# Casting Distance



## Indybio72 (Nov 6, 2013)

Hi all, to begin I know that most fish are caught at less than 50 feet and that accuracy is more important than distance. However, what is the farthest you can cast. Also what line and rod are you using. I currently am using a 7wt with airflo's general trout taper. 60 to maybe 70 feet is the best I can get. I've been trying for weeks to work on distance casting but just can't do better than that. I don't know how some people can cast the whole line. How much is attributed to the line itself. As I'm aware there are certain distance lines. I ordered Rios outbound short to give that a try, not sure if I will see a difference though. 
Also to be honest I don't know why I'm stuck on distance. As I said I know most fish are caught close. I guess it would just be really cool to be able to cast the whole line.


----------



## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

I have to assume you are double or at least single hauling??? and a ton of your results will be attributed to the rod, the rline and even the reel to some deal, if your after distance, youll want a fast action rod, probably a 7 wt, go longer like a 10 ft'r and then play with a shooting head taper vs a double taper line, also a must, always clean your line and use a sheet of amorall on it just before the distance attempt, Im no expert but was FFF certified casting instructor for a few years and have won several of our MVFF distance contests. Last thing, practice, practice and then practice some more. Good luck, 

Salmonid


----------



## ohflyfisher614 (Apr 2, 2010)

I suck at casting and say 50 feet is typically my max. Besides the fact that I use cheap line and rarely clean it. I tend to get lazy and lose my form or do a weak haul. That being said I rarely have a need to cast further and will just wade closer to my target.


----------



## riverKing (Jan 26, 2007)

A few tips on distance
Stop working so hard and let the rod do the work, this means waiting long enough when the line is behind you, most people make the forward cast to quickly.
Get a casting lesson from a good source, this is probably the most helpful.
Learn to double haul (casting lesson)
The line and rod can make a difference, is this a nice 9ft 6wt or a cheap 8ft 5wt, you don't need a $700 rod to throw a fly line but short or slow rods are tough.

Do you need to throw a whole fly line, no, is it fun, yeah.
I will say that learning to make quick, accurate, efficient presentations at 50 to 70 ft makes it much easier for you to catch certain species or simply catch more of them, but is rarely needed to catch them. You can catch bonefish, and I have, on a 20ft cast, but you will catch more at 50.


----------



## Indybio72 (Nov 6, 2013)

Thanks for the replies. The rod I'm using now is a 9 foot 7wt TFO BVK which is a fast action rod.


----------



## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

Timing is everything.


----------



## Flymaker (Jan 24, 2013)

I think river king nailed it ...let the rod do the work ...wait on the back cast then do a haul ......and it also important to have the time of the rod in muscle memory .... think of your rod tip as a paint brush keep it on the ceiling as far behind and in front of you as you can ..if your rod tip is making a big ark your distance will suffer ...also don't rush the forward stroke of the rod ..the rod has to load to launch the line....I can hit 70ft pretty easy even with a sink tip ...but really fishing in streams is really all about control ..if you cant control 70 ft of line on the water chances are your presentation will suffer...... I can cast a whole line but don't think ive ever fished a cast that long .....I was all hung up on distance yrs ago ..It will come but unless you fish out west or on a bone fish flat accurate casts of 40-60ft with good line control and presentation will catch more fish than the whole line stung out on the water hap-hazardly drifting out of control


----------



## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

It all depends where you fish. When I'm fishing big river rapids I might have to drop a fly eighty feet away in a pocket the size of a toilet bowl... that's where "the" fish is. 

More often than not, I'm repeatedly casting to lies 20' away that might average 12" in diameter.


----------



## kritterkare (Jul 30, 2014)

Yep a clean and stretched line is very important to shoot, when I clean my line I will attack a fly to a post put most all the line out then use a S.A. line cleaning pad with the line stretched then follow with the dressing, I also clean the legnth of the rod with the dressing cause especially the tip portions of the rod makes a lot of contact with the line.

Leaders and the flies used can make a difference in distance as well I like to use a whipped loop for my line to leader connection over a mono nail knot set up. I can usually throw 80' easily and have tried shooting type lines as well as long body lines and my thought is if you can throw 70' easily that is about all you need.

Watchign vids or reading instructional books on casting is likely the best way to get the best of your outfit the book Troubleshooting The Cast is a good cheap book to help practice it goes over all of the casting basics. The biggest thing I ever learned is you can not cast until the line has straightened in front or behind you so if you move forward on your cast before the line has straightened behind you that effort will be wasted on the forward cast until the line has straightened then will start to load the rod.


----------

