Q Chaplain Sonny Dinkins wants to know: “Whilechasing silver salmon in Alaska, I was fishing with two oldergentlemen; the wind was whipping, and there was little elbowroomfor casting. Both men had 8-weight rods and I was using a 9/10-weight rod. I had difficulty punching into the wind. In a later discussion, they said they feltan 8-weight should be enough. What’s your opinion?”
Except for king salmon, an 8-weight is all youneed for fishing salmon in Alaska. The major reason people havetrouble casting in the wind anywhere is that they change theirforward stroke and try to overpower the cast, creating a big,wind-resistant loop. Instead, make the same stroke that you did onthe previous false cast – but haul faster on the line. This letsyou keep a tight loop, but the faster haul adds line speed. Bothtechniques are necessary to help punch through the wind.
