Dealing With Tailing Loops

Pictured above: A slight downward tick of the wrist at the end of the casting stroke can help avoid the dreaded tailing loop.

Most fly-anglers enjoy practice-casting to hone their skills and the fun of working the rod and line to make a good cast. It’s an “atta boy” moment every flyrodder savors when the loops are tight and the line unrolls nicely. Most fly-casters have good form and technique when practicing on a park lawn, a local pond or a parking lot where 80- to 100-foot casts are relatively easy to achieve in such controlled conditions, but it all changes when out on the water. That’s when problems occur.

One of the most frustrating casting problems is the tailing loop, often called a wind knot or caster’s knot. There are technical causes for tailing loops, but real-life fishing conditions play a big part too. Most fly-casters experience tailing loops when dealing with headwinds, backwinds, hurrying a cast to rising or breaking fish, trying too hard for distance, or becoming fatigued after an hour or so of steady casting.

Lots of ink has been spilled on tailing loops in magazines and books, and quite a few solutions have been offered; however, most discussions focus purely on the mechanics of the cast and miss the reality of how actual fishing conditions influence how we cast.

Fatigue can be the best friend of a tailing loop, and it occurs when you’re wading and repeatedly casting time and time again, or perhaps if you’re in a boat making cast after cast on a long drift over wide grass flats. If you start fishing before sunrise, as many striped bass addicts do, you’ll probably get pooped out before daylight, and your casts will naturally become sloppy. Instead of fighting it and making yourself even more tired, stop for a few minutes to relax. A pause for a slug of water, a bite of an energy bar, a brisk elbow rub or a back-muscle stretch can get any caster back in the groove with renewed concentration and good casting form. At night, even if you believe your casts are fine, run your fingers down the leader to check for wind knots. You might be surprised.

Another cause of tailing loops is trying too hard, something many of us do while reaching out for a long cast or to breaking fish. Captain Joe Hughes of Jersey Cape Guide Service says, “The number-one reason I see is from effort or trying too hard on the final cast. Most casters have great form and mechanics (at least comparatively) during false casting, then everything falls apart on the final cast. They either overpower, break form, or both, which results in the dreaded tailing loop.”

“An easy solution,” according to Joe, “is to ‘trick’ yourself and let go of your cast before the final cast. By letting go of your false cast before your final cast, the angler usually retains the proper form, which results in a better cast. This is different tactic than simply reducing the number of false casts, which still gives the angler that one “final” cast—trying too hard and ruining the result. Instead, let go before you’re ready. It’s a bit of a mind game, but it works.”

Being too excited is a variation of trying too hard. When you first get to the edge of the surf or start a drift along a marsh bank, it’s natural to “let ‘er rip” on the first dozen or so casts. You’re probably juiced up from that huge cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee you chug-a-lugged while driving to the fishing spot and your energy level is high, which can cause a fly-caster to cast too quickly and improperly load the rod. You should burn off a little energy, calm down, and get into your rhythm. Captain Ray Szulczewski of Tide Runner charters in Cape May said, “Occasionally, I find I have to slow down a little and think about my casting because I am not loading the rod properly at the end of the backcast. Same thing happens with clients. I count out a ‘one-two-three’ pause on the backcast to let the line straighten, and this forces me to let the rod load for the forward cast.”

Several excellent books will help you eliminate tailing loops and other casting problems

• Performance Fly Casting by Joe Mahler
• Troubleshooting the Cast by Ed Jaworowski
• Casting with Lefty Kreh by Lefty Kreh
• Joan Wulff’s New Fly-Casting Techniques

Ray continues, “I think we all sometimes start going so fast that we do not properly load the rod and overpower our casts as if we are newbies just learning. Many clients take way too many backcasts before letting the line go. It’s tiring just watching them trying to do five or six backcasts. One good forward cast, a backcast and a final forward cast are all you need.” That’s great advice and helps avoid a tailing loop caused by trying to overpower the last cast.

According to Jim Valle, International Federation of Fly Fishers casting instructor at L&H Woods and Waters, rushing the cast can cause creep, and it can occur on a forward cast or a backcast. Jim remarked, “The unintentional movement of the rod in the direction of the next cast and too short a casting stroke for the amount of line outside the rod tip can also cause tailing loops.” This frequently occurs if you have to make a “backwards” cast by facing away from the target to put the wind away from your casting side. There’s a tendency to start the cast too early, before the line loads the rod, and to then add a muscular “oomph” to the cast. The result is a cast that falls apart and lets a tailing loop rear its ugly head.

Taking full advantage of a long casting stroke is essential to good fly-casting. Professional fly-caster, Mark Sedotti, says, “Almost every fly-caster who comes to me with a tailing loop problem is cured after he starts ‘drifting’ on the backcast before presenting the forward cast. Drifting means that after the rod tip stops on the backcast, the wrist and forearm are relaxed to allow the rod tip to go even further back and further down than it normally would. The drift must be completed before the line moving backwards completely straightens out.” This slight extension lengthens the forward-casting motion and allows the rod to be loaded deeply so that full power is applied without the need to overpower the cast.

Despite its nickname as a wind knot, tailing loops are not caused by the wind. “People frequently blame the wind for tailing loops, “says Captain Hughes, “but it’s not the wind. The wind makes people try too hard. Form and technique fall apart when fly-casters try too hard. They overpower their cast, thinking that will compensate for the windy conditions.”

A big part of good fly-casting form is muscle memory that comes from practice, practice, practice…and more practice, but many fly guys practice only when the weather is perfect, not under actual fishing conditions. Sandy Moret of Florida Keys Outfitters, makes it a point to practice nearly every day, especially when the wind is horrible. Captain Hughes echoes that practice plan. “Get out there and learn to deal with the wind. Practicing in the wind helps identify casting mistakes, forcing casters to improve their form.”

Bob Popovics is renowned for his fly-tying skills and innovative Pop Fleyes, but he’s also a superb fly-caster. When practice-casting, Bob advises using only the head and about 6 to 10 feet of the running line outside the rod tip—that’s about 40 to 50 total feet of line. “Get used to forming your loops at that distance, he says. “Once you control your loops and make decent false casts, you can train yourself to make one backcast and then shoot line to the target on the forward cast.” This also helps overcome the habit of trying to overpower the cast. When you get comfortable and see how easy it is to control 50 feet of line with very little muscle effort, just letting the rod do its job, you will be a better caster and experience fewer tailing loops.

One of my “personal best” reasons for tailing loops was keeping my wrist locked at the very end of the forward cast. This is typical for fly-casters like me who were taught many years ago to never break (bend) their wrist during the cast. Bending the wrist all through the casting stroke causes the line to move in an arc, which is very bad medicine for efficient casting. The line must move in a straight-line path, and to accomplish this, the casting hand and arm must also move in a straight path; however, by completely locking the wrist right up to the last moment of the forward cast, the line from the backcast is actually on a collision path with the line in front of it, which is already unrolling on the forward cast.

Nick Curcione, writer and top-notch fly-caster, showed me a technique many years ago at the Somerset Fly Show casting pool to prevent this collision. His solution requires a slight downward bending of the wrist at the very conclusion of the forward cast, right after the rod tip stops. This causes a slight downward flexing of the tip, which carries the line slightly below the oncoming backcast as it unrolls and becomes the forward cast. No line collision, no tailing loop. Often while fishing at night, when my casts are short to bridges, docks and bulkheads, I slightly exaggerate this to be sure my casts unroll without the hassle of a tailing loop.