Advice casting from yak.

[averagejoe]

I made the plunge into a fly rod outfit (9 weight Temple Fork and #10 Tioga) after testing it out on grass. I can only troll tube and worm for so long. Now I'd like to practice from yak position. Should I be casting with the direction of the yak, am i more like likely to potentially catch the bow-

Am I better casting off to the side a bit (I'm in an Sik at the moment).
Or does it not matter?

Lastly am I better off learning from wading position until I begin to catch fish or learning from yak by trial and error?

Thanks

[Todd Benedict]

Joe,

I am certainly no expert on yak fishing, just a beginner. I try to keep the wind over my right shoulder when casting. (right handed). I position the yak accordingly. I would also suggest learning basic casting in shallow water or a football field then from the yak. Best to have the hang of it prior to doing it on the water in a yak. It can be frustrating at first, line tangles, etc..

Todd

[ruge13]

Look at it this way, When you stand and cast, your body is about 45 degrees from your target. They yak is no different. Sure, at times you will have to cast t all angles as fish move, but moast of the time, blind casting, or when you can point the yak you are keeping the same 45 degree angle. The purple line is where I usually cast to....most comfortable to me.

The green lines are other alternatives but not comfortable and not a natural casting motion. You do not run the risk of hitting the bow by casting 45 degrees. You do however by trying to cast straight because as your body fatigues you wil start to move back towards the 45degree angle/comfort zone and will be dragging line accross your bow.

The only dissatvantage to this is a sinking line and heavy weighted fly. The back cast drops, and can swing low and catch the deck since you are dragging it over 45 degrees. To compensate, you may have to adjust your casting motion again where your arm is higher in the air. Again not a natural or correct casting motion according to the experts, but gets the job done with heavy line.

[Todd Benedict]

Just when I see a post from Shaun and think I may get a chuckle, he sends a serious post.

Thanks for the info. I assume your right handed?

[Ray]

Spend sometime on the lawn and from shore getting the basics down before trying to do it in a yak. One of the best tips when learning is to watch your backcast. Be patient and you'll get there. It takes years to get good.

From a yak, I find it very import to set up for the retreive, not so much the cast. As I am right handed, I like to cast to the left so i can retreive more comfortably. The sinking line can be a handful from a yak. But you will find yourself close to the spots you want to fish. So you don't need a booming 80 foot cast, just 30 - 40 does it 90% of the time.

Like a golf swing, do what's comfortable for you.

[ruge13]

Yes right handed....

I cast like Ray explained...from right to left accross the boat. Just with a lot less distance than he does, usually a few tailing loops, maybe a wind knot or three.

The retireve point is important....this is even more important with a floater and surface flies. You can't get a good pop unless the rod is in line with the fly line. Too much drag on the line otherwise.

[Sean Juan]

Casting from a yak is just like casting from any other position with one notable exception - you have a lot less room to screw up and you are generally unable to recover if you do..

Practice the basics until you can make a 30' cast perfectly with minimal (if any) false casts. Keep you rod tip low when you start the cast - STOP the rod when you finish a backcast...those sorts of things.

Basically the line will go where the rod tip goes, so if you are standing, sitting or laying on your belly its all the same to the laws of physics.

Just start slow and build - distance will come in time, the basics only after a lot of practice.

For the sinking line/shooting head you have to do a roll cast to bring it to the surface before you start your cast.

[averagejoe]

Thanks for all your advice...I'm thinking I'll be ready for the September/October runs before I venture to kayak...but by then i probably won't need kayak to get to fish....hmmm.

As for the golf swing thing...I've been playing since I was 8 years old ....always had a great swing....but that didnt help my putting....yip...yip...yip peaked in high school (20 years ago) ...hopefully in fly fishing I don't have a two foot cast for a keeper.

[bluewatr]

U will find u will be at huge advantage if u can cast in all directions.... Especially a back cast (when the tunoids are exploding behind u what are u going to do... reposition your yak and then shoot or try to get a quick shot (back cast) over your shoulder....

Allot of the time the wind is going to dictate your cast..... Youll figure it out.... It's not rocket science....
HAVE FUN!

-m

[LeonR]

What i do is get the yak in position so that i get the wind from my left(I am righthanded) and trhen cast straight ahead. I feel more comfortable holding the rod parallel to the yak and then retrieving straight back. I also fish poppers more often than not so that way I get more out of them.
You will have to see what you feel is comfortable for you, I also cast sideways as opposed to straight over my head.
I have always fished in pretty heavy surf and that way I just felt I had better balance and more room to change target in mid cast without hooking myself.

[SamRiley]

Especially a back cast when the tunoids are exploding behind u

Speaking of, it's about time we hooked up again Mike :)

[bluewatr]

SAM. Yes it is about TIME Bro..... I will definitely be in touch .... I am hearing sweet things as of late (bones)...... Either it's going to be a blowout or an incredibe season......

