I will try to get Korrie Broos to come on and explain...but I can assure you you can lob a
size 22 midge pattern, as I have said I have done it & caught fish.
The technique is to place your thumb along the top of the handle & imagine there is a small 1" ring
on top of you rod "where a hook holder would go but on the opposite side" & you have to put your
thumb through the hole. Very much a wrist action & using the drag on the fly as it goes behind you
to add tension, bit like forming a "D" with a double hander.
Hope that sounds less complicated to you guys than it does to me reading it back.
Alex
Hi
When Alex fished with me in the Cape, I showed/taught/explained some techniques and casts to him.
The majority was shown to me by friends I have in the Czech, Italian and French fly fishing teams over the years. Some were "secrets" a couple of years ago.
I think the short cast that Alex is refering to is where we fish only the leaders up to 18 foot in the Cape, due to the loads of pocket water and small riffle and runs we have in the Cape. You need to alter the casting strokes and fast rods are not the easiest to fish with in this style. If you are use to casting a fly line to load the rod, it is not easy, to get the fly out and to land where you want it to land. When nymphing, you use a techinque very similar to a roll cast. To get some load on the rod and to get the fly to land where you want to. With dry fly, you need to alter your casting stroke completely.
The sketch of a Czech French nymph leader, (40 feet in total) Posted by Alex, was developed by a Cz angler. This is to cast to very spooky fish in clear slow water. It works very well with a team of nymphs or dry fly. Again, it is a different casting stroke, and much slower. You can cast direct to the fish, without fly lines landing on the water etc. The Traditional French leader is used, with a special/different cast, and using the fly line, approaching the fish from diagonally behind, where you would cast a VERY BIG upstream mend into the leader/tippet section. The fly will approach the fish, with no tippet over the fish. giving you a very long down stream drag free drift.
The Czech fly fishers have developed a cast that replaces the bow and arrow cast. for using it up to double the rod lenght away from you. I call it the "Fly swat" cast. It is used with weighted nymphs only, NOT DRY FLY. you hold the rod horizontal to the water, or at a slight incline. the leader is held parralel to the rod, WITH NO TENSION ON THE ROD!!!!!!. The fly rod is used as you would use a fly swatter, swatting a fly on a table. as your fly swat will strike the table, the same action is used on the fly rod, you let go of the weighted nymph. The weighted nymph, moves in a STRAIGHT LINE, along the fly rod, and lands in the water. Done correctly, the accurancy is fantastic, this requires a bit of practice, but a very useful cast, if you fish in tight areas/spots.
I hope I have answered all the questions that might have arisen out of Alex's post. Regards. Korrie
