Fly Casting 101

Capt. Lawrence Piper is a back country fishing guide at Amelia Island, Florida and a FFI Certified Fly Casting Instructor.  Capt. Piper can be reached at www.TheAnglersMark.com  904-557-1027  lwpiper@comcast.net
When I mention to visitors that I offer fly fishing on my Amelia Island fishing charters they often reply, “where in the world would you fly fish in north Florida?”  A lot of people equate fly fishing with the trout streams up north or out west but here in the North Florida area we have excellent fishing and taking those fish on a fly is a challenging option.  Flood tide fishing for tailing Redfish, low tide fishing for backing Redfish, Seatrout fishing at night under the docks, and bream and bass fishing in our creeks, ponds and lakes are just a few of the great fly fishing opportunities that we have.

But before you step out into the marsh with the long rod you will need to learn to cast!  Casting a fly with a fly rod is unlike any other fishing you’ve ever done.  For one, you will need to incorporate a back cast along with the forward cast, which takes some getting used to.  With spin or bait casting there is usually a heavy enough weight in your tackle that when you make your cast it drags the light fishing line with it. But with fly fishing, the fly is usually so light you will need to use your rod to form loops in a heavier fly line to carry the fly and leader along with it, thus making the cast.
The Fly Fishers International is organization dedicated to the sport of fly fishing, fly casting, fly tying and conservation. Years ago, dedicated fly casters with the FFI set forth 5 principles for a good fly cast.  They determined that many casters would have different styles of casting but in order to make a good cast they all would incorporate the same 5 principles. Just like any other sport, practice will make you a better fly caster. There are many fields and parks on Amelia Island where you can practice your casting. Use a piece of yarn as your fly and practice you casting on grass so that when you get out on the water you’ll be ready to catch some fish!

      Take a lesson then... practice, read, watch a video. Practice, read, watch a video. Practice, read, watch a video….

Principle Number 1:   Keep slack out of your fly line.  As you accelerate your rod the weight of the fly line is going to put a bend in the rod causing it to load with energy. When you stop your cast that rod is going to unbend or unload and propel the line forward on a forward cast and backward on a back cast. If slack is introduced then the rod will not get its maximum load and the cast will be poor. One of the most common errors is starting the back cast when the rod is held too high off of the water – slack is between the rod tip and the water.  Always get any slack out between the rod tip and the water before making your back cast. You can do this by holding your rod tip down at the water and stripping in any excess slack. Or you can perform a roll cast to get the line straightened out. Then begin your back cast with the rod tip down at the water and you will see that the rod immediately begins to bend or load as you accelerate back. Another area when slack is induced is between the line hand and the rod hand. Some casters will hold the line down by their side during the cast, rather than letting the line pull their line hand up towards the reel. When they begin their forward cast, the line hand is down by their side, and slack is induced.  Another common error that introduces slack is called Creep.  After making the stop on the back cast, some casters will “creep” forward before the fly line has a chance to fully unroll, then they will begin their actual forward cast. This introduces slack line in the cast and again, the rod will not get its maximum load and the cast will be poor. If you feel like you are creeping forward you may want to consciously insert a technique called Drift.   Watch your back cast and after you have made your stop, “drift” the rod hand back even further until the fly line unrolls.  You should begin to feel the rod getting heavier which indicates a good load. Now you’re ready to Accelerate on your forward cast… which we’ll cover in the next principle!
Principle Number 2:  Smooth Acceleration.  Your casting hand should accelerate smoothly during the back cast or forward cast, increasing in speed as your hand travels through the casting stroke to a crisp STOP. You can imagine if you just casually waved your rod back and forth – the fly line would never load or put a bend in the rod and no energy would be built up. The line would just fall to the water. However if you accelerate the rod through the stroke the weight of the fly line causes the rod to load and when you STOP the stroke the rod unbends or unloads and the fly line propels forward in a loop. The energy of the unloading rod is transferred to the fly line and the loop which carries your leader and fly along with it. Some of the fly casting guru’s call this a Speed up and Stop. Others call it a Loading Move and Power Snap. Just remember, if you use too little acceleration the fly line will not load the rod and you will not be able to form a decent loop, if any at all. On the other hand, if you accelerate too fast your cast will be all jerky and again, you’ll form poor loops and possibly a crossing loop because the rod tip dipped.  The proper amount of acceleration will also help you keep the rod tip following in a Straight Line Path which is covered in the next principle.


