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Fly Fishing With Robert Jarvis
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Let me start this page by suggesting that we all need practise, tuition and practise. Yes, I know I said practise twice that is because it takes twice as much practice to reach our casting goals. There are a few things all of us can do to raise our casting bar. First, remember that we are trying to form a loop. The loop is the only way we can cast the line. Timing not strength and speed is the key to fly casting. Watch the forward and back cast unroll. Most beginners see an advanced caster only keeping their eye on the forward cast. To a beginner this looks pretty cool but when learning to cast one has to watch forward and back movements of the line to synchronise arm movements. To make a solid forward cast with enough power to shoot line there first needs to be a straight or nearly straight back cast. To achieve this, before the back cast rod movement is stopped, stab the rod slightly towards the sky. This stabbing action guaranties a straight back cast. Stabbing the rod in an upwards direction in an attempt to get a straight back cast is not a new development. From my studies so far the first time the Stab was published was in 1960 by Vice-Admiral Harold Hickling in his book "Freshwater Admiral" and I quote "I was given this tip once. Instead of taking your line straight back, work your rod as if you intended to throw the line vertical, straight up into the sky. You will then find it goes back well above the horizontal." Harold was using a split cane rod at the time and this technique would have been vital to cast 60 feet. I believe this technique was perfected prior to this time. The first book written based on fly fishing was published in 1496 by Dame Juliana Berners titled "A Treatise on Fishing with a Hook" Although Juliana does not discuss the stab in her writings she does explain how to construct a rod and I quote "Between Michaelmas and Candlemas, you must cut a good staff of Hazel, willow or ash for yourself and it must be a fathom and a half long ( or about nine feet )". This rod after it was shaped and made right must have cast like a piece of half boiled spaghetti. Split cane rods that came next were only slightly more ridged and after world war 2 Fibre glass was the new material. All the materials that predate graphite were soft and very flexible. I feel sure that some one around 1900 was using the stab to extend their cast. The location of this may have been in America or it could have occurred in Europe on the Salmon rivers and lakes. |
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