Not too long ago I decided to get back into my Jackson Coosa X and show it some love. The weather that day was hot, almost bluebird skies with some white clouds, and of course very windy. The wind didn’t worry me as since I decided a little over 4 years ago to put my spinning rods and bait casters away and dedicate my fishing skills to the fly rod. In the past I would bring my fly rod along in the kayak but after a few years it appeared to me that the fly rod would be just along for the ride. That is when I made the commitment to actually learn how to throw and fish the buggy whip. So, what are the challenges of fly fishing from the kayak or in general?

The obvious one is that as a fly fisher, you have to learn to cast the fly line and not the fly. This is due to the fact that a fly whether it is a dry, wet, or streamer fly does not have much weight at all. The casting weight for a fly rod is from the fly line. The weight of the line is normally from the first 25 – 35 feet of the line; which is commonly called the shooting head. The shooting head will vary depending on the style of fly line that you have. For fly fishing from a kayak I would recommend a fly line that has a shorter shooting head. This will allow you to make a longer cast from the kayak. In this blog post I’m only referring to floating fly line, but I do have plans to address hovering, intermediate, sinking/sink tips, and a fly line that combines the capabilities from floating to sinking fly lines later.

The next challenge is casting from a kayak is casting from a kayak either in a standing or sitting position. On this particular day the wind was creating some swells that I did not feel comfortable standing and casting the fly. The conditions would provide me with an inadequate stance. Your stance is very important in ensuring casting consistency and stability. An unstable stance will affect casting accuracy and distance. When you are off-balance or misaligned, the energy transfer from your body to the rod inefficient that leads to erratic fly presentation and missed opportunities to hook fish. So, I decided to stay seated while casting. This positioning also creates other issues in your casting.

In a seating position you are more stable allowing you a solid foundation for executing a smooth, controlled cast with less effort. There are still negative points from fly fishing from a sitting position. One is any vertical fishing equipment behind you; like landing net, safety flag, power pole, conventional fishing rods, and the action camera can be caught by the fly while casting. You need to remember that not only the fly is behind you but you also have 25 – 35 feet of fly line behind you as well that has to be delivered in front of you. Casting a fly from the seat of the kayak can be a challenge as in some kayaks you might be sitting on the deck of the kayak or as in my Coosa X I’m sitting in the high position, so I would recommend that a fly fisher should look into a kayak that incorporates a lawn/beach style chair. Another reason for a raised chair allows you to strip the fly line between your legs and not into your lap if you are sitting on the deck of the kayak. In closing about casting from a sitting position is no different when casting from your knees when keeping your profile low when approaching that trout stream.

Casting techniques like the normal overhead cast, side arm cast, cross shoulder cast, roll cast, the reach cast, the curve cast, and the double haul cast should be used depending on the situation. For this article I will discuss the various fly casting techniques needed for this day fly fishing inshore. As I’m right-handed I will address the overhead cast, side arm cast, cross shoulder cast, and the double haul cast. I mention that I’m right handed as the situation on this day the tide was going out and the 9 mph wind was from the east. The standard overhead cast did not work very well as the wind blow my fly fine and fly into the landing net, the power pole, and worst into my body. So I had to adapt to casting over my left shoulder so the fly and fly line is being blown around from any obstacles. Another option is the side arm cast which keeps the fly line closer to the water and possible out of the wind. While I had position myself roughly 40 – 50 feet from the grass line I had to incorporate a double haul to reach out to 50 feet. The double haul enhances line speed, distance, and accuracy, requiring in saltwater fly fishing.

The next challenge is minimizing the number of false castings. False casting is the repeated forward and backward rod motion that occurs while a fly fisherman is casting. A fly fisher needs to keep this false casting down to 2 or 3 false cast, false casting to much means that your fly is not in the water where it should be to catch a fish. Also, false casting to much at a tailing redfish or a fish that is swimming by could spook the fish or the fish will swim out of range before the fly hits the water. Of course, the challenge if you get the fly to the fish is to get it to follow or eat that presentation.

The last challenge for a angler that uses both conventional fishing gear and fly-fishing gear is that the kayak angler will notice that their catch or hook-up ratio decreases significantly when fishing with a fly rod. The wind picks up the fly rod will stay secured in the kayak or put away and the conventional fishing gear will get all the love. Yes, I have experienced fewer hook ups since I have dedicated myself to learn more about the fly-fishing experience. I have noticed also as each year goes by that my skill set in fly fishing is growing.

In closing here is my challenge to those kayak anglers that use conventional fishing rods and fly-fishing gear is not to take both on the water with you. If the day is a day that the wind is calm just take the fly rod. While your hook up ratio might drop you will find that practicing the fly rod will be enjoyable and eventually you might make the commitment to the fly rod on other days to challenge your fly-fishing skills.