Principle Number 3:  Straight Line Path.   The fly line is always going to follow the rod tip. The next time you’re out in the yard practicing,  get 10-15’ of line out of the rod tip and then just wave it around, making figure eights and such. You’ll see the fly line goes everywhere the rod tip goes.  The best way to get nice narrow loops with your fly line is to make your cast with your rod hand traveling in a straight line path to the target,  and from the target. If the rod tip follows a domed or convex path the fly line will travel in a large arc and you will have wide loops. Wide loops are not ideal if you’re looking for accuracy or distance. On the other hand, if the rod tip dips or follows a concave path there is a good chance the end of the fly line will fall down and cross itself, creating what we call a tailing loop. A crossing or tailing loop will cause the cast to fail and may also tie an overhand knot in your leader! In addition to the paths of the rod tip, good loops are formed by keeping the rod tip traveling in the same plane and not swinging out and in when traveling away from the target and back.  Depending on how much line you have out and how far you want to cast will help determine the length of your Casting Stroke, which is covered in the next principle. 


Principle Number 4:  Length of Casting Stroke.  When a fly caster is making a short cast there will be a short amount of line out of the rod tip. Imagine standing in a small trout stream and your cast only has to be 15’ away.  Your stroke will be nice and short, back and forth, almost like throwing a dart. On the other hand, if you’re standing in our North Florida spartina grass and have spotted a tailing Redfish 55’ feet away, you’ll have more line out and will need to open that stroke up to get that fly line moving.  A good way to remember this is “short line, short stroke and long line, long stroke”.  A more technical explanation for this is that with a short amount of line out, the rod bends or loads less and the stroke length will need to be shorter. With a longer amount of line out, the line weighs more and there is a greater bend or load in the rod. The casting stroke has be longer with the amount of line out in order to keep the rod tip traveling in a straight line path. You’ll now see that with the different lengths of line out there will be a need to time the Pause between the forward cast and back cast, which is the final principle to a good fly cast!   

Principle Number 5:  Timing.   After making a cast the angler will need to allow the fly line to unroll to properly load the rod. This amount of time could be very short if you’re making a very short cast and only have a small amount of line out of the rod tip.  When making a long cast there will be more line out of the rod tip, the stroke length will be longer and the caster will need to have a longer pause between casts to allow the fly line to unroll and get a good load or bend in the rod. Not allowing the fly line to unroll completely will induce some slack in the line and decrease the amount of load in the rod. Waiting too long between casts will cause the fly line to fall to the water or grass  Remember this:  “short line, short pause and long line, long pause”.  

These five principles to a good fly cast are intended to help the fly caster get nice narrow loops, gain distance, be accurate, and present the fly to a hungry fish. Do your practice in the yard or in one of our fine parks and get your casting down so that when you get out on the water you can enjoy catching some fish!

and...

 Take a lesson then... practice, read, watch a video. Practice, read, watch a video. Practice, read, watch a video….
 
  
 

You Never Know

You never know what's on the end of the line when you catch a fish here in the backwaters of Amelia Island. Today we had a good smorgasbord - Catfish, Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish, Bluefish, Toad Fish, Seatrout...and a Stingray! I had met the Brian Lee family - Brian and Larkin and Justin and Katie  - down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We ran up the river, dipped in to Jackstaff and started fishing up current with jigs and live shrimp. It didn't take long before we began to get some bites, and big ones they were! The
first couple broke us off then Justin landed a Catfish to "knock the skunk off". Larkin followed that up with a hard fighting Jack Crevalle and Brain tangled with and boated a high flying Ladyfish - the "poor man's Tarpon".

We eased over to another creek and within minutes Justin and expertly landed a Bonnethead, then Brian hooked up, his drag ripped, and Big Fish On!  Brian played him perfectly and patiently and after a good battle that took us down the creek, landed a big 4'+ Bonnethead. Now that was a battle!


After running thru Horsehead we made a stop at some docks at Seymore's Point and here young Katie's fishing rod got hot!  She hooked up and worked in on her own a nice Stingray then she battled a nice Jack Crevalle. Brian added a rather big Bluefish to the catch. After that we ran down to Pumpkin Hill and fished some flooding marsh grass with float rigs. Justin picked up a Blue of his own and Katie added a Ladyfish to her catch count (a "poor girls Tarpon"), and Justin landed one more Ladyfish. Then finally, Katie

put the only Seatrout of the day in the boat.

