I haven't had formal lessons so this may be a Casting 101 question. While I am fishing sometimes knots are formed on the leader. What am I doing wrong? Does this happen if one starts forward before the backcast straightens out? Or does it happen when if one is not keeping rod angle the same when false casting? Thanks for any info. I really enjoy the insight this forum offers.

It's probably caused by tailing loops, which are usually caused by too much wrist. When you bend your wrist back in the back cast, the rod tip drops. The line follows the rod tip, so it travels down toward the water/ground behind you. Now the leader is below the belly of the line, and when you bring it back forward (probably too soon, before the loop straightens out), you get a knot.

Try to send the rod tip UP and back in the back cast. You want the line to travel up in the back and then straight forward in the front. If this happens, the line never loops over itself. You want the rod tip to travel in more of a line than an arc - up/back and then straight out, not around a half-circle.

Also, try to feel the slight tug that happens when the line straightens out in the air during your cast. This happens when the loop travels all the way to the end of the line, and it happens in the back cast as well as the forward cast. Don't change direction with the rod until the instant you feel that little tug. As you lengthen the line, it will take more time for the loop to straighten out. Wait for the tug.

Hope that helps.

Tailing loops is definitely what causes the knots in your leader, sometimes called "wind knots", but I will have to disagree with the above statement about what causes them. By breaking the wrist on the backcast, you would actually be "opening" the loop during the cast and keeping the head of the line farther from the belly. This makes a bad cast and difficult in the wind, but not tailing loops. There are 2 things that cause tailing loops.
1) Overpowering the rod during your cast. your cast should consist of a SMOOTH ACCELERATION TO A STOP. If this acceleration is not smooth and overpowered, you will shock the rod tip and get tailing loops.
2) Dipping the rod tip during the cast. Since the flyine will ALWAYS follow the tip of your rod, any inconsistencies in your cast will be followed by a bad loop or tailing loops. Make sure your rod tip is traveling in a straight line between the front and back casts.

If your not letting the line extend out all the way on your backcast before coming forward with your front cast, you will hear a SNAP, like a whip, and be losing a bunch of flies!!! Like Woolybugger said above, try to feel that little tug on your back cast, that is when your line is extended out all the way and you are ready to come forward!

Here is a good image showing what your loops look like in the air

This a good illustration showing the dipping of the rod tip during the cast, and the end result of a tailing loop!!

Great illustrations, Gudfshn3. I don't think we disagree much, you just said it better.

I had your tailing loop diagram in my head when I said, "It's probably caused by tailing loops, which are usually caused by too much wrist. When you bend your wrist back in the back cast, the rod tip drops. The line follows the rod tip, so it travels down toward the water/ground behind you. Now the leader is below the belly of the line, and when you bring it back forward (probably too soon, before the loop straightens out), you get a knot."

When a caster cocks his wrist down in the back and then throws the rod forward (like throwing a baseball or casting a conventional rod) the tip starts low, then flexes hard and then straightens up, creating that concave path for the rod tip and a tailing loop.

The part about the big arc being undesirable was talking about the big open loop in your diagram, which is the other end of the spectrum, but still undesirable. I was trying to describe the happy medium between having your leader underneath the belly of the line (bad) and having the leader WAY above the belly of the line (bad).

Your pictures describe it much better. Sorry for any confusion I may have created, Grindle.

Over powering your forward cast as stated above causes tailing loops ending up in "wind knots". Keep your cast smooth and keep your casting hand on a even plane, whether up and back, level (horizontal) or even side arm.

WoollyBugger nailed it.....a lot of people are "throwing" a baseball when it comes to casting!! Casting a fly rod is a finesse move. Act as if you have an egg on the end of your line and you CANNOT snap it off, all the while going through the motion of hammering a nail into a wall in front of you. This is where the "SMOOTH" comes in!! Whether Im casting 20' or 100', my cast looks pretty much the same.....effortless!!!

i wish i could cast effortlessly..... *sighs*

We all do.


The truth is, that when you do it right, a fly cast is effortless. This is not a strength sport. Timing is key for an efficent fly cast. Learning to double haul, will reduce the effort even futher, by allowing the caster to share the effort between both hands.

Concerning tailing loops, if you move the rod forward after rotating the rod, you will get a tailing loop. As mentioned, accelerate to a stop with late rotation - right before the stop. Most tailing loops are caused by rotating too soon.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for your help. Looks like I have a lot of practice ahead. Unfortunately, I feel like I am doing everything mentioned above, at one time or another. Your explanations were clear enough for me to correct the problems. Thanks again.

rotation?

Stroke is moving the rod back or forward during the cast. Distance can be short or long.

> Short stroke = |.|
> Long stroke (longer cast) = |.....|

Rotation or Arc is the angle the rod changes during the cast. Generally, a long or fast cast will require more rotation than a short or slower cast.

> Rotation = \ /


Put them together and you get the Casting Stroke. The casting stroke should accelerate to a stop.

> A forward Casting Stroke should look something like this:

\...\..\.\\/ = Start slow and end fast, with a good stop.

> The rotation should be right before the stop. Early rotation will casue a tailing loop.

\.\/././ = tailing loop, this is bad.

That might be the best thing I've ever seen on a board about casting... or if not, the very best ASCII art casting demo

Ha ha.....yeah I was thinkin the same thing!!! Pretty clever using the / and.... as casting strokes!!! It actually puts a pretty good perspective on the cast!!!

Thanks guys, but I wish I was smart enough to have thought about showing it this way. I just shamelessly stole someone else's good idea.