Fly Hanging Up on Leader

[ponner1us]

Hi All,
I fished Saturday afternoon, and experienced a problem I haven't encountered yet. It seemed like on every other cast, my fly was getting hung up on either the leader, near the loop, or further up on my fly line, causing quite the bird's nest. I was using a Rio Powerflex 9' 6x leader and numerous dry flies, from size 16-20. I made sure my cast was good and really didn't do anything I don't normally do. Any idea what would cause this? Only thing changed was I don't normally use these leaders. I switched to a Rio 12' 6x, and it happened less but still happened...

 

[pcray1231]

Hanging up during the cast? It's called a tailing loop. It is a casting problem, but I think there are many causes. Starting the forward cast too soon (too short a pause), and uneven power application on the forward cast are two such causes.

An overpowered cast with an abrupt, high "stop" will also do it.

What's happening is that you get the rod tip moving forward in a straight line, and then on the power stroke, the rod tip dips lower than that. Your nice parallel loop turns into a circle, and the fly coming forward crosses the line.

For me, anyway, yeah, it's worse with long soft rods, and soft leaders. There are also certain casting situations on stream where I run into issues. If I have all the room in the world, it's rarely a problem for me. But if I'm trying to avoid that bush on my back cast, and altering directions during the forward cast, I often run into issues. I'm not sure if it's the slight direction change, or just paying attention to one thing and losing attention to the rest of my mechanics. But in those situations, sometimes moving a few feet is enough to change my angle to avoid it.

 

[tyeager]

I run into this problem on longer casts that I overpower....google "tailing loops" or "how to fix tailing loops" and you can find a lot of information.....I find that I am prone to three or four problems that all lead to not staying in a straight line path with the rod tip and causing tailing loops; especially when I try an punch one out there

 

[afishinado]

Here is a great video on tailing loops, why it happens and how to correct it.

 

[martin0206]

That's a great video.. I am definitely struggling with tailing loops as well but have improved since I realized I was trying to overpower the rod thanks to help from OldLefty.

 

[Foxgap239]

martin0206 wrote:
That's a great video.. I am definitely struggling with tailing loops as well but have improved since I realized I was trying to overpower the rod thanks to help from OldLefty.

Good thing H-A, Dog and I didn't spend any time helping you! If we had, I'm sure we may have said the same thing a time or two. :roll: :roll:

 

[delta_dog]

Good thing H-A, Dog and I didn't spend any time helping you! If we had, I'm sure we may have said the same thing a time or two.

^^^^No kidding.....that's the reason his girlfriend casts better than he does. It's because.she listens....and because Ed taught her.

 

[martin0206]

Haha, you guys have helped a lot too and I do listen. You guys have probably mentioned tailing loops to me as well but that last time with Old Lefty he had me specifically working on getting rid of them. You guys have taught me 99% of what I know about fly fishing.

 

[osprey]

Yah Mon u gotta open up that loop a lil.