By this time the tide had gotten up, the sun was out, and the fish had quit biting, but as we headed in, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Multiple Battles

I fished with the Brison group this morning - Jared and his two kids Kira and Scott and Jared's nephew Nate. We met down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and ran up the intercoastal to dip into Jackstaff with plans to fish the flooding oysters with float rigs and live shrimp on an incoming tide. The first stretch of bank didn't produce much so we crossed over, went deeper into the marsh and right off, the anglers picked up some fish. Kira hooked up with a drag ripping fish and her and her dad teamed up to wrangle in a big Jack Crevalle.  Scott followed that up with a high flying Ladyfish.

We ran thru Horsehead, made a pit stop at some docks, where Scott landed another Jack Crevalle, this one caught on a jig and shrimp down on the bottom. We bounced to another dock and here Kia put the first feisty Redfish in the boat. We fished Twin Creeks briefly then ran down to Pumpkin Hill and things got hot!

Jared battled probably the biggest Jack of the day, Scott landed a small Bonnethead Shark then cranked in a big Seatrout - almost
20"!  Nate followed that up with a keeper sized Trout of his own (all fish were released today) then he had a big bite and Fish On!  I had been calling the big fish bites "sharks" all day and they had turned out to be hard fighting Jacks. But this one turned out to be a big Bonnethead. Nate worked him to the boat patiently and we boated him for pictures and release.

We had some good action -everyone caught fish so we eased back to the boat ramp and counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Rough Life Redfish

It was another beautiful morning yesterday when I met Brian Shuford and his father-in-law Mike up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park. We made a quick trip over to the outside of Tiger, set up with some float rigs and live shrimp, and began to work along a bank on an outgoing tide. The oysters were already beginning to show and we were fishing some shallow water. Mike "knocked the skunk off" when his float disappeared and he hooked up with a nice keeper sized Seatrout (all fish caught were released today).  Later, Mike's float slowly went under and we landed the fish, sure enough, it was a Flounder, another of keeper
size.

We fished a runout further up the island with jigs and mud minnows but had no luck so we bounced around to the Jolly River and fished some exposed oysters, sticking with float rigs. Mike put the first Redfish in the boat then Brian tangled with a high flying Ladyfish.  We then ran up to Snook Creek and picked up another Trout and a Black "puppy" Drum. We finished fishing Jolley at the MOA and Mike added a couple of small Trout.

Our last stop was back at Tiger, fishing jigs on the last of the outgoing tide. Mike landed another Redfish then Brian had a strong bite and, Fish On!  This was the biggest fish of the day, ripping drag and digging deep, but Brian kept the pressure on and soon landed a "Tournament sized" Redfish 26.5". Before we released the fish we saw that it had been hooked before and had some tackle hanging out of it's mouth, so we cut it loose and set it free. It was a great way to wrap up a fun fishing trip here at Amelia Island, Florida.

"It" Was a Big One

Today was about the prettiest day we've had in over a week!  I had met Bob Blalock out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp and with a live well full of live shrimp, we eased just down the river to fish the outflow of Christopher Creek on an outgoing tide.  Bob had made a perfect cast with a float rig to the other side of a point of grass and both of us saw his float go slowly under. I thought for sure it was a fish, Bob thought it was, but when he tightened up it seemed like he was hung. After a few tugs he handed it to me and I tightened down on it - it move - then it felt like a fish. A Big Fish!  I handed back

the rod to Bob and the fight was on! It came around the point and headed for deeper water and...BAP! "It" was gone!  Bob and I both speculated thru the entire trip as to what the fish was, but we'll never know!

We worked on up the creek and soon Bob had another Strong hookup. This was a different kind of fight - a good one, but different. After a good battle, Bob landed a big Jack Crevalle.

The tide was getting down so we headed back to Seymore's Pointe and fished some docks with jigs and shrimp and here we got into some good fish. Bob pulled at least two Slot sized Redfish from the pilings, a couple of feisty Reds, and a Black "puppy" Drum or two. After yesterday's breakoffs, I had set up two rods with 15#braid and 20# Fluorocarbon leader. We were ready!

