Backcast hitting the water

This is not only a problem for those fishing from a boat but also those that wade to waiste depth. As the fly comes forward for the forward cast, it splashes in the water behind the caster.

The caster thinks "It must be dropping so I'll use a bit more power" but unfortunately, either it stays the same or even gets worse. So he adds more power and we quickly see a vicious circle forming! The more he tried to fix it with power the worse it gets.

Here's why:

When the caster adds more power, there is inevitably more bounce of the tip due to the extra power and this ends up throwing the fly line downwards on the back cast. Without looking, the caster is completely unaware of this. he ends up with a loop looking like this:

When the power is applied for the forward cast the fly will obviously follow the path the line does and so it travels forwards and down, hitting the surface.

The fix for this is casting as if you were casting through two tubes. The back cast should be back parallel to the surface and not over powered.

As always, if you have any questions I’m over in the Forum

Tight loops,

Carl

Carl Hutchinson is a qualified instructor with the EFFA and FFFUSA and AAPGAI Advanced. He runs saltwater fly fishing Mullet with www.corporateflyfishing.com He is a member of the board of the British fly Casting Club and has fished extensively in many saltwater locations and specialises in saltwater fly fishing for Salmon in Canada.