FS Digest

Every time I cast, my leader and sometimes my fly line doesn't land straight. Leader usually lands at the end or before the fly line and I feel this is ruining my presentation and scaring away fish. Could this be because of my leader? Fly line? Or just a crappy fly caster?

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by KeyProtection1255

Bob O Loc: Palatine, IL

The only time I had that problem was with new fly line that I soon learned I had installed backward with the weight forward reversed. You might want to unwind it, turn it around and rewind it. Best wishes.

EdwardL Loc: Tenino Wa.

Maybe it is a little of. All of the above.
I know when my casts goes astray I have learned to stop take a breath and think about my cast it’s when I forget my cast
where is my arm from beginning of the cast to the end is my arm at 10 o’clock casting or 2 o clock for the load am i turning my arm so the reel is horizontal , or vertical. Is my line catching on something a button or a branch on the ground
It could come down to what kind of line
Is it from a discount store or is it from a high quality store is your line sticking together or maybe dirty stopping a smooth
flow It could part of the above items or none of them I can’t see your casting form or look at your equipment
Not sure if any of this has helped but it’s a starting point. There are people on here that have a lot more experience than me
Maybe one of them will hear your call

Tom Z Loc: Perkasie,Pa

I am a fly fisherman, both fresh and salt water, for over 50 years and I can honestly
say I am confused about what you said in your post.
The best thing you can do is invest in a quality fly casting instructor or purchase a video or two on fly casting. Joe Humphrey and Lefty Kreh have produced good videos.

Roger Lahti

I’m not going to call you a crappy caster but it may be your technique or the balance between flyline and leader If you don’t have enough line speed things will not roll over and lay down on the water at the appropriate moments. Everything right, the fly should float down on the water slightly ahead of the ladder, not slap the water or fall Into a pile of leader tippet. Then at almost he same time the flyline should lay down on the water. If all that is reversed you can get a slap on the water or a pileup at the tippet. But done with finesse the line can lay down first and the leader softly roll out to gently lay the fly where you want as well. Part of the trick is in how you choose to slow the line as it Carry's your fly to the target. Lots to think about to get it just right. The leader needs to be heavy enough in its butt section to translate the force of the line forward as everything gets smaller and lighter. Tapered leaders. Too light a leader or not enough speed or too low or too high a layout resulting in everything not landing right, in the right order. The fix? Practice. Try different tapered leaders. And of course make sure you loaded the line the right way. Start with distances you can control before you try to cast across Lake Superior. Good luck