Since it is October, and it’s a little spooky allow me to make this analogy. Tailing loops are a lot like the boogie man, lurking in the shadows, forever present and if you arent looking over your shoulder now and again it will make an appearance. However, there are some ways to keep this boogie man of sorts at bay when you are out on the water.

Okay… I apologize, that is enough spooky analogies for one day. In my defense it is Spooky Season and if I didn’t make it someone else would have. But you came here for two tips on fixing your tailing loops before we go over how to fix them, we need to go over how tailing loops occur. So let’s dive in, shall we?

When we look at the origin of tailing loops the source of the issue is almost always associated with the angler’s casting stroke. A tailing loop occurs when there is too much rod acceleration at any given moment during the angler casting. When that rapid acceleration occurs during the casting motion your rod will flex (bend) too much causing your rod tip (the lightest part of your rod) to dip below your casting plane. It is important to remember that at this moment your fly line will always follow your rod tip. Allow me to interject here a bit, this is a very representation that your rod tip is nothing but a glorified pointing stick, where you point your rod tip is exactly where your fly line will go or at least wants to go. Since this is the case, when your rod tip makes that dip across or below your casting plane (Once again due to too much rod acceleration) your fly line will follow. Why does this happen? Well, to spare you a deep dive into physics it is due to differing weights present in the fly line picks up momentum differently. Remember, all of your weight in your system is loading from the fly line and little to none is on your tippet section. That is what makes for those perfect placements on the water.

Now that we know that we know how tailing loops occur let’s take a look at where they occur within a casting stroke. For many, this issue comes from applying too much rod acceleration too early within the casting stroke. typically, the reason for this is because anglers are trying to overcompensate for other external factors that are affecting their cast. These can come in the form of trying to get more distance out of a cast, trying to force a cast into a strong head or crosswind, or simply having too much line out at a given time. And look, let’s be honest we have all done this before, either just one or all three, and now and again we get by unscathed, but like the boogie man, it’s always waiting for the right moment to ruin our day. Also, the term for the action mentioned above is “punching line” so if you ever hear someone making a comment about your casting or saying stop “punching line” it’s probably because you are doing one of the actions mentioned above.

Now that we know where and why tailing loops form it is time to go over how to fix them. Unfortunately…and I hate to be the one to tell you this, there is no “correct answer” I can give you, however, two tips that will (hopefully) eliminate tailing loops being in your future.