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Casting distance with OBS

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Chasin Fin

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I'm new to fly fishing and really love it. Been working on my casting and watching lots of videos. Curios, can most cast their rio obs with a clouser and reach the backing? I'm casting an 8 wt xi3 and not getting that kind of distance but my goal is to get there in the next year if possible. Would love to be casting 80 plus feet. Right now I'd say I'm around 65' but sometimes the cast hits the sweet spot and it flies.

 

Also curios as to what most carry for overhang? I'd say my sweet spot is about 2-3'

 

I'd love to see some slow motion video of guys casting with the rio oBS if anyone has any good video.

 

Any tips or suggestions as I'm all ears. Took a private class a while back and think I'm just about ready for another.

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That is what I was hoping for. I really haven't been around any saltwater fly fisherman so basically just trying to learn from doing.

 

Overhang I am referring to the amount of running line that is out of the tip. So with the rio obs I have the full 30 feet of shooting head plus 3-4 of running line.

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Hey Spigs

He means the amount of running line out of the tip just before release.

 

Chasin , try lengthening your casting stroke.

Eliminates "dumping" for me.

And you need just the right amount of line speed for those lines.

I am using them more and more on Cape Cod because of the steep beaches and wind.

My favorite rod is a 10 wt and that is a much different animal than the 8.

My very good friend George Q (gjq on SOL) loves his #10 moderate action rod with a RIO OB S #9.

Says he casts into his backing with it.

So definitely keep at it by trying different casting stroke lengths and line speeds.

The shorts are difficult to master.

Regards

Herb

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CF gotcha' now. I actually don't have any of the running line outside of my tip when casting the OBS. I just try to have the head portion outside the tip and after a roll cast and one back cast you should be able to achieve 75 - 80 feet easily. As HL said, the timing with these lines is very important. I use a quick, short stroke and am very satisfied with the results.

 

One thing I hate is endless false casting. A line in the air is not finding fish.

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As others have said, it takes some getting used to, but yeah, you can get some distance with it.  The main reason I love it is I can make a ton of repetitive casts efficiently, which makes big streamer trout and warmwater much more enjoyable.   Its probably my favorite shore line for lake fishing, since I can load it with a short amount of line out the tip, and not tag the shore behind me.

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Yeah I am using it for striper fishing from a boat so lots of casting and also in the surf. Caught 5 surperch in about a hour yesterday in Santa Cruz. Tough to work on casting when the surf is big but there are times when the cast just feels right and the rod loads.

 

I think I have been starting the haul to early as well so my timing has been off. Just need more practice!

 

That's interesting that you shoot it with the head still in the rod and are getting great distance. I'm definitely going to try it. Thanks guys for all the help and support. Hopefully I'll be chucking large clousers and large topwater flies soon!

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The OBS is sooo overweighted it actually slows your rod down making it harder to generate decent line speed IMO. I love the OBS Intermediate but use 8wt OBS on my 9wt CPS and cast 80ft+ no problem. A few feet of overhang is ok but the running line is so thin and light you aren't getting much benefit from having more line out. In fact I would say the most common mistake about fishing these sort of lines is too many false casts.

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Buy an 8wt OBS for your 8wt rod and you are probably going to be over lined a tad too far. See JRT's post above. Your over hang is fine. It is very optimistic to expect to be hitting 80 to 90 feet so early in your fly fishing career. Facts are that most never hit a measure 90 feet. Lay out 80 or 90 feet of measured line on the floor and its a long way. Having said that if you are ambitious and take enough lessons you could be hitting big distances in a few weeks.

Short head lines do not make the best distance lines. Lines with heads around 40 feet are better but need a bit more skill. Short heads perform worse into a head wind if you try and reach out as they tend to dump.

With a tail wind or friendly cross wind they can go very well. You may well find that for your Xi3 8wt that a 7wt OBS will work better for you. The head weight will be similar to a longer belly fly line's first 30 feet rated 9wt.

Not my favourite line by a long chalk but they are very popular with many Fishers.

