I got my first fly rod&reel to the beach yesterday after practicing in a soccer field all afternoon. I had some good coaching from some fishermen on the shore. Now I'm wondering if there are any good tactics for getting better distance.
I have a 9ft 8wt. St. Croix with a 3.5"Konic reel. The line is 9wt cold weather salt water line ( intermeadiate )with a 16lb tapered leader. I was using mostly a Clouser I tied with barbell eyes. Also about a foot of coated steel leader, about 12lb test.
I noticed the line would shoot good but the fly seemed to be floating in all directions, usually hitting the water after the line.
does anyone have a good tip for setting up leaders? I want to keep it tough in case of Bluefish.

Distance will come with practice. Don't try to cast all the fly line just yet. Pull out something reasoable and go from there. If your trying to catch bass, lose the wire leader. Use a basket to keep the line out of the water. Make one if you can't afford one. Keeping the line out of water and looped in a basket will greatly improve your casting right from the get go. Clean line after every use, with at least water. Stretch line before every use, and I mean every use, so the coiling that does occur in basket is at least more pliable during casting. Only a straight line cast well, and only a straight line can be pulled and retrieved from the water easily.

You'll get it.

Learn how to double haul. It will also save your arm from becoming tried.

It's actually ok for the fly to land last. Ideally it kinda ploops over straight like a finger roll in basketball. (I hope that makes sense, only analogy I was coming up with).

Like the other guys mentioned keep practicing. Often you don't need to cast all that far and unlike a plug you can keep the fly in the water long and move it very slowly.

If your fly is landing after your line your leader is not turning over and is probably too light or long for the fly being thrown. A Clouser being relatively heavy requires a shorter & stouter leader. I use about 4' of 40 pound butt section with about 30" of 20 pound leader loop to looped for most of my salltwater fishing. For bluefish I use a 4-5" trace of solid Malin tobacco colored .014" wire haywire twisted on each end. This will provide enough protection when bluefish are around and won't bother the bass. I like the loop to loop connection because leader replacement is a snap. I just use Berkely Big Game or Maxima for the butt section and Berkely Vanish f/c for my leader sections because it is cheap and it works.

Getting more distance with a fly rod is a lot like getting more distance on the golf course. As such there are many schools of thought. First off fly casting is an athletic motion, just like a golf swing or a baseball swing. Timing is extremely important, making sure to accelerate the rod forward at the moment the line goes straight will load the rod better and result in more line speed. Next make sure you're going from 10 o'clock to to 2 oclock, not 9 to 3. this will allow the rod to load more fully. As stated before double hauling will greatly help your line speed, this will take a while to learn but it's very helpful and the timing of the double haul will help even more. Also this may seem funny to say but just like when I play golf, I gain casting distance when I've been lifting weights. I'm not suggesting that fishermen should be hitting the gym for an hour a day (that would take away from fishing) but for me it has really helped. As far as leader that seems like a lot. I would use a 6 inch wire or 6 inches of heavy fluoro. These are just some things that have helped me I hope they help you too.

BillM, you asked aboout leaders for BLUEFISH there are a bunch of different one's out there. you can buy WIRE thats already looped, 6-8-10-12" LENTHS you an buy tieable wire thats it great, an you can
use LARGE DIA of mono or heavy guage FLORO CARBIN LINE w/ thin dia. an DON'T FORGET use your OLD BEAT-UP FLYS for BLUES they will eat ANYTHING:tooth:
GOOD LUCK GOOD FISHIN:cheers:

Coordination and timing.

Spend a little money and take a casting lesson. It will be money well spent and will speed up your learning curve. The instructor will correct your casting stroke. Check with your local fly shop they'll put you on to a good instructor. FishHawk

Tired of seeing "Great Deal" and getting all excited, so I had to bump this post to the top!

:D

Practice, it will come. There are a few subtle moves that give you that extra few yards.

I have to say I witnessed some of the longest sw flyrod casting I've ever seen in H E A V Y wind during the last days of the derby. I wouldn't even pick up my flyrod in conditions like that and there were a couple guys who were drilling long casts into the wind. I was really impressed. They were outcasting a couple spin guys!

Just came across your post on casting. Your St. Criox, thouhg labeled as an 8 weight, will actually throw a 10 or 11 weight line a whole lot better. Rods are made so stiff today that you have to compensate for that with high line speed. By going to a heavier line, the rod will load more deeply into toward the butt section of the rod and in turn put more energy into the cast so that you don't have to work so hard. This is simple physics. With a properly matched line and rod, you should be able to lay the head section of the line on the ground in front of you and throw your entire line with one back cast, no double haul. I know this flies in the face of today's conventional wisdom, but it is true and it works. And I can guarantee that those guys who were throwing line so well into the wind were "overlining" their rods as well.

So find a guy who will let you borrow a reel with a 10 or 11 weight line and give it a go or go to your local fly shop and see if they have 10 or 11 weight reel set up you can use out in the parking lot or berhind the shop. You will find that you will need to slow down your casting stroke some in order to let the rod load. You will feel it. Believe me.

I'm looking at getting a stripping basket, even though it makes ya look like your out there doing dishes : ) The William Joseph ones look prety cool but I dont know if they have any spindles sticking up inside. Does anyone use these?