The curse of the first cast

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Brian K. Shaffer
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Re: The curse of the first cast

#21

Post by Brian K. Shaffer »

Perfect for a first cast, catch and release... Partridge Touch And Go hook...

Image

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" There's no such thing as a fly fisherman wholly satisfied with his casting performance. " ~ Jim Green (1971)
" Just once I wish a trout would wink at me. " ~ Brian Shaffer

Use the SEARCH for justification and reasoning.

redietz
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Re: The curse of the first cast

#22

Post by redietz »

Expsp4043 wrote:
04/07/21 20:53
I fished the Pine Creek near Gaines, Pa. this morning. I hooked and landed a beautiful 14 inch rainbow on my first cast. Several casts later I caught a 12 incher. I then took several side steps to my left, stepped on a slippery slanted rock and fell in the ice cold water clear up to my chest. I scrambled to my feet, uttered a few choice words and went to my car where my waiting wife helped see undress and wring out my clothes. We then went to our camper near Galeton where I stripped down to my underwear and dried my clothes before heading home. I haven"t fallen in in quite a few years. The curse of the first cast?? Mike
Without a doubt.

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Chuck441
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Re: The curse of the first cast

#23

Post by Chuck441 »

When I was a much younger guy, I was introduced to legendary Jim Wakeley at his place by Wakeley Bridge on Michigan's AuSable. As I was fairly new at the game, he gave me some pointers, then handed me a muddler minnow that he had tied. That evening I fished it and, and my first cast, got a decent brown. Sadly, it was the only trout I caught that weekend.

Chuck

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Hellmtflies
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Re: The curse of the first cast

#24

Post by Hellmtflies »

kevinhaney1 wrote:
04/07/21 18:19
I'm a firm believer in that curse. In fact, I always make my first cast a "junk" one to place that I don't expect to catch a fish, for instance to where I just waded in from. If I do hook a fish in spite of that precaution (it has happened) I'll put some slack in the line and hope the fish shakes itself off.
Now that's the best advice yet!
DITTO! :)

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flyfishingpastor
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Re: The curse of the first cast

#25

Post by flyfishingpastor »

Wait. You guys catch fish? :)

I don't really care which casting order I get one. If I catch only one fish, well, I still beat the Skunk! :)

Pat

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Seabowisha Salmo T
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Re: The curse of the first cast

#26

Post by Seabowisha Salmo T »

flyfishingpastor wrote:
04/08/21 17:51
Wait. You guys catch fish? :)

I don't really care which casting order I get one. If I catch only one fish, well, I still beat the Skunk! :)

Pat
thumbs up, brother pat. :wave

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Seabowisha Salmo T
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Re: The curse of the first cast

#27

Post by Seabowisha Salmo T »

Seabowisha Salmo T wrote:
04/08/21 17:58
flyfishingpastor wrote:
04/08/21 17:51
Wait. You guys catch fish? :)

I don't really care which casting order I get one. If I catch only one fish, well, I still beat the Skunk! :)

Pat
thumbs up, brother pat. :wave
btw, do you pour sprinkle or dunk? we are mixed on that! ;)

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flyfishingpastor
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Re: The curse of the first cast

#28

Post by flyfishingpastor »

SST;

We're flexible. BUT requests for dunking are rare (In either a baptismal pool or a trout stream.) :)

Pat

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wannabe
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Re: The curse of the first cast

#29

Post by wannabe »

Events from an outing a few days ago have compelled to revive this thread, which made me chuckle when reading it initially.

I've been flyfishing for 40-some years. In that time, I can't recall ever catching a fish on the first cast. Maybe a bluegill or two. Nothing that stands out in my memory. So I had no personal frame of reference for this discussion, though--as with any talk of a fishing curse--along with its humor I read this exchange with deadly seriousness.

As you can guess, my first cast into a productive riffle on Wed--hardly even a cast, just stripping out some line and plunking 20 feet or so on the water to clear it from the tip top--produced a slashing strike. I fumbled to grab the line and lift the rod as I had been stripping out additional line from the reel, but even despite all of the slack and inattention, I was forced to land a plump 12" brookie. I immediately thought of the curse, and since I trust the collective wisdom of this board in most everything, I knew I was in trouble.

Well, folks. Not another brook trout over the next 6 hours of fishing. So far as I can tell, the brookies never even looked at my offerings. My friends, I'm here to confirm that the curse is real. I'm just hoping it won't stick to me for future outings.

Bret

P.S. I am of course not counting as in any way significant the dozen or so rainbows that I managed to pull out of that riffle and run, or the three gorgeous browns that came to net after sipping my spinners on a close-by river as the sun went down. If you catch a brookie on the first cast and can't get another for the rest of the night, that's a curse in my book. ;) ;)

red 1
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Re: The curse of the first cast

#30

Post by red 1 »

Anytime I enter a new stretch of water I always try to make my first cast to the best looking piece near by because hay you never know.
I want to be buried with my favorite rod.
I hear the Styx River has Fish.

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DrLogik
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Re: The curse of the first cast

#31

Post by DrLogik »

I usually hit the stream without thinking anything at all other than, "Ah, why not tie on a Parachute Adams and see what happens". Like I don't do that 90% of the time anyway.....ROFL. I just focus on having a good time and paying attention to what's around me. If I catch a fish, great, if I don't, I pull out the camera and get creative or check what's under the rocks and attached to the sunken branches.

Curses, wives tales and superstition doesn't generally work on me, but I always put my right shoe on first for some reason........

Bill Moschler
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Re: The curse of the first cast

#32

Post by Bill Moschler »

Not a curse. A blessing. Imagine the whole day without a hit. Pressure is off right up front and you can enjoy the day.

Bloodhound
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Re: The curse of the first cast

#33

Post by Bloodhound »

I am a member of the "Fist Cast Curse Believers"

So as nuchamps5 stated, I almost always cast into some form of vegetation and lose my fly and tangle my tippet and then I continue like that for the rest of the day thus avoiding that dreaded catching of a fish on the first cast...or any subsequent casts :)

Bill Terry
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Re: The curse of the first cast

#34

Post by Bill Terry »

I don't think there's anything to it except maybe something psychological. You can jinx yourself, as I must have done on my last trip to New Zealand. Right off the bat one day, we found a nice fish sipping flies off the surface. Now, I didn't catch it on my first cast, but he took the first cast that went right over him--my second cast, I think. It was a 7-pound brown, which is about as big a fish as I usually catch in NZ. I said to the guide, "I'll be satisfied if I don't catch another fish all day!" I didn't. We found other fish, but I didn't cast well enough to fool any of them.

Self-fulfilling prophecy strikes again!
Ad piscatoribus sunt omnes res secundi.

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