Fly Casting
The Truth
Fly casting is the essence of fly fishing. Put the beauty, the grace, the motion and symphonic rhythm of the expert fly caster aside. Good casters, like most proficient athletes, make the fly cast appear rather effortless.
The ability for one to employ casting skills to effectively take fish in a variety of situations is the essence of fly fishing.
Lost in today’s cacophony of high tech gear and exotic fishing destinations is a truth unchanged since fly fishing’s inception in England hundreds of years ago. Fly fishing means placing the fly precisely to take advantage of a specific fishing opportunity. While there are a number of excellent resources available to teach anyone to fly cast, relatively few become truly proficient at fly casting.
The Minimum Requirements
For freshwater fishing situations you should be able to perform a straight line cast consistently to thirty feet. You should also learn to add in a single haul to the forward cast. If you can consistently put the fly where you want to, with in one foot, at forty feet, you are a good caster. If you can do this in a cross wind or a head wind, you are a great caster. This is where to set your sites. You will then be able to deliver a fly 60 to 80 feet under ideal conditions. Add double hauling and other additional techniques along the way such as roll casting.
To effectively put the fly where it needs to be sounds simple - it is most surely not. With wind, current and other variables, properly presenting a fly is far more difficult than any other type of fishing. Why so many choose to down play this art is unfathomable. It is also why some turn away from the sport after initial introduction.
The Secret Fly Casting Technique
The secret casting tactic is this: there is no best technique. Find some form of reference, be it a friend, a video, or book. You can check out some of the early methods HERE. Take the information, practice and put it to the test in your yard or any open field. If it seems awkward try something else until it feels natural. Fly casting should feel natural. I started with a couple of videos from the Doug Swisher 3M series (do a search for Swisher in the video section here to find the series). His techniques contradict some other popular methods, but they worked well for me. I have since incorporated others ideas and have a “combined technique” developed from videos, books, and guides and real life experience. I am not a master caster, but I can generally deliver when the light turns green.
You need confidence in your casting. You need to build power over time. A good basic technique will lend itself to added power once the fundamentals are mastered. Eventually you will be able add the power needed to fight wind and adverse conditions. You will then be able to consistently score when others struggle. My wife knows little and cares less about flies or fish strategies. But she can cast a fly rod. She will catch more fish than an expert strategist who can’t hit the target consistently.
Practice Fly Casting
Of all that you read on this website, the single most important concept to take with you is to improve your casting. Someday you may put your casting prowess on the line. And when you deliver, with a pod of 100 pound tarpon circling forty five feet away in a daisy chain, you will be as delighted with yourself as with any accomplishment in your life. To be able to consistently hammer that fly into that subtle nook where the big fish lay, will set you apart and your enjoyment of this simple pastime will soar.
A Note on Guides and Fly Casting Lessons
Take advantage of local guides when new to an area. The learning curve time reduction will be worth the money. Anglers don’t take enough advantage of guides as fly casting teachers. Most guides are very adept at quickly taking a lousy caster and at least transforming them to an adequate casting level. Every trip I take I hear the same thing from the guide:
“Yesterday I fished two guys that couldn’t cast ten feet!” they decry.
Remember: It’s hard enough for a guide to get you hooked up even if you can cast!
Fly Casting Resources:
Since you need to develop your own style that feels comfortable, I have listed a number of instructional resources, in no particular order, to assist you. It pays to try a number of different techniques until you find the one, or a combination, that works.
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