There are a variety of reasons for this but the main two are: 1: Being too aggressive with the forward stroke which doesn't allow enough time for the backcast to roll out, usually with overpowering the forward stroke early on. This causes the fly to kick over and smack the water. 2: Dipping the rod tip at the end of the backcast which aims the fly at the water. Easiest way to avoid the problem plus improve distance also involves two things: 1: Watch your backcast. It's amazing how many problems this cures. 2: Incorporate drift into the backcast with a hand raise at the end. This not only will improve distance, but it results in the backcast having extra time to roll out, plus it makes that early overpower more difficult to accomplish. It slows us down, which is always a good thing.
If it's just the clear coat then there shouldn't be a problem. Rod manufacturers usually place a fibreglass scrim beneath the clear coat, covering the carbon fibre. The scrim helps to protect the carbon fibre underneath. Unless the hook really dug in, it should be fine. Rods can function perfectly well with entire chunks of finish missing.
Lovely fly. With the color pattern of a Professor, it would be hard for it not to be successful. I would very much like to watch the video you mentioned on using up-eyed hooks. I scanned your video list but couldn’t find it. Did I just miss an obvious title or could you tell us the playlist of its location? I’m sure other viewers would also be interested. Thank you.
The only fly that got strikes in my fly box when I want to Lake Manzanita. It was tied with a gray body and dark brown hackle. Trout are really picky there and 2000% not people shy. Cant see the fly at all, but I think high vis flies and hot spots actually creep the fish out.
Question. Where I snapped my pole (in car door). Now after cutting the jagged edges off both pieces, they don’t line up very well. What trick, or too do you have for that? TIA
A friend gave me something almost exactly like this but with some added rubber legs on it. It has been crushing smallmouth for me ever since and is my go to bass fly. cheers!
🌴 So like many anglers I’ve ran into a problem, grew up swinging a glass rod since I was 8 , and I had moved to Florida half my life ago ever since I switched to a carbon fiber but with all its pluses it does have its negatives , carbon doesn’t feel 👈🏼 the same with its stiffness it doesn’t allow you to load up the kinetic energy, ya I know you can cast farther or whatever but it doesn’t feel like it , which throws my casting accuracy off , I’ve tried different things like heavier lines different tapers and that seems to help but it doesn’t change the feel 👈🏼 is carbon better especially for saltwater , yep ! It’s a stiff rod with a lot of back bone that you need for big fish with a lot of fight abilities, it’s lighter which helps when casting the flats all day, and they make you cry more when the wife slams the truck door on them 😕$$$$$$$$$$$$$$💸💸💸💸💸💸
Because of your review, I want this rod now. Do you know where I can find it? Or any store that sells them? Ebay doesnt have any listings for them at the moment.
How do you think about the hackle width of the woolly buggers? General tutorials have the width about 2X hook gap. In your videos, they usually have 1-1.5x of hook gap width. Thanks in advance!
I don't have any particular rule in mind, rather I just use the length of hackle according to how I want the fly to work. For example, my deep water lake buggers use a longer hackle than ones I use in rivers, as the lack of current in a lake requires the fly to have more movement.
I do understand your logic on this, your videos have been enlightening and very helpful. However, having a thick butt section, in particular one that has close to the same stiffness as the end of your fly line, helps with providing that transition in diameter and stiffness, thus improving the shape of your casting loop. This might be important for casting accuracy and fly placement, regardless of what type of fly you are using. Many store bought leaders have poor durability (especially the tippet section), and the taper is very abrupt, not gradual. These are the main reasons why I make my own leaders. Also, I know about the depth problem for flies like streamers and nymphs, but mono does sink after it’s been wet for a while, so for general purpose casting unweighted wet flies and light streamers, I find that for floating fly lines the blood knot leader formulas that utilize Maxima will cast the best for me - starting with 30 lb. butt section and transitioning to 20, 15, 10, and 6 (or about 5x). This works for line weights 4-7, I use a 25 lb. butt section for 2-3 weights. Yes I do go with fluorocarbon when I want more depth, and when I want more punch casting into the wind. I rarely fish with dry flies, but when I do, the store bought leaders are best for that (unless fishing with poppers, gurglers, and other foam flies like ants) because they land on the water with less disturbance than blood knot leaders. But I still will often replace the tippet with store bought leaders because with many of the brands, their tippet has very poor durability - cut off tippet a few inches below the taper and knot a section of Maxima ultra-green for tippet.
Looking that for sufr fishing and / or the beaulah serum, I've noticed the serum is desing specific for the surf in salt water. What are your thoughts on one line vs the other for surf fishing
I've not tried the Beulah line so I can't comment. My Sniper lines are considered to be cold saltwater lines as well. There's no temperature range mentioned for the Serum so I suspect it's a tropical line. I think your temperature requires would dictate which line.
I have a question, I'm using a 10wt spey rod, I am now spending more time surf fishing off the cost of louisiana rather than the intercostal. Fighting the waves has become difficult with running lines and shooting heads and sink tips. I am placing a order for a 8wt 12' spey rod. I've looked at the rio 10wt line as a good match, I think it's going to make stripping and getting the line out much easier because of no loop connections, would I still need to attach sink tips or it would be a case to case situation. My shoulder just can't handle the single hander for 4hr at a time.
Integrated lines are the only type of line I use for surf casting as the loop-to-loop connection becomes a major hassle after a while. Sinktips are next to useless in the surf as they won't get the fly down at all. Go with lines that have full heads that are either intermediate or very fast sinkers. If we want to get the fly near the bottom, these sinkers will do a much better job vs. a sinktip. Full sinkers are also great when the surf is running higher and we don't want the surf to blow our line up onto the beach. The full sinkers cut through the waves and stay straight. That helps us with control, strike detection and hookset. Look at Rio Outbound, SA Titan or Airflo Sniper lines. The 10 wt. versions should work just fine for casting on an 8 wt. Spey.
Thanks for the info. I have just picked up a SA Sonar sinking leader. It is a 7 ft sink 3 and you fish it with about 2 feet of leader. What I gleaned from your video is that you should use unweighted flies with this type of leader. Is this correct?
