Fly Fishing - Handline Fly Fishing

jeremy

I was talking to Greg Bosteter (Boz) about some of the stuff he does teaching for LLBEAN. He started talking about how part of the clinics he does inovlves him casting a fly line without a fly rod or reel. Simply, using his hands to shoot fly line and cast fly lines. I said, "Really, how far can you cast a fly line without a fly rod and fly reel?" He said, "Depending on the type of line etc.. a 60 foot cast is about the range." Immediately, I said, "Wow!" and my mind starting wondering to putting this theory to work in real world fly fishing scenerios. I started thinking about all of the hand line FISHING I had seen in my travels to various regions of the world and I thought about the guys under the bridge fishing with handlines and bait and catching big tarpon. I started thinking of the handline fisherman I have seen catching trout and even the kids I have seen handlining on docks in various saltwater and freshwater fishing environments. So, I said to myself "If it works with bait, why not flies?" And, I love simplifying things in all sorts of aspects of my life. So, I thought about the times that I go on a drive here in Maine with my wife and young boys and I thought about how many of our rivers are FLY FISHING ONLY .. and I thought to myself, "Wow, if I want to fish xyz river with my boys, it's a law that I have to be fly fsihing. But, wouldn't it be cool to have just a fly line in my wallet (all the time) and some tippet and a couple flies" .. That way I am always prepared and ready to FLY FISH! And, I can pull over and catch some brook trout with my sons without the need of a fly rod or fly reel or any of those things. All I would need is my wallet!

So, I have been inquiring with boz about the various line types he uses to do casting demonstrations at LLBean clinics and trying to get him to help me find a "simple solutions" for fly fishing handlines that could be used as a tool in certain applications in both freshwater and saltwater fly fishing applications .... I then have been working with Jason-C on the concept too and he has been tossing around some ideas about adding some components like a modular spool with backing (great idea) ... so anyway, maybe this is just another whacky idea that will never get put to use ... or maybe only get put to use for specific little purposes, but it would be fun for me to try putting it to use in real world fishing scenerios and there is no doubt, that for me, in certain instances it would be pretty cool to be able to fly fish without a rod and reel and a vest and all that stuff ... just my wallet with my fly line in it .. and i'm in the game ....

so .. if anyone has any ideas .. feel free to give them .. even if you want to say "that's the dumbest thing i have ever heard" that's cool too ... just like a spey rod, or a 2 weight rod, or an indicator, or a sinking line, or a floating line, or a float tube, or a kayak, or a stripping basket etc... make sense in the context of the realization that they are all merely tools that serve a specific purpose for specific applications and they all don't serve you well in every application ... this "fly fishing handline" would be just another tool! .... fun! and if i can catch a rising trout that i see when driving over a bridge here in maine when i don't have my fly fishing gear or a feeding tarpon i see when walking around a bay or on a beach picking shells with my wife .... great! .. i like the concept of at least, always being able to throw a cast ... if the opportunity presents itself. and, if i am not mistaken ... as long as it is fly line and i am fishing with a fly .. it IS fly fishing, right?

so --- boz, tell me more about what some of the limitations might be that i would face? is it realistic to expect to be able to throw let's say 40 feet of line? i can still double haul and load the line obviously, becasue that is a dynamic that has really not much to do with the rod/reel at all, right? i can certainly still strip streamers or swing flies as i would, possibly using double handed retrieves .. and i can certainly strip set as opposed to using the rod to set the hook ... so fill me in on actual line types that you use at llbeans to demonstrate? wf floating or shooting heads? what is the farthest you have ever seen the line casted by someone? what types of flies would be better/ worse? i am assuming unweight flies?? .. you get the point ... bottom line .. is i am looking for HELP in building this TOOL from boz or anyone else? might be stupid a stupid idea, but wouldn't be my first .. thanks.

Boz · Newbie Joined: Oct 16, 2005 Posts: 65 Location: Portland

Jeremy,

Hand casting is very challenging and will teach you to be a very efficient caster. I think it is very possible to catch fish by hand casting in some situations, however there are some limitations...

To acheive distances greater than 40ft you Really have to be on your game. I work with some guys who can throw around 60 ft by hand consistantly, I however cannot.

To hand cast you absolutely need to be able to haul and double haul well.
In terms of "loading" you lack the "flex" of a rod so you really have nothing to load with unless yo are gumby. Attaining distance is by good timing, hauling and increasing your normal hand travel.

When you make a 40-60 ft cast with a 9 ft rod your hand doesn't need to "travel" far to make this happen. Hand casting you lack the 9 ft extention of your hand (rod) so your hand needs to travel in a way longer stroke to make the same 40ft cast.

Good lines for hand casting would be intermediate 8 or 9wt lines...

In terms of fishing it is very hard to acheive line control without the 9 ft exstension of your arm... so dead drifting can be extremely difficult (but not impossible).

Hand-cast fishing would be best suited for stripping streamers of light or little weight.

You would definately be able to catch fish in limited situations and it' would just be fun trying.

With the industrys trend of longer rods I imagine if you showed up to a local river and threw a 60 foot hand cast and hooked up...

the response would be...
Shocked

The point that was made in this hand casting demo we do at Beans is you can still fish no matter what you have for gear. At the end it is the fisherman catching fish not the rod.

urinalcake · Newbie Joined: Mar 08, 2008 Posts: 12

I guess I seen a fella fly fishin in the mississippi river then Rolling Eyes

He had a chalk line with a rail road spike on it, at the end of the

line was a 16/0 treble hook. He would chuck it into the river and

hual it in hand over hand.

Said he was fishin for paddle fish.

Personally I gave him an F as a fly fisherman. Just me I guess.