We made our last stop down at Broward Island, drifting with the current, tossing jigs. There wasn't a whole lot of fish bites but Bob did hookup with one, up near shore. The fish got in behind the boat and into the current and put up a good fight. Eventually he landed another Slot sized Redfish. We drifted back, fishing a good half mile, but even though we could see some movement along the shore, we had no more takers(other than another small Jack), so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Win Some and Lose Some

There was a forecast for rain showers this morning but Jake Thomsen and I both had raincoats!  We met down at the south end ramp, ran up the intercoastal, and began fishing the mouth of Jackstaff with a float rig and live shrimp on an outgoing tide.  Although we did have one good bite, we had no takers, so Jake switched to a jig and shrimp and that did the trick when Jake felt a bump, a heaviness, and set the hook. He boated a nice keeper sized flounder (released) to "knock the skunk" off. After fishing a sandbar pointe, we ran thru Horsehead and
found some dock pilings to fish.

BOOM! This did the trick. For about an hour we were hooking up with big fish. Jake landed a 20" Slot Red, then lost one in the pilings, then landed a 25" Slot Red, then lost one in the pilings, then a 26.5" Slot Red....it kinda went like that for a while.  I tried my hand a lost a few too! Boy were they some big fish.  We kept a couple of the Reds but put a few keeper sized ones back, including the big one. Jake caught a couple of feisty Black "puppy" Drum then another, bigger Flounder, which was also released, and tallied an "Amelia Island Back Country Slam" of Redfish, Flounder, and Black Drum.   We fished until they quit biting then made the run down to Broward Island.

Jake was making excellent casts to the downed logs which were now fully exposed. He said his jig had drifted out when, BOOM! A good bite, and fish on!  Jake played it perfectly, even as it got back in the current, and soon landed another Slot sized Redfish. After picking up a nice sized Stingray, then seeing a 6' Gator making a dash down the bank, Jake finished the trip by catching a fat Seatrout - he now had a Grande Slam!  It does seem like the fish "catching " is picking up here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Crazy Ending

I fished today with "soon to be neighbors" Wade Kirkland and Greg Bancroft, meeting them early up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp.  We headed north and west with plans to fish Tiger, but with the extremely low and turning tide, we had to creep in, but we made it. The two anglers were tossing live shrimp on 1/4oz jigs up to the bank, letting them fall, and fishing them slowly back. One of Greg's first casts produced a bump, a hookup and a fish - a nice feisty Black "puppy" Drum, and the skunk was off!

We worked up and down the bank, fishing the pockets and it was
then Wade's turn. He had a soft bump and then his line was "heavy". Wade slowly reeled it in and when it came to the surface, the fight began! Big Flounder!  Wade played it perfectly and soon landed a nice 18" Flounder! This fish put's Wade in first place in the 2018 Anglers Mark Bragging Rights Tournament (scroll down the right side of this report for standings)  Then Greg landed a nice Redfish.  They had a Slam at the first spot! After fishing the area thoroughly, we moved on, making a run up to the Jolley River to fish the Bank.

The tide was still coming in but the oysters were showing so Wade

took the bow and fished a jig while Greg fished the stern with a float rig. Greg put another Redfish in the boat so Wade switched to a float rig and he too landed a nice Slot Redfish (this one was packed full of fiddler crabs, and still eating!).  Our next stop was further up the river at Snook Creek. We picked up another Slot Red and Greg landed the first Bonnethead of the year.

Our final stop was back at Bell River, fishing the flooding marsh grass and oyster beds. After Greg put another shark in the boat, drifting a live shrimp out the back, he had another hookup. Greg

worked the fish patiently in and landed a nice keeper size Seatrout (a Grande Slam). We were about to wrap things up when Wade's float disappeared with a vengeance! Big Fish On! This fish was ripping drag and digging down to the bottom. It headed straight for the grass line then BAM! The line went tight and we all thought the fish had gotten ensnarled in some grass. Greg was getting his line in and then he and I saw another float back at the stern of the boat with a BIG Redfish attached...how could that be?

