How to Make BIG flies Cast-able: Weight Balancing Flies

This is something that has been observed and developed by Mark Sedotti since the 1990’s – You can find articles that Mark has written about Weight Balancing Flies in Tail Magazine (issue 48 July/August 2020), and Matt Supinski’s Hollowed Waters.


Mark Sedotti New Facebook Video on Weight Balancing Flies: facebook.com/100009934482177/videos/14629945540…


Mark's Yak Slammer: youtu.be/B6Z96VVOicA

Mark's Feather Slammer: youtu.be/Fx7_VegjuQU

*Momentum = Mass * Velocity
*A Weightless Fly can do nothing but DRAG on your fly line
*increase the fly’s mass, we can increase its momentum
*we increase it enough, and the fly begins to fly WITH the fly line, instead of being pulled by it (traditional)


Mark Sedotti’s Weight Balancing suggests that the more wind resistant a fly is, the more mass is needed to cast it efficiently, the less wind resistant the less weight.


Weight:
All the weight in the fly adds up to weight balance the fly, not just the coneheads or lead wire. This includes Hook, Wire, Stinger Hooks, Eyes, Epoxy, Silicone ect… including Water Weight!


Why do people say Light flies cast better?

Light is a tricky word, as it could imply little mass, or sparsely tied. Used in the context of Sparseness – light flies do cast better as they have less wind resistance, and the weight of the hook becomes more functional to weight balancing the fly. Less material can also collapse more in the air making it more aerodynamic to cast.


How to do this yourself:
Add a Shank – load it up with 6” of lead at a time until it balances

Integrate this weight into fly for future ties


Now this is just a tool to have in your arsenal. As tiers, understand the time and place for everything. Not everything should be weight balanced as the weight and the placement of that weight will impact a fly’s action, both for the better and worse depending on your conditions.


Something that I find a fun challenge is trying to design a weight balanced fly that will suspend and balances and show it’s profile.


Play with it!


Tie two flies the same – one weightless, the other HEAVY, and see for yourself. Then, have fun trying to get the action out of each that you are interested in and use them accordingly.


Hope this helps you out
-Gunnar