I'm new too

[hookandhackle]

I'm new too. This is my second year fly fishing. I got bored with spin and bait casting and decided I wanted more of a challenge. Since picking up the fly rod I've actually caught more stripers on the fly than I've ever caught with lures and bait.

I've become addicted to this sport although I will still dabble in surf casting, lbm/smb fishing, bait hanging and all the other types of fishing I've done in the past. Sitting on a beach chair with a beer in one hand and the sun on my face while waiting(not wading) for my bait caster to start zinging is very relaxing. :D

Still, fly fishing is my new obsession and I feel it's a more zen like experience than sitting and waiting. :roll:

Alright, here's my NUBE question.... for all to see and laugh at.

How do you get the fly to stop smacking you in the back of the head when the wind is blowing hard? It really smarts. I've learned to chuck and duck but I still get wacked. Just not as much. What to do besides bleed?

[bcraig]

If the wind is really blowing, I sometimes turn around and put my forward cast into the wind and place the back cast as close to my target as possible. :? It is hard to be accurate but it is easier to duck when you see it coming! Hope this helps.

[CtKenC]

Alright, here's my NUBE question.... for all to see and laugh at.

How do you get the fly to stop smacking you in the back of the head when the wind is blowing hard? It really smarts. I've learned to chuck and duck but I still get wacked. Just not as much. What to do besides bleed?[/quote]

Here is what I do, or at least try to do ..
assuming you are right handed, and, assuming the wind is coming from your right side, which causes you to be struck by your own cast ... try this; it's kind of hard to explain in words briefly, but in essence, you turn around and make your forecast towards the bank you are now facing (the bank that would ordinarily be behind you) and then make your backcast on what is your right side, which will no longer be a problem with the wind hitting you, ... then use that backcast as your presentation of the fly. :oops: Sounds a lot more difficult in my clumbsy wording that it really is in practice.
Try it ... it works, and, you can often use a water haul to facilitate the cast.
Ken

[The Patriot]

Both great answers, and I know exactly what you mean, and I do the same thing.... but I think Pete is more asking about saltwater casting, and specifically clousers.... I haven't had the same problems with other flies that I have with clousers....ouch!

Turning around and casting backwards is one option.

Casting with the wind at your back is another. Like the other night at Silver Sands; sometimes you can do so and still have plenty of water to fish. Sometimes this means facing the beach, and casting backwards. Another thing you can do, depending on the wind, is to cast backhand; that is, suppose you're a right handed caster, you cast your rod with your right hand over your left shoulder......

But the problem of getting the fly to go any distance against the wind still exists....

Here's something else to keep in mind....

Make the wind work for you, rather than against you. Minimize any false casting into the wind; don't try to shoot any line against the wind, and keep any casts into the wind low and close to the ground or water, while any casts WITH the wind is where you shoot line and aim HIGH! You change your casting plane, using sidearm casts if necessary, so that the line going into the wind is low, where windspeed is reduced by the friction of the surface of the water or the ground, and your line going with the wind is high, so the wind works for you.....

Sounds good, right? :wink: :D It always looks good on paper..... :? :wink: :lol:

[hookandhackle]

Thanks, I think I understand. All sounds like good advise.

I went out the other night in the dark and the wind was still moving. Man those clousers hurt. It's a good hurt though. :lol:

If I were to cast backwards in the pitch black I would have recieved a black eye or even worse, lost one. :cry: :lol: :cry: :lol:

So, after a few casts and smacks with a clouser, I switched to a deciever and still caught skunk. :?

Oh, btw heavy poppers hurt too. When it's windy and dark I'll stick to the light stuff.

I will try the casting backwards technique when the wind is heavy at my back and I can see the fly. Sounds like it will work with some practice. Double hauling should work too if only I knew how to do that.

[h.ridley]

:D Two words---Football Helmet

Howie



Tis a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. W.S.