The big Redfish had headed for the grass after getting hooked, wrapped around some oysters, then headed out deep. It appeared the line and fish were up at the bank but in reality the fish was out by the boat! Just a little closer and I could have netted it! It made one more lunge and BAP! The 15# braid parted and the fish was gone! You gotta respect a fish that put's up a battle link that. It made a great ending to another outstanding day fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Fly Caught Red

I squeezed in a fishing trip this morning, trying to beat the afternoon thunderstorms, and met Webster Jorgensen and his dad, Jim, down at the south end boat ramp. We were "fly fishing only" so we met early - 6:30am - just as the sun was coming up and headed up the Nassau River to make our first stop along a shell bed on the very last of an outgoing tide. Both anglers were making nice casts and we worked the bank slowly. I know Webster had at least one "take" along that first stretch, but the fish spit the fly.

We worked some beds at Seymore's, then some docks, then headed down to Broward Island to take advantage of the incoming tide. We were fishing intermediate sinking lines and tried a number of fly patterns: shrimpy flies, buggy flies, clousers and crabby flies. The water is deeper here so Webster and Jim had to let their flies sink slowly and finally it paid off when Jim had a hard bite, a set, and a hookup and, Fish On!  He played the fish expertly, slowly stripping in until he go it on the reel, then let the rod wear it out. After a good fight he landed a nice 19" Slot Red.

We finished the trip fishing some now flooding shell beds with some smaller suspended shrimp before we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Stormy Fishing

I've gotten wet the last 3 days fishing and it's dampened me and it seems, the fishing!  Yesterday I fished with Matthew and Emily Cannon, meeting them at the Dee Dee Bartels Park.  We fished float rigs outside of Tiger (and Matthew tossed the fly rod) but had no real bites. We bounced around to Bell River where Matthew picked up a Seatrout that was right at legal size but then again, no more bites. We fished the Tiger logs where Emily had a good bite, a hookup, but it threw the hook!  That happened 2-3 more times as we fished the Jolley River Bank, Snook Creek, MOA and the Bell River Docks. Tough fishing as some severe thunderstorms rolled in!

Today I fished with Bob Blalock and we were seriously handicapped with no live bait. Our first stop was to throw out a minnow trap then we fished cut-bait and Gulp Shrimp along Broward Island, but had no bites.  After checking the trap (skunked there!) we came back -made a pit stop at Goffinsville to get out of a rainstorm - then on to Seymore's Pointe, fished some docks with some dead shrimp and with overcast skies, decided to toss a topwater lure. Bob was working it perfectly and at one point had a couple of fish "spit" at it, rather aggressively, but not aggressive enough! After trying our luck for Mangrove Snapper we made one last stop at Christopher Creek and finally, Bob hooked up with a fat keeper sized Seatrout (released) and then a huge Jack Crevalle. 

March's temperature fluctuations, April's winds and this weeks rain storms will hopefully give way to some great fishing here at Amelia Island.....soon!

Drum or Jack?

We gambled with the weather this afternoon when I planned to meet Jeff Sousa and his father-in-law Skip down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. After raining all last night, it looked very threatening when we headed out and up the Nassau River to make our first stop off some exposed oysters on an outgoing tide.

 The duo were pitching jigs and live shrimp to the bank, up current, and it didn't take long for Jeff to "knock the skunk off" when he hooked up and landed a Seatrout that was right at "keeper" size (all fish caught today were released). Then shortly after that he had a strong bite, a hookup, and the big fish made a dash for deeper water...and it began
to rain...and the fight was on!
Jeff played it patiently and eventually landed a hard fighting Jack Crevalle.  Then Skip followed that up by catching a high flying Ladyfish.  We hit a large marsh run-out but had no real bites and with the wind beginning to kick us around pretty good, we made the run down to Broward Island to get out of the SE wind.

The move paid off - it was like fishing on a pond and with the tide just having a couple of more hours to hit bottom, I thought for sure that we were in the right spot. Nope. Both Jeff and Skip were making excellent casts, working the bank slowly, and we fished a good 100 yards or so, but to no avail. Not a single "real" bite.  So back out into the wind we went, and down to Seymore's Pointe where we set up with the bow into the wind and stern at some dock pilings which made for some easy casting...and luckily the fish were there! Both Jeff and Skip traded hookups, catching some hard fighting Jack Crevalle, then landing some keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum, then more Jacks, then more Drum.

We almost forgot the wind and bad weather until we pulled up and started in and saw a huge thundercloud to the south! But we buzzed back to the ramp and made it just in time before the rain started, so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida