Staying Connected

There might not be anything more frustrating to a fisherman or guide than a poor fly cast. This problem is not chronic, but requires the affected to take proper action. After years of guiding and even more of casting instruction I have seen a plethora of casting problems and all of them seem to have the same solution.......PRACTICE!

Most fly casting problems start from the instance the fisherman takes the fly off the water. So let me begin with a short description of a theory I have. You must stay connected to your fly!

To simplify this explanation we will assume the caster in question is right handed. The fly rod is an extension of your right arm and when you are relaxed holding the rod level to the water, with the fly line straight on the water (no slack line), you are connected to the fly. Everything is in a straight line. The fly rod is no longer an extension of your arm if you break your wrist during the back cast.

The take away is the first step in making a back cast. The water holds tension on the line and this tension must be broken before you make the back cast. The take away is done by removing as much line as you can from the surface of the water by LIFTING the rod. Lift with your forearm, not your wrist. The fly should skate briefly on the surface, then with one quick movement you will make your back cast. When you take the fly off the water you will briefly lose your connection because the line will form a loop, first going past you and then extending behind you, this is your back cast. You will reconnect to your fly on the back cast when the fly line and leader come tight (no loop) behind you, and momentarly stop. Once the line is tight you can once again move the rod to make a forward cast. This whole time imagine your pulling the fly through the air, not the line.

If you are trying to extend the cast, or making a longer cast, you will most likely need to have extra line to shoot. This line will be held by your left hand. If you let go of this line while your rod is in motion, you will lose the connection between the rod and the fly. The line can only be set free once everything has stopped moving, such as your arm, the rod, and the line.

Now to the practice. You should not practice fly casting while fly fishing. They are two distinct activities. It is helpful to use an old fly with the hook cut off or a piece of yarn to simulate the weight of a fly. Make a target, this can be a piece of wood, a rock, a hool-a-hoop, neighbor's cat.......be creative. When I was a kid, I would pull a piece of wood form the fire wood pile, throw it in the middle of the yard and cast at it for hours. For a right handed caster you should open your stance, meaning stand with your left foot slightly forward. This will allow your head to turn slightly to watch the fly being pulled through the air. Watching the back cast is the most effective way for a beginner to learn another casting fundamental, timing. Try different distances. Try shooting the line. Try shooting line through the back cast. PRACTICE.

Remember, stay connected to the fly. You are pulling the fly through the air, the line will follow.

Now take it to the river. To book a day of fishing with me call Snake River Fishing Trips, 307.690.0910

Casting Accuracy = Casting Distance

Do you want to improve your distance casting? Better start with your casting accuracy. If your still struggling with turning over the leader, bet your britches your going to struggle throwing a long line. Here are a few pointers to improve casting accuracy to allow you to throw that fly a country mile.

To improve your accuracy you must first make sure that the rod is tracking properly through the cast. Take your target and invision a line going forward through your target and all the way behind you stretching to infinity. This immaginary line is the line that the rod must track to cast accuratly. Most anglers have no problem tracking the rod through the front cast. Their mistake comes on the back cast.

My first bit of advise is to improve your back cast. The back cast is a fundamental and a must for accuracy and distance. Here is an easy excersize to help you build the necessary muscle memory for the back cast. Take your hand as though you were holding your fly rod. Stand approximatly 18 inches from the wall with your casting hand resting on the wall slightly less than sholder high. Move your hand back and forth on the wall as though you were casting a fly. This helps you understand that your casting hand must maintain the plane of the wall to track the rod in plane. You can also stand infront of a mirror with just the but end of a fly rod. Take a comfortable grip on the rod and make your typicall casting stroke. Watch to see if the end of the rod comes out of plane. Work on this new casting stroke. You should understand that you can maintain this casting plane and track the rod tip 180 degrees around your body, but the back cast must track in the same plane as your target on your front cast.

Take your new casting stroke to the yard. Put a target out infront of you. Start with a short cast and try to track the rod on the same line or plane through the cast and drop your fly on the target. You will notice that with short casts the casting stroke will be short and fast. As you put the target further away the casting stroke should lengthen as should the time you pause between front and back cast. If your casting stroke does not lengthen, or your not waiting for the rod to load properly you will begin throwing a tailing loop. Work on distances that are comfortable and be sure that the leader is turning over properly. Once you can drop the fly on target, work on longer distances. You will eventually reach a point where the amount of line you carry durring a cast is too long, then you need to learn to shoot line, and double haul. We can cover that in another blog.