(Fly fishing) sometimes my fly "spins" while I'm casting…? | Fly ...

by admin

I think Airflow is telling you right, and I think this happens to most everybody. A big asymmetrical dry fly, like a Wulff or Adams, may "propeller" the way you describe. Sometimes there’s almost nothing you can do about it, but there are things you can try.

First, change tippet. In my experience, this is the number one reason flies twirl and get buggered up — your tippet is too fine and/or too long. Shorten your tippet and/or use a stouter tippet. If it’s a big fly, you should be using heavier tippet anyway. As Airflow says, flourocarbon tippet will definitely twist less — it may even prevent the fly from twirling at all. I have found this to be a major drawback to very fine tippet — even smaller flies will sometimes twirl when using tippets 7x and smaller. Move up to a 4x or larger and see what happens.

If that doesn’t work, try a change of fly. Some peculiarity of the wing or hackle might be making it twirl — another, supposedly identical fly may not twirl as much, or you can try a similar but different pattern. Drop a hook size — switching from a #12 fly to a #14 may be all it takes. If you can’t switch, try wetting the fly. That might change the aerodynamics enough to make the fly quit its twirl. A big dry fly should fish the same even if it’s pretty wet, so hopefully it won’t affect your presentation at all.

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