Casting

[JohnScott]

Steve -

Seems to me that anyone getting started fly casting should be introduced to the three principles of fly casting before even picking up a fly rod.

Slack is an enemy when casting.

Accelerate the rod tip from the start of back cast to the end of the back cast and then accelerate the rod tip from the start of the forward cast to the abrupt stop at the end of the forward cast.

The line will travel in the direction the rod tip is moving at the end of the forward cast.

I also think that the beginner should be provided a variety of rod lengths, rod weights, and line types and decide which one, or ones, feel most comfortable to begin with.

I've not had occasion to introduce anyone to nor coach anyone in fly casting. That is about to change since I will be working with a newcomer starting next week. It will give me a chance to see if my radically different approach ( to the pretty much traditional one you have described ) works.

John

[Steve Molcsan]

Your a principled individual for a trout Bum
all good thoughts to expand on what was covered in my long winded dissertation at the top.

Slack: tip of line / fly should start to move before attempting to start cast,
remove all slack

Acceleration: complete strokes forward to rear / to forward abrupt stop maintaining
horizontal plane

Direction: fly / yarn tuff will land where the rod tip points


Excellent ! , Thanks John

ORVIS PRACTICASTER PRACTICE FLY ROD

I recommend one of these to start and practice inside or out,
Bob Jacklin introduced me to it some time ago he would land the
yarn line right on a young persons head as he was demonstrating
how the rod tip would place the fly every time.
Some fond memories in West Yellowstone but I digress ..

[ducksterman]

Yes, those are all good points but I have always thought that a good teacher would teach " the anatomy of the fly line"...then your student would know what he/she was trying to throw.

[Steve Molcsan]

" the anatomy of the fly line".

You are so right , the statement l your casting a weighted fly line not the fly, the fly or the yarn tuff goes along for the ride,
hence , good reason to expand on my item 3 points in blue ...

✓ 3.Practice away from the water , be sure to pre stretch the line as
you don't want any loops from being wound on the reel.
Tie on a short stout leader at 3 to 5 feet at most with a tuff or hi vis
yarn on the end.
Now play out about 15 maybe 18 feet of line. lay it out straight
in front of you,
. line must extend out far enough so the belly of the line
is out the rod tip,, I am using DT line for this discussion.
Any line will work as long as you get the weight of the line body
out past the tip.

Another great point ! Thank you for playing along ,,

Hope this will become helpful to someone..
I know its doing good for me

[JohnScott]

... was the day.

After a brief discussion of the anatomy of a fly line, line types and weights, and rod lengths and weights we got into the basics of casting.

I told Sam about the classic approach to teaching fly casting, as described above by Steve. Keep the elbow close in and the wrist still.

Then I described the three principles of fly casting noted in my earlier post on this thread, and proceeded to demonstrate each of those principles.

I took note that while some like to cast with a stiff wrist, some of us are "wristy." When I delivered newspapers, I threw them using my wrist. My golf swing and my tennis stroke were wristy. So naturally, my fly casting started out that way, and is probably even more pronounced now than it was 17 years ago.

My demo involved trying to start a cast with about 30 feet of line and leader piled up in front of me. No way to get the slack out and start a cast.

Instead of the classic 10 to 2 upright casting motion, I started making loops and twirls and zigs and zags and aerial S's etc noting that as long as good forward motion of the rod tip was maintained and the line did not cross itself, a cast could be made when the rod tip was accelerated in the desired direction of the cast to a stop.

I had Sam start with a TFO BVK 9' for 5 wt underlined with a 4 wt floating line since that is the one that was already rigged up. Turns out that Sam is a quick study and is naturally "wristy". It didn't take long before she was making very nice casts across the moderate and steady flow of the river we were on.

Next up was a Cabelas Glass Rod in 5' 9" for 3 wt, with a floating line. Slow and easy does it. Not really my thing, or Sam's, but she did nicely with it.

Finally, an older model Scientific Anglers 9' for 6 wt underlined with a Rio 4 wt nymph line. A rather slow rod turned medium fast action but not as fast as the underlined BVK. Again, Sam adapted nicely and was casting wristy and well.

Although we weren't really fishing, Sam almost caught her first fish on moving water when a juvenile steelhead jumped out of the water to get the fly, but missed it and then chased the fly for a couple feet before losing interest.

At the end of the session, Sam expressed a preference for the 5 wt BVK but liked the idea that the SA 6 wt was more versatile, capable of fishing with a range of line weights from 4 through 7. So I gave her the SA rig along with a fly box, some flies, a couple spools of leader and a spare thread furled leader.

Next up will be some fly fishing lessons. Hope I can find a bunch of fishies for Sam to get into.

John

[Steve Molcsan]

Right on , the three basic principles don't change
how you implement them once set to memory
is how you develop your own style and for me is what makes it
fun.


Well said John Scott !

Take care..