If you are reading this post I’m guessing you’re new or inexperienced at the spot of fly fishing. I will try to be as descriptive as possibly when it comes to this post. If your still seeking help, or don’t understand what’s being said thy these inks…
The first thing when it comes to casting a fly rod is being able to keep your form. During the cast you should be able to:
- Keep a proper stance for good balance… Keep yourself from falling in the water while your casting. Avoid standing on overly slanted rocks, or banks that are steep and will give way easily.
- Keep a good grip in the fly rod with your usual casting hand, or your strong hand. Your opposite hand should be free for stripping or feeding line unless your using the two hand fly casting technique.
- keep an eye on your line as it goes back and forth during a cast as a beginner. Keeping an eye on your line will prevent you from dipping it to low on the back cast (when your bringing the fly line back). As You learn to control your fly line better the use of your eyes will be less important during the cast.
- Keep your wrist bent and forearm lined up with the rod during your cast. This will keep you from dipping the fly rod to much while you cast, which will in turn keep you from snagging up on most terrain during the back cast (when the fly line comes back toward and goes behind you). It will also keep the fly line from dipping to low and hitting the water early when you bring it in front of you.
- Use shorter, quicker casting strokes between ten O’clock and tow O’clock. By keeping the majority of your fly pole between a forty five and negative forty five degree angle, or ten O’clock and tow O’clock on a standard clock, you’ll also avoid the over dropping or your line which snags on brush and pops the water while trying to cast. This greatly slows down your cast, keeping you from making farther casts, and discouraging most from trying the sport of fly fishing.
- Practice, Practice, Practice!! Practice is the best way to accelerate at any sport. And just like any sport, you don’t need to be in competition (actually fishing) to practice you fly casting. By cutting the point off of one of your fly hooks, or using an indicator for a little extra weight on the end of your fly leader, you can use your fly rod in your yard, or anywhere else that seems fit. This way you don’t have to waste your time running to the lake or river just to practice. And in your yard you can set up obstacles and targets that will help you better your casting.
During your casts you must remember to maintain proper form.
On to the casting
There are several different forms of casting. The most common for of casting, the standard cast if you will, is used in the ideal settings, were there are no obstructions behind or above you to hinder your cast. This is done at a ten O’clock and two O’clock cast back and forth over your head until the line is accelerated enough to get out to were you want to lay your fly. Some tips to keep in mind, Keep your fly line in a looping pattern, with a small loop at the end of the cast until your ready to lay it on the water, except with a nymph pattern or double fly’s, in which you will want a smaller loop or no loop at all to keep from tangling up. If your line is making a snapping noise, then your loop is to wide and you must pause a little longer to keep your leader or tippet from snapping your fly off or knotting up.
In a lot of cases, the standard cast is too hard to use, and will get tangled on the brush behind you. This is were the specialized casts are used.
- For casts were the bank behind you is high a good cast to counter the inevitable tangles on the brush to your back is the steeple cast. A steeple cast ,in its simplest form, is were you bring your fly rod up as high as you can on the back cast allowing your arm to straighten out above your head. When bringing the cast forward you can relax your arm and bend it to bring the line back to the water. This will create enough of an angle that your fly line should be able to clear most brush and banks your height.
- For casts were the brush of bank is over your head a side arm cast is the best to use, as it’s easy to learn and can give you the greatest distance. This is done by tilting your rod out to a forty five degree angle over the river, lake, of stream, and casting across your body, or up and down stream, while keeping your fly rod at that same or lower angle on the river. For casting further forward when you go to lay the fly out on the water, you must stop your fly rod earlier when you release. Stopping the rod when it’s directly in front of you is the best way th get a fly in a forty five degree angle to your left or right.
- The Roll cast or barrel cast is another widely used form of casting when it comes to tight spaces. It is used in rivers and streams mostly because you use the current as your back cast. All you need to do to perform this cast is let you fly line drift down stream until the line is straight, straighten your arm, and cast the line up river in one smooth, quick motion. This can take a while to perfect, but a good tip is to stop your rod in front of you so the fly travels out into the stream more.
I you'r sill looking for some good tips on how to fly fish here are some good web sites and e-books to get you started.
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