Approaches to casting

[fishdog54]

Utah David,

I feel it's important to get the fundamentals down pat. After that you need to determine whether you are better suited physically/mentally for a fast rod, a slow rod, or in between. There are days when I just want to go out and fish the heck out of the water (combat fishing with streamers) and days when I'm content to fish no more 30 yrds of the stream with tiny drys! For me those two scenarios /situations would not be possible or as easy of a transition if I did not have a good foundation to work from. Even fishing the same stretch of water on the same day with two radically different rods (9' 3wt graphite and 7' 4wt bamboo) requires quite an adjustment to your casting stroke! But it's a piece of cake if you have the basics down pat - the rod will tell you what you need to do! No one can teach you all the weird casting gyrations and situations you will encounter on the various types/sizes of streams you will hopefully fish - that only comes with the experience and practice! This is the nature of fly fishing, and for many, like me, the allure!

One of the things I would like to learn properly is the double-haul - not that I intend to go double-hauling all over the place, just that there are times that I sure could have used it! Why walk away from a fish just because you lack the technique - not the ability.

Both of those guys are absolutely right, because they have each reached their objective, and for their individual personalities, they have taken a good foundation and gone their separate ways - nothing wrong with that!!

Best regards, Dave S.

[Silver Creek]

Have any of you been in a situation where you were unable to make a successful cast to a particular location or a particular fish?

If not, congratulations because your casting does not need any improