Permit are the fish that humble experienced saltwater anglers, and Bruce Chard has spent decades guiding for them. On this episode he makes a point that is easy to miss: most permit failures start before the cast, in the way your fly line, leader and fly work as one system.
The permit problem: two hard things at once
Bruce explains that permit fishing asks you to do two difficult things together. You throw a heavier fly, usually a crab, and you throw a longer leader than for most flats fish, often in wind. Each makes casting harder. Together they make it very hard to turn the leader over so the fly lands straight and you can stay tight to it from the first moment.
That matters because on a spooky fish you rarely get a second presentation. Slack in the system means you do not know exactly where your fly is relative to the fish.
Hinging: the hidden leader killer
One of the most useful ideas in the conversation is hinging. If there is a big jump in diameter where the leader connects to the fly line, or you mix soft and hard monofilament so the leader does not taper smoothly, energy stops flowing. The leader flops instead of unrolling. Bruce points out that this shows up in your false casts as well, so you start the real presentation already behind.
A smooth system carries the energy from the line, through the connection, down the taper to the fly. If the leader does not lay out straight on the false cast, it will not on the presentation cast either.
What to do on the water
- Keep the connection between line and leader small in diameter difference, and use a taper that steps down gradually.
- Be careful mixing very soft and very stiff leader material in one leader.
- If a fly line front taper is too long for the fly and leader you throw, shortening it can make a real difference.
- Check your tight-loop casting. Bruce notes that tight loops are hard to form when the system is working against you.
Bruce says this experience of redoing leaders and trimming front tapers with guests on the boat is what led him to ask a line designer why permit lines did not exist when bonefish and tarpon lines did. His goal was a taper that helps a long leader and heavy fly turn over in wind.
Percentages and experience
He is realistic about the fish: permit are among the hardest to catch, and success is about percentages. A good presentation and a fly that rides correctly can swing those percentages. Often, he says, small adjustments to a leader or line setup fix what an angler assumed was a casting problem.
Gear
Before your next saltwater trip, practice your leader-building and knots. Our Tips and Tricks for Fly Fishing eBook is a good companion. When you are ready to match a line and leader to your rod, a local fly shop that does saltwater business can help you cast options side by side.
