Günter Feuerstein

Fly Cast Design

I have been fishing since my early childhood and if you would ask me what I like more, fishing or fly casting, you would immediately get the answer: "Fishing, of course!" However, the largest and most difficult fish require some advanced fly casting skills in order to not spook them. That was my motivation to develop my skills and create more efficient casts.

Intro

I am a fisherman and the fish I could not get were the motivation for my longlasting trainings on the lawn and in the gym to improve my flycasting technique. During these year long exercises I was developping several new casts and technical variations which I spread among the fly fishers around the world in dozens of shows and special fly fishing events and of course in my courses and especially the instructor training courses. In those courses I have taught some of the best instructors of present times which helped to spread these new casts into all corners of the fly fishing world within a relatively short time.

I want to explain you several casts/technical improvements now, which I have developed in the last decades and which show great advantage in special situations. They have meanwhile been published in several books and videos. The GF Upstream Pick Up(better known as Snap-T) and its variants (Snap-, C-Spey/Snap-Z/Snap Cast) are some of my oldest casts but only became popular after teaching them in the States in 2000 to some enthusiastic instructors from Calgary.

Some of the others I developed in the early nineties. I showed them first officially in summer 1995 at the FFF-Conclave in Livingston/Montana(USA) while casting with Lefty Kreh. After that I demonstrated them in Swalmen (NL, in 1995) at the Chatsworth Angling Fair (UK, 1996), at the Danish Fly Festival in Kolding(DK, 1997) and at Fly Fair (NL, 1998) and since that time at dozens of shows in Europe, the USA and even in Russia.

In the last years I have optimized and fine tuned some casts and made them more effective. It was always my aim to control the energy by optimizing the technique instead of being or becoming a slave of it. At present time there are movements within the fly fishing scene which put the use of maximum power in the center. For me fly fishing is anything else but using maximum power and touching the ground with line and fly during the false casts several times just to cast some meters more. This belongs to tournament distance casting but should not become some sort of a mainstream in fly fishing. It is to decide well what can be used at the water and what not and the things should not be mixed up. At least what I am concerned, fly fishing and the casts I use at the water will always be performed in an elegant way with a harmonic, obviously powerless but nevertheless very effective technique. Thus I only forward useful fly fishing techniques to my international clientele and the fans of energy control.

My Developments in Fly Casting

GF Backhand (off shoulder) Power Haul

Perfect Double Hauling (aka Arrow Haul / High Hauling)

My revolutionary backhand hauling technique (based on my more efficient double haul technique for the basic cast) allows better loading of the rod, smaller loops and much longer casting distances. Well known instructors all around the world have confirmed the enormous efficiency of this cast and many of them use it now and have dramatically improved their off shoulder casting. The rod loads much better and the harmony between rod hand and line hand is optimized. This makes your flyline fly and fly and fly...

more info on how to perform the High Hauling correctly

Elliptical Hauling

A special hauling technique that I introduced many years back. I taught it to top US fly casters including Mel Krieger, Al Kyte, the Borgers, and many others in 2000 in Montana. This hauling technique allows you to have better contact with the fly line during the haul and enables you to perfectly control the lower leg of the loop in order to have a perfectly unrolling upper line.

The Magic Switch"(Minimal Switch)

The most elegant and efficient way of Switch Casting. To be seen on the DVD of the special edition 20 of Fisch & Fang " So wirft man die Fliege" on chapter 5 "How professionals cast". First published in Sedge and Mayfly in 2005 and latest publication was in Russia's leading fly fishing magazine in 2008.

How to correctly perform the Magic Switch

This is a take from a CD added to an edition of a German fly fishing magazine for which I explained my way and philosophy of the Switch Cast - my Minimal Switch or Magic Switch.

The Snap-T and its variants

The Snap-T was originally designed as a trick cast for nymph fishing with single hand rods. I created it in the eighties. It snaps the nymph upstream with ease and also allows a long distance presentation in situations where not much space for common casting techniques is available. This cast is meanwhile used world-wide for fishing with two handed and also with single handed rods.

Get all information on the Snap T and variants here.

The Snap-Z (airalized Snap-T)

My solution for special situations. I officially presented this cast first at EFFTEX in 1995 allthough it is " quite a bit older". The Snap-Z allows you to carry more line in the air (larger final "D"-loop) and to get a deeper loading of the rod. But the greatest advantage of it is the time it provides to you. This cast allows you to cast much bigger angles without getting any problems.

The "Dunker"

This is my improved high speed Tuck Cast which makes the nymph sink very fast. It outcompetes all other variations of tuck casts becauses the rod tip movement is optimized to get the highest speed of the nymph when it snaps through the water surface.

How to perform the Dunker

The "Distance Dunker"

No other cast in the world makes your nymph dive deeper on distance. But be careful! This cast is a potential rod killer and requires the full concentration of the caster as well as very high fly casting skills. The cast is performed in a vertical plane so the nymph passes your body and rod closely with extremely high speed. It will smash your rod if the nymph hits the blank.

The Side-Roll Snap

The side roll snap is a special cast for sight fishing on distances from 4-8 m.

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