Left Handed Flies

Left Handed Flies

When the wind becomes a concern, many fly fishermen find themselves unprepared to deal with the wind. Being able to handle the wind will improve one’s enjoyment and success. In windy conditions, there is always the possibility of a hook in the head, and the bigger the hook, the greater the concern.

If you are only a right-handed caster wading upstream, and fish are on your left and a strong wind is blowing downstream, most fly fishermen would move the rod downstream so that the fly line and fly would move by your left shoulder when casting, not your right shoulder. You lose distance, accuracy, and presentation when you cast this way.

Say you are wading with a wind at 12 o’clock and fish at nine o’clock, and you need to make a long cast. If you are a right-hander, you most likely will bring the fly over your left shoulder and release the fly on the back cast, not the forward cast. Again, accuracy suffers. It is difficult to judge the distance this way, and it is difficult to observe the movement of the fish through the back of your head.

In conditions of wind, one should master casting with the left or opposite hand. If you are a stream fisherman, there are a lot of opportunities to make short casts and gradually build up your distance and accuracy. Just take some time to practice and maybe on your front lawn will do the trick. There are more issues with the hand handling the fly line, than with the casting hand, especially when double hauling.

If you fly fish in a boat, one in the bow, one in stern and a rower in the middle, and the rower decides the right bank is the place to fish, if you are only right-handed you must move your fly line and fly on the left side of your body or endanger the rower. The better way is to cast left handed. Similar problems occur when one fishes the stern.

Just another skill to improve enjoyment and accuracy. Good fishing. Bonefish