I'm a relative newb to spey rods. I was out recently casting a new rod and noticed that my cast was suffering from the dreaded "bloody L" problem, particularly on my snap C. What is kind of intersting is that I learned on a 9 wt. rod throwing tips, and don't seem to have this problem (at least as consistently) with that set up. I recently bought a light weight spey rod and was throwing a floating line. What causes this? What is the solution?
The dreaded "bloody-L" is created by having your anchor too far upstream before you begin your forward cast. The "L" shape is the result of the end of you fly line being pointed upriver and another portion of your line (your d-loop) postioned perpendicular to it. This violates the 180 degree principle, ie, your leader, fly line, and d-loop all need to be in a straight line for a cast to succeed.
One way to think about what your trying to accomplish is to examine a roll cast because that is the model to use with spey casts. A roll cast has a d-loop that is 180 degrees from your target, and is in line with the fly line, leader and your fly. A spey cast is simply a mechanism to position the d-loop wherever needed to achieve a cast in the direction desired.
To correct it, there are a few options. One is to simply not allow the anchor to be placed so far up river. You can achieve this by using less line or by sweeping your rod further down river at the final stage of "c" move, or phase I. This will position your anchor closer to you. Remember, you want your anchor about a rod length away or so when you make your forward cast. Watch where your anchor is landing.
Another correction is to sweep the rod further out in front of you and then back further behind you during the creation of the D-loop, or phase II. The rod should be constantly lifting through this motion so that you arealize as much fly line as possible and still maintain enough of an anchor for your cast. The apex of your d-loop should be high and not directed toward the surface of the water. By moving the rod tip further and/or with more acceleration during this phase, you should be able to redirect the end of the fly line from pointing upriver to pointing toward your target. Your fly, leader, fly line and D-loop need to be in a straight line prior to the forward cast.
If the end of your fly line doesn't piroutte or change position from pointing upriver to pointing accross river toward your target during phase two, you've still got a problem. Start with a short line and you should start to see what creates the "bloody-L" and how the end of the fly line needs to move.
The cause of the Bloody L is usually found in the swing as you bring your rod up river. Either YOu don't have enough initial lift or (more likely) you have too much and you are dipping your rod when you swing the rod back before you perform the decondary lift to perform the D-Loop. As you lift (secondary lift) the rod tip to form the 'D' Loop, the main belly of the line touches the water instead of just the part of the line that you want to anchor. The result is the end of the line flipping upstream resulting in your L.
So Make sure the belly stays above the anchor...just enough lift and no dipping!!
The good thing is its probably not your fault. There are a number of factors that will affect how much lift you need. How much line you have out, the weight of the fly/tip, the action of the rod, the speed of the water. Just need to get the feel of the set up. Just slowly go through the steps of your cast one by one and try to make sure your back swing doesn't have a dip in it somewhere.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Washington Fly Fishing Forum
1.8M posts
21.3K members
Since 2000
A forum community dedicated to fishers, anglers and enthusiasts in the Washington area. Come join the discussion about safety, gear, boats, tackle, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!