiencies in my casting stroke cause the line to collapse in an ugly pile? I am casting a line and leader only, no fly or even a piece of yarn.

What weight and length of rod?
What type of fly line?
Where is the Pile happening, at the end of the casting stroke? Or before that?
What are the wind conditions?
What kind of cast? An overhead? A side cast? Across the body?

We might be able to give you better advice if you fill us in.

[DrLogik]

A line pile, in my experience, is usually caused by a lack of energy transfer during the forward cast. If during the forward cast you do not come to an abrupt and sudden stop to allow the rod to transfer its energy to the line then the line will continue out for an amount but lose energy before the line straightens out all the way, hence it causes the line to pile onto itself.

Over the years I have sought out the best instruction and can create a line pile, "tailing loop" or line snap on demand. The way I create a line pile is to not doing an abrupt stop on my forward cast.

Line piles, tailing loops, line snaps, etc are almost always a problem with casting mechanics. Joan Wulff's casting video "Dynamics of Fly Casting" is one of the best. I recommend it highly.

[jacknoir]

Joan Wulff's casting video "Dynamics of Fly Casting" is one of the best. I recommend it highly.

+1

[One&Duns]

A poorly tapered leader can cause a pile-up too.
too short or thin butt section
not enough mid
excessively long tippet

[Perry Palin]

Well, I am not a good caster, and I have never had a lesson. But I think the advice of other posters is good advice. I fish streams with a variety of bamboo rods, all of which are "slower" than graphites. When I've used a progressive taper for a couple of trips and then turn to a slow rod, I can't cast at all for the first half hour, until I relearn how to use the slow rod.

Follow the advice given above. Let the rod tell you what it wants.

[LeeO]

Film yourself casting. I am betting you have an issue with loop formation

[ted patlen]

many factors ,primarily loss of power. Dr Logics reply is perfect

[munsey w]

Try casting and looking back at your line and leader...if it is straightening out behind you, it should straighten out in front of you. You are probably rushing your forward motion as stated earlier.

[Sz28bwo]

A line pile, in my experience, is usually caused by a lack of energy transfer during the forward cast. If during the forward cast you do not come to an abrupt and sudden stop to allow the rod to transfer its energy to the line then the line will continue out for an amount but lose energy before the line straightens out all the way, hence it causes the line to pile onto itself.

Over the years I have sought out the best instruction and can create a line pile, "tailing loop" or line snap on demand. The way I create a line pile is to not doing an abrupt stop on my forward cast.

Line piles, tailing loops, line snaps, etc are almost always a problem with casting mechanics. Joan Wulff's casting video "Dynamics of Fly Casting" is one of the best. I recommend it highly.

+1
I’d also just tie on a small piece of yarn. That should mimic a fly. That way you can better gauge how your leader is reacting and see how your “fly” is landing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jacknoir]

I found at some point, after working on the mechanics of arm and wrist motion, and watching the line front and back, and learning to control the size of the loop, that I could better feel the energy transfer in the rod. Once you feel that in the rod, you don't have to watch the line as much. That feeling is one of the more "addictive" aspects of fly fishing for me - in a good way. When on the stream I have to throttle back my false casting so as not to spook the fish!

[kilgore]

Another +1 for Drlogik. I used to slow down my forward cast as it came to its end thinking that I was softly laying down my line. I wasn't. Also I was stopping my forward cast too high. Start by shooting for 8/9 o'clock and see how that affects things. Also imagine accelerating the forward cast to the stopping point and stop abruptly. And, finally, imagine that you want to get to the Carnegie Hall of casting prowess---practice, practice, practice. And then realize that when you use rods of different weights and makers that you're going to have learn each's characteristics. Have fun.

[jim royston]

The answer is go take a casting lesson.

[Capt. Frank]

Dr.Logik is correct. Also, narrow your casting arc, the arc the rod goes through between the stops at the back and forward casts. The narrower the arc, the tighter the loop, stopping the rod at one o'clock and eleven o'clock will result in tighter loops, than ten o'clock and two o'clock. Simply waving the rod on the forward cast, does two things causing problems. You do not make an abrupt stop, or any stop at all, the stop unloads the rod, releasing it's stored, loaded energy. When the stop is made too far forward, the loop opens and the cast is aimed at the water, and an abrupt can not be done.
Waiting for the tug, thump, or seeing your line straighten on the back cast, is too late! Watch your back cast, just before the line straightens, start the forward cast. Because of reaction time from seeing the line straighten, and starting the forward cast, if you wait to feel the thump, or see the line straighten, you will start the cast too late. Something a lot of casters do not understand, when we cast, we pull on the line with the rod using it as a lever, giving a mechanical advantage. As we pull, the weight of the lines pulls against the rod loading it, now it is a spring. When you stop the rod , the spring casts the line. During the back cast, as the line is unrolling behind you, it pulls on the rod bending it, called pre-loading. As soon as the line straightens, this pull ends, the rod immediately straightens, and the pre-load is lost, resulting is less forward cast power. You can test this by making two casts and observing line speed. First make your back cast waiting for the line to straighten and start to drop, and check the line speed on the forward cast. Next make a back cast and start the forward cast just before the line straightens, the line speed will be faster, because you added the pre-load to the loading made on the forward cast. Most casters do not realize, that timing can make a difference in the line speed and distance of your cast.

[andre49]

Just a questions...does it happen on short casts under 30’ or longer casts or bot? Agree would actually need to see you cast to see what problem may be

Andre

[mer]

Charles Ritz: "zic zic".

[perfesser]

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