For those following the Speed of Haul discussion on the Sexyloops Bulletin Board, here’s that post I promised. For those not following the discussion (or not wanting to read through those pages of casting-tech pontification), what follows is a quick taste of double-hauling (short cast) as shown on the 200-frame-per-second motion-capture system used by the [...]

[ Javascript required to view QuickTime movie, please turn it on and refresh this page ] Nail knots can be a pain to tie—especially when you really need one and there is nary a tool in sight (or you don’t know how to use said tool). Well, a “Nail-less” Nail Knot is a slick and [...]

Loop-to-loop junctures allow for a rapid change-out of a leader. If you pre-tie your own leaders or buy your leaders pre-made, you can go from slinging muddlers to dead-drifting mayflies in about two minutes—including the fly change. You can also refresh a worn leader system in a hurry. I have had days when my terminal [...]

GB has a good post up about the 5/7 Blood Knot, a variation that I grew up tying (the “School of GB” was a great, if sometimes demanding, one). Personally, I use this knot for leader butt/taper interconnections, then move to a three-turn Surgeon’s (or Water) knot for tippet section(s) (talking trout/salmon, etc. here, but [...]

As promised: Spey goodies. This is Juergen Friesenhahn’s contribution of German efficiency to the Spey world (especially the shooting-head side of things). I like the way the cast flows so smoothly and quickly, using a variation of skills that many Spey casters already possess (Can you make a Snap-T or Snap-V? If your answer is [...]

Yep, a pure lazy well-timed re-post. True, there is a perma-linked page over in the sidebar, but my web stats say the pages often get missed, so here it is again. This is an almost-verbatim snip from my Nature of Fly Casting book about one potential aid in grass-casting. And yes, you’ll probably see it show up again [...]

As a few FF&W readers may know, I was fortunate enough to get some time on an early version of the Casting Analyzer way back in the dawning days of the device. (If you don’t know what the Casting Analyzer is, see the Castanalysis web site). Those initial analyzed casts provided a few graph’s worth of data [...]

For those who have been putting up with my laziness waiting patiently since, oh, February, for me to get this back up at FF&W, here it is! While there was already a post that showed the videos, I think it’s best to include them here again (and if you want to see a serious curve, check [...]

My friend, and fellow casting geek, Tomonori “Bill” Higashi, e-mailed me a few months back asking if I had a good mo-cap sequence showing SLP (that would the “Straight Line Path” of the rod tip during a cast, which is actually only straight for part of the cast, and then only for casts where it [...]

I occasionally get e-mails asking about roll and Spey casting on grass, and ways in which to make land-bound practice more useful. What follows is an almost-verbatim snip from my Nature of Fly Casting book about one potential aid in grass-casting. – – – – – – – – – - It can be difficult [...]

A fly in-the-hand and a fly on-the-water may be two different things (at least to the fish). Below are a few shots showing a real Hexagenia mayfly dun just outside the edge of the fish’s window (photo taken via a slant tank), and the insect just inside the fish’s window (the brown area outside the window is [...]

I originally wrote this for the Federation of Fly Fishers’ newsletter, “The Loop.” Figured it couldn’t hurt to post it here, too. – – – – – – – – – - In the U.S. leader and tippet material diameters are typically measured in thousandths of an inch, with tippets also given an additional “X” [...]

[ Javascript required to view QuickTime movie, please turn it on and refresh this page ] While a link to this DVD already appears over in the sidebar, I thought that I would eat some bandwidth and post a short QuickTime clip—slightly modified—from the video. If you happen to be looking for the new-wave in [...]

FF&W Expeditions™ is now booking spots for a select few anglers who have what it takes to meet the challenge of the puffer. We recommend appropriate angling gear (flip-flops are a good start), and specialty flies such as a pink Bogglehead (shown), or a size 12 Hare’s Ear. After years of research and the redemption [...]