Baby Bunks are already showing here... A wee bit EARLY in certain locations....

We are already having big fish blitzs off shore (20-50lbs)........ In shore has been nuts at night regularly.......

This could be an interesting/early/snipped short season for the funnies ( at least in my area)...........

Daily logs from the last 5 years have not been alike.... Who the heck knows.....



-m

[Conveyor Man]

Mike,
On my way to and from work and some lunch hours I have been checking Guilford Harbor, Middle Beach Road and Clinton Harbor and haven’t seen any blitzs yet. Some terns working very loose schools of small bait, but nothing pushing them from underneath. Been fishing some in Clinton harbor in the kayak and have only caught a couple very small stripers. Generally speaking where are you seeing shore action in the evenings? :confused:

Haven’t been venturing far in the kayak and mostly been large mouth fishing in Messerschmidt pond. When I am feeling confident enough with this boat that I don’t feel I will be slowing you down :rolleyes: I would like to take you up on your offer to get together.

[bluewatr]

Conveyor Man,

U would not be slowing me down bro! I have the slowest yak in the North East :)

Tell u the truth I have been doing all wading as of late.... My eye is giving me probs and have not used the yak in a while...... Nor have I been able to do any real fishing in the last 1.5 week..... But things are drastically improving! :)

Lets definitely hook up at some point!

My bro just got back from spain... have not seen him in 2 years so this weekend probably will not work for me (maybe a night trip Sat night but do not know yet).... But maybe next weekend..... What do u think?

-michael

[Conveyor Man]

Mike,
This weekend is bad for me but next week should be good. Drop me an email as to where you think would be good and some times that are good for you and we'll see if we can't get together.

[averagejoe]

My progress:
Practiced for a week in the backyard-
By the end of week I can hit a hula hoop from 45 feet 75% of the time. And the others aren't that far away. Which is better than my chipping. And I notice the whipping sound of line attracts hummingbirds. I'm serious.

Praticed in waders on Beverly flats for the last 3 days-I don't have this much wind in my backyard- but I didn't hook any body parts.

Went out this am. at dead low with a real fly and didn't catch a blessed thing
although I did have a few a few schoolies take a look at it. Went out later in yak and didnt have any major problems casting. The wind/current I found sort of turns me in the right direction to cast.

But I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is much more fun than trolling. I don't care if I skunk out for the next 2 months. ( Yeah right) I'm giving up trolling tube and worm, tossing my plugs away and all that other stuff until I get this down. Or until I find something to become obsessive compulsive about. :)

[LEFTUS]

Start tying flies!!!

[barfly]

Average Joe,

One thing that will help you a lot when casting from a yak is a pseudo-steeple cast. By this I am refering to dealing with one of the main problems anyone fishing from a yak, canoe, float tube, or any other "in the water craft" experiences - the tailing loop! It is a natural and correct tendency to raise your backcast when fishing close to the water. If you are good at throwing tight loops, the problem you end up having is that your loop closes and you get wind knots and/or hit the rod with the fly. Whenever your backcast is less than 180 degress from your forward cast, throw a wider loop and you will avoid tailing loops, yet still get adequate distance. Also, back off on the power and concentrate on a smooth acceleration to a stop and casting from yak should not be a problem at all.

[averagejoe]

Starting to get pretty comfortable casting from kayak caught my 2nd striper on fly and lost 3rd and 4th. Can double haul (right term?) pretty well when i feel i need to. Haven't quite mastered setting the hook on fly rod, don't know how hard to yank, I keep thinking I'm going to snap the rod in half. Thanking Leftus (Lefty) for some advice and some new flies.

[Sean Juan]

Don't use the rod at all to set the hook.

Best technique is to aim the rod at the fish and quickly pull back on the line.

The rod is way to flexible to really set a hook...lay out 30' of line and then have a buddy "set" with the rod while you hold the end of the line. Then have him aim the rod at you and pull directly back on just the line...you'll feel the difference.

[Slappy]

Don't use the rod at all to set the hook.

This is generally good advice for all lure fishing. With a spinning or conventional reel you can set by reeling. When you miss the fish this leaves the lure/fly in the water for the next fish to hit, the swift jerk of the rod often pulls the lure from the strike zone.

[averagejoe]

Ah...that explains it, I'm an idiot. Thanks-

I've never really thought about how I set hook with conventional or spinning reels because i don't get a ton of misses - I think I do a slight pull on rod and use reel for the set - I really never thought about it I've been doing it the same way since i was little.

[LEFTUS]

After the cast my line and rod is in a straight line with the fly and stays like this as I strip in line and animate the fly.Rod tip is in or on top of the water.When a fish hits I pull down with my stripping hand and raise the rod.The raising of the rod is not like a large mouthset.the pressure is applied just above the cork so the whole rod is used.If its a short strike and Ifeel no weight I back off on the strip and bringing the rod up.The fly moves a bit further than a normal strip but if the fish still wants it it can find it. This works for me!