Fly Fishing's Winter Activities

Ever find yourself dreaming about Springtime and counting the days until your inaugural spring fishing outing? Yes? Me too! Winter seems to be the longest season, wedged between 9 wonderful months of Valhalla. There are some that venture into the frigid temperatures that old man winter brings us, fighting the perpetual ice in the guides syndrome. I have personally outgrown winter fishing, or have grown wiser (probably not!) as I age. For those of you who have real jobs, and cannot spend the winter months basking in the Florida sun making bad casts at game fish, there are certainly activities that can fill the voids in our twelve month fly fishing obsession. Let's visit two of these time killers (your wife may call them a "waste of time") that can prepare you for yet another successful year.

Casting
Casting, an activity you do outdoors because you are no longer allowed to do it indoors due to last winter's interior damage, is the best way to increase your catch rate. The beautiful thing is that it only takes about ten minutes a week to improve. Casting any longer than 10-20 minutes is counterproductive. Long sessions lead you down the road of regression and bad habits. The goal of practicing is to eliminate our non productive behaviors, not practice them. Here are a few tips to follow for success:

Start with a horizontal cast in front of you, meaning the rod is parallel to the ground, not perpendicular. Make a series of half casts, one at a time. Start with your line laying out to your left, start slowly moving the rod to the right, beginning to load it, accelerate and stop. The line, if done properly, will be 180 degrees to the right of the beginning point (left handers can reverse all of this). This is really just like the back cast, except we stop the rod and let it land. Now, do the front cast, opposite of the previous cast. Starting with the line on your right, and ending with the line landing straight and on your left. The front and back casts are mirror images of each other, one moving to the aft (right), and the other moving toward the fore (left). Practicing the horizontal cast is the most basic way to identify casting errors. If the cast does not land in a straight line, then we immediately know that the movement pattern was incorrect. We are breaking the cast down to the lowest common denominator. This is also an efficient learning exercise because we can see both the back and front cast. We so rarely look behind us when casting at fish to see if the line is uncurling correctly. In this exercise, finally we can see both sides of the equation. This is a great way to start your practice session and to become centered before moving to the next level.

We are now ready to airielize the cast. I do another short series of half casts, but this time with the rod vertical, or upright. A couple reps and I move into false casting. Start with 20 feet of line and over the next couple of minutes stretch it out. I love finishing the series with trying to carry as much line as possible in the air while false casting. Bruce Richards, a very well respected casting instructor, likes to use this drill as a way to increase your distance. Being able to carry an honest 40 feet in the air consistently is a great skill and will improve your casting immensely.

Spend the last couple of minutes going through all the trick casts you may use in a given fishing situation. The reach cast, the cast your guide asks you to execute and you remark..."I think I remember that one, can you show me again?"...is a damn good skill to possess. Throw a few to either side making sure the line at the rod tip finishes at a right angle. Tower casts for the trees that are always behind us; pile and "S" casts for tossing the fly upstream in pocket water situations; a batch of accuracy casts at various distances, and whatever specific cast your region demands.

A fun way to finish your weekly ten minute session is to cast with your off hand. How many times a year do you wish you could cast with your other hand? It would make things a lot simpler. It really does not take long to become proficient at 30 feet, although it may not seem like it at the start. Just a little work in the off season can bring great rewards when the time comes to cast at a real fish. The fish will hate you for your practice in the winter...but isn't that the goal?

Fly Line Maintenence
This is an activity that can absorb an entire afternoon if you wish, depending on how far you want to take it. I prefer to do this in front of the television. At some point you will need to sit down on the couch and untangle while watching football. This activity can easily consume the better part of a Sunday.

Dig out your fly reels and let's do a line inspection. It is probably dirty, as I very rarely clean it after the final use in the fall. Loosen the drag and strip the entire fly line onto the floor. It's best to do this in a carpeted area as to prevent damage to your lines. Don't do this in the garage or other places where gas, oil, or other toxins that can damage a line accumulate.

Start by Stretching the fly line. Remember that lighter trout lines don't need to be pulled on like a 12 weight Tarpon line, as too much pressure can actually cause the coating to separate, or you may even snap the line in half. Just create a little friction pulling the line through your hands 2-4 feet at a time, letting it cool in between repetitions. You can examine the line visually and find any nicks, separations, cracking, or rough spots. You may realize that this line is not going to make it another year and needs to go into some random drawer in your tying desk so you can look at it once a year for the next ten.

You may think to yourself, "Is this the line that was sinking last year?" They don't last forever, and should be replaced more often than most people think. Guides routinely replace their lines every 30 to 60 days! It is the most important part of our fly fishing outfit. The line is the vehicle that allows us to deliver the fly to our waiting prey. If you cannot get it there due to line issues, the fact that you have fish feeding in front of you is moot.

Cleaning each fly line is our starting place. There are a number of ways to do this, the most common being to use fly line cleaner purchased at your favorite fly shop, Headhunters Fly Shop in Criag, MT, on the world's best dry fly river (a shameless plug). These consist of a cleaning pad and a cleaner/lubricant solution. You can also wash it in lukewarm water in your sink with mild detergent. Use a soft sponge or "wondercloth" to wipe it clean. While fooling around with your lines, look at the connections between backing/line and the butt section/line and see if any need to be replaced or retied. It is not a bad idea to retie both, for a fresh start and to reconnect our brains with our fingers in a knot tying exercise. Now that your fly lines are ready to go for the upcoming season, you can move on to cleaning the garage or...open up your gear bag and untangle the mess of flies thrown in there at the end of the last fishing trip. But that is an entirely new project for next weekend.