 

Mike

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Thanks guys for all the advice.  I'm certainly continuing to practice as i really want to achieve long distances especially when it comes to throwing large top water flies for Stripers.  I order a video from this boards recommendation (George Roberts) and it definitely has helped so far.  It's nice to see slow motion casting, etc to see what is going on.  


I also video taped myself and of course to my surprise, i was doing a lot of things incorrectly.  It was really eye-opening to say the least especially when it came to my timing and where I was stopping the rod and the end of each stroke.  Need to video myself on each lesson so i can hopefully gradually improve.  


i also just ordered a RIO OBS 7wt intermediate line which i will try on my 8 weight to see how that goes.  I'm also in the market for a new 7 weight for surf perch fishing along with striper fishing the delta.  Anyone have any recommendation to match up with the RIO OBS?  I was thinking of the Sage Method.  


80-90 feet is a long way but if its doable, I want to keep learning so i can do it too.  I'm sure the same rules apply, if you can efficiently  cast 90 feet than casting 70-75 feet will be a breeze.  


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I fish a 9wt OBS on a fast action 9wt rod, mostly in the surf, feels just right, not overlined. A lot of short casts, especially in the dark when the fish are close. I practice with a 9wt Airflow Striper Ridge line which has a 40 ft head. I can practice casting with more fly line outside the rod tip with the Airflow line.

 

This is my 4th season with the long rod. In practice earlier this year I had plateaued, in the 70-75 feet range consistently, with the occasional 85 if conditions were perfect and I loaded the rod just right. I started playing around with shooting some line into the final backcast and - boom - immediately I was getting another 5+ feet on my casts. Don't even have to hit the timing perfectly to get a benefit. You can really feel the rod load more deeply with the added backcast momentum from shooting line into the backcast.

 

You can try to do too much too soon with your casting. Don't start double hauling until you've got the basic casting stroke down. I wouldn't try shooting line into the backcast until you're pretty good at double hauling.

 

So keep practicing. Master the double haul. Then start shooting line into the backcast.

 

I like George Roberts too. I thought his book Master the Cast was the best fly casting book for beginners.

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Chasin Fin

 

Of course 85 to 90 feet is doable. But it is a figure banded around by so many as though this is an easily achieved target. Many claim to be able to cast this range but the evidence one sees in practice on the beach rather contradicts this. This can lead you to think you are failing some how when you first start to get into fly fishing. To consistently cast 90 feet requires good casting skills it is that simple. Also realism has to come into play. A medium head breeze is going to make 90 feet almost impossible, factor in a steep beach behind you and it becomes a bit of a dream.

Yes if you have the technique and skill to cast 90 feet then 75 feet in the same conditions will be easier to reach. If you have the ambition and time and access to someone who can teach casting then there is no reason why you can't get to this holy grail of 90 feet in weeks rather than years as some will suggest. The ability to cast this far will enable you to fish more effectively in tough conditions to when the wind is in your face or on the wrong shoulder. You will be able to fish when others stay at home. Priceless.

 

Mike

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RH37

 

I agree that shooting additional line into the back cast can be beneficial providing the Caster has the skill and line speed to manage the extra amount of line in the air. This technique works of course with long belly lines as feeding just running line from a short head line like the OBS will offer no benefits at all.

 

Mike

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First, let me say I never cast this line. Second, when casting a traditional (integrated) fly line I often shoot line on my last back cast. When I'm casting a shooting head, however, I find that shooting line on the last back cast almost always causes a big hinge where the shooting head and running line connect.

 

To me, the OBS line, looks like a shooting head line. I'm taking an educated guess: If I were to cast this line I probably would not shoot line on my last back cast. If I did, I would shoot only be a very short amount, maybe a foot or two.

 

Randy

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I use my 9wt OBS on my 9wt Orvis Clearwater (med-fast action) and can hit 80-90 feet regularly with a single false cast. How do I know?  Because I can count how few wraps of this 100' line are left on the reel. I've also used the 9wt OBS on my 8wt Orvis Access (very fast action) with good results. So I would not consider that this line overweighted based on my experience, but I certainly respect that others are having good results underlining too. I guess that proves how versatile this line can be.


"Work is what I do in between fishing trips."

 

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