Why does my fly line snap on my back cast

To start the casting section on the CudaFly forum we shall be posing a few of the common questions asked by students that have taken lessons through Barracuda Guiding.

One of the most common issues when learning to cast is the timing involved to get longer casting distances. The first few false casts are fine and then maybe the third cast results in a loud crack of snap on the back cast. There are two main reasons for this.
  • The timing of both the forward and backward cast has remained constant throughout the false casts. At shorter distances this proves to not be a problem as your rod recovers quickly and still manages to load ready for the forward cast. When the back cast increases in length the rear loop is half formed when the front cast is performed, basically turning your fly line into a whip. To combat this as long as there is enough momentum in the back cast waiting fractionally longer each time the back cast length increases will stop this. You will know that your timing is correct as the your rod will load correctly and your forward cast will increase in distance. If however you have waited too long on your back cast the rod compression will be lost and no distance will be obtained on your forward cast. Through practice you will manage to get the timing of your casts increasing the waiting time for your back cast to unfurl.
  • The momentum of the back cast is not enough to both straighten the fly line and compress the rod. Remember that your fly rod is effectively a spring and unless that spring has stored the energy the fly line won’t shoot forward. Since childhood we learn that to make an object go forward we must put all energy into that forward stroke. Now here is the difficulty with fly fishing. Effort must be applied in equal measure to both our front and back casts to store energy in the rod. If we don’t then the rear loop does not form and again we crack or snap the fly line. To remedy this apply equal force. Easier said than done as this is part of the charm of fly fishing. This act can take some of us years to master!

One final point and this is the biggest advice I can give to anyone learning to fly cast. Remember that initially this was the sport of gentry who where not generally renowned for their physical prowess. As above the rod is a spring. You over compress any spring and you loose considerable amounts of energy. Let the rod do the work and not your arm.