Winds knots! I will concur them......hopefully?

Aleforme

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
So I'm really new to fly fishing and my main goal right now is to get my casting locked down or at least to a point where I can go out and spending more time with the fly in the water relatively close to where I want it.

I have become pretty good in the 20 to 30ft range which for most if the river I'll be fishing will be a great start. I'm working on longer casts but want to get my short game down first.

The things that is plaguing me right now is winds knots. I can't seem to concur these. I have read about them, watch videos and asked some friends. I understand what I'm doing wrong (loop going under vs over, staring my forward motion to soon, etc) but I can't seem to make the needed correction. I've gotten much better and maybe it just takes more experience.

But, wondering if anyone have any specific tips or maybe that "one thing" that made it click for them? Do you hold your mouth at a certain open position. cock your head 20 degree to the left while standing on their right leg? Or maybe some real tricks that worked for you?

Thanks,

Jim
 

Chic Worthing

Smolt
Forum Supporter
Josh, my son and i took some lessons from a casting coach near Everett years go nd he had the rwo of us say STOP front of cast and at the back of he cast. It works well and helps to eliiminate creep.
 

Wetswinger

Go Deep
Forum Supporter
Raise your arm slightly on the release like in a Belgium cast. It will open the loop a little and separate the lines. My biggest problem is releasing line pressure too early, causing it to flutter out and tangle. Why is such an easy thing so difficult?
 

Tinker

Smolt
Forum Supporter
Right now, I'm using a Rio Powerflex Trout 9ft 3X tapered leader with a piece of yarn for a fly. This was recommended by the guide who we took a lesson from a few weeks ago. I doubt this is hampering anything but if so, open to suggestions.

Jim

Go to 5x. 3x is not the right tippet for yarn. And it helps to wet the yarn ball, too.

Yeah, I take it all in stride. I can cast a spinning rod and reel all day in any conditions with almost prefect accuracy but every now and then I look down at the reel and see an explosion of tangled line and wonder WTF? :ROFLMAO:

That's caused by having too much slack line out of the reel when casting. Eventually the fly line twists and makes that tangled mess. If you have a lot of line on the ground at your feet when you've completed a cast, you have too much line out.
 

krusty

We're on the Road to Nowhere...
Forum Supporter
I've also found that not keeping the flyrod in the same arc plane on the forward and backcast significantly increases the chance a wind knot will form.
 
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Old Man

Just a useless Old Man.
Forum Legend
Yeah, I take it all in stride. I can cast a spinning rod and reel all day in any conditions with almost prefect accuracy but every now and then I look down at the reel and see an explosion of tangled line and wonder WTF? :ROFLMAO:
That's what your thumb is used for. Holding just enough pressure on your line on your reel to keep that from happening.
 

Aleforme

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
That's what your thumb is used for. Holding just enough pressure on your line on your reel to keep that from happening.

LOL. yes it is! But, I was referring to a spinning reel. I have been casting spinning reels for just shy of 50 years and sometimes line tangles/blowups just happen and make you wonder how the heck did that even happen?
 

krusty

We're on the Road to Nowhere...
Forum Supporter
And I've caught plenty of trout over the years on windknot strewn leaders!
 

Old Man

Just a useless Old Man.
Forum Legend
LOL. yes it is! But, I was referring to a spinning reel. I have been casting spinning reels for just shy of 50 years and sometimes line tangles/blowups just happen and make you wonder how the heck did that even happen?
You probably had to damn much line on the spool. I just never seemed to have that kind of problems.
 
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