Physics Behind Fly Fishing

Reported April 2011

MERCERSBURG, PA (Ivanhoe Newswire) --It’s time to put away the ski poles and get out the fishing poles, but there’s more to fishing than meets the eye. And once you get the hang of your rod and reel—then try to fly fish. It changes the game completely. Next, we’ll tell you about the physics behind fly-fishing.

The movie, “A River Runs Through It,” helped make fly fishing a popular sport and sent many flocking to rivers in search of lessons.

But you don't need to be Brad Pitt, go to Montana, or spend a fortune on fishing gear to master the sport. Expert fly fisherman, Dusty Wissmath says you just need a little physics.

"I think the most difficult thing for a beginning fly fisherman to really master are the mechanics of casting,” Dusty Wissmath, Biologist and Fly fishing school owner told Ivanhoe.

To cast, the trick is to launch a virtually weightless fly (or lure) attached to an end of a fishing line so that it lands gently out on the water.

"We're actually casting the line and the fly is going along for the ride," Wissmath said.

When casting the rod, the line is lifted off the water then brought over your head and behind you. As the line comes to a stop behind you, energy is stored in the rod and that energy is then transferred into the line as it is cast forward again in front of you – similar to the motion of cracking a whip. The line unrolls and settles on the water.

“Once you cast that rod it gets that lure moving,” Wissmath added.

The fly cast is a precision motion that involves timing practice, patience, physics and one more thing Wissmath has.

"I've caught a lot of fish over the years since I've been doing this, I've been fly fishing since I was eight years old."

Experience helps too.

The most famous fly fisherman in the sport is 83-year old, Joan Wulff. In 1960 she set the women’s unofficial world record for distance casting – 161 feet.

The American Physical Society contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Dusty Wissmath
dwissmath@skiwhitetail.com

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