I just read Castwells column on casting and have to respectfully disagree with him. There is a large amount of very good casting books, videos and articals out there. Yes, I have seen some that are bad, even worse than useless, but those are the minority.

If anyone out there wants to really learn how to cast all they need to do is get a video by either Lefty, Mel or Joan. All of these have excellent videos on casting.They explain not just the how, but the why of the components of the cast. As a full time guide in Montana this is an important subject to me. Each year I see hundreds of fishermen, very, very few of them can cast 20 to 30 feet. Granted you can catch fish all day casting 20 to 30 feet from a drift boat, but then accuracy comes into play. I have also had a surprisingly large number of so called experienced fly fishermen who could barely keep their flies out of my oar sweep.

Castwell made a very good point though. The best time and place to learn to cast is in the yard, away from water and fish. The worst place to try to learn is in a drift boat, on a river in 20 knot wind.

It amazes me that someone would spend thousands of dollars to get to a destination fishing location, as much as a grand on a rod, reel and line, hundreds of dollars for a guided trip and not spend 20 bucks on a good casting video by Lefty, Joan or Mel. Yes, there are some excelent videos and books out there.

What there is a shortage of is fishermen that will devote the time and effort to really learn how to cast. You do not need to cast like Lefty to catch fish and have fun, but darn it, you should be able to hit the broad side of a barn from the inside at 30 feet. And no, that $650.00 rod will not make you a good caster. A very simple understanding of the basics and practice will make you a good caster.