Roll Cast Pick up

[midnightmoonlight]

I'm new to Fly fishing and have been working on my casting over the past few weeks now that there is some water to work in.

I have WF 6 F that I can roll cast pick up and then cast well with. Out to about 50'.

Im having a hard time doing that with sinking line. Im only out to about 30' and very inconsistent.

What are some tips and tricks to getting sinking line up with the roll pickup other then more practice?

If I want to fish deep in lakes and ponds would I be better with sinking tip, floating with lead shot or sinking line? Depths of 20-25'

 

[jcstikfish]

Work the sinking lines towards the surface by making a (false)roll cast (or two) without an actual pickup to backcast. Once the head is close to the surface, try your rollcast pickup.

Honestly, a rollcast pickup is somewhat of a "finesse" technique usually associated with fishing dries over spooky fish. Does one really NEED to do it fishing subsurface in a deep lake with a sinking line? Probably not, but anytime you can make your equipment do the things you want it to, you are becoming a better caster and that in itself is worthy or pursuit.

~James

 

[midnightmoonlight]

So I can use a normal cast with 30' of line under the water without using a few roll casts to get it up?

 

[Pete]

When I'm fishing deep water, it's usually from a boat, with plenty of room for a back-cast, so a roll cast isn't necessary.

I "strip-retreive" the line until the leader (and maybe a few feet of line) is all there is in the water. This can easily be picked up without too much fuss. Then, I use conventional false casts to work out enough line to complete a normal cast.

BTW: A lake could be a good opportunity to learn/practice the double haul cast.
When you have so much more water to cover, a roll cast doesn't cut it.

 

[jcstikfish]

So I can use a normal cast with 30' of line under the water without using a few roll casts to get it up?

No, you still will have to get the line to the surface, via retrieve or some roll casts, but you can then do a normal pickup right into a backcast. A roll cast pickup is not necessary, getting the line to the surface is.

~James

 

[ajfromnj]

What type sinking line do you have? When I fish sinking lines in lakes I use a 10 foot 7 weight. A lighter and more flexible rod will simply not have the power to lift the heavy/dense sinking line out of the water. When fishing with sinking lines in lakes it pays to marl the line in ten foot increments so that you know how much line is out. Why would you want to fish so deep in a lake anyway? Most of the fish that you will catch on a fly in a lake cruise the shorelines and the windlanes. You will not find them deep unless its the summer, and then it can be fatal if you bring them up to the surface. The only time that I use heavy sinking lines in a lake is to fish what they call mini lures, which are small streamers. I am not using that line to achieve great depth but am using it to keep the flies down because I am stripping them quite fast.

As for the rool cast pickup, look up a spey cast called a snap t, the first part of that cast is much more effective as to bringing the line to the surface.

As for the comment on thinking that commotion does not bother fish in lakes, it puts them off as much or if not more than in streams. Remember, there are no real natural sounds in the water like the current makes in a river. Make sure to be very quiet, especially if the lake conditions are flat calm.

 

[midnightmoonlight]

Im not sure about the type on the sinking line. Its a hand me down with a 6wt rod. It looks to be a level dark green full sinking line. Ill try it with my 9' 7-8wt rod and see if thats any better. I guess 25' is a little deep. Just really triing to get sinking line technique figured out.

 

[ajfromnj]

The majority of lake fishing for trout is done with a floating line, intermediate or a midge tip, which is a floating line with an intermediate tip. These lines are used when the trout are feeding on insects or daphnia in lakes.

When the heavy sinking lines are effective are when the trout are freshly stocked and the use of small streamers is the number one technique. They were made for what's called pulling flies. This is where you need the flies to stay down in the water column while moving them fast. You would be unable to do this with a floating or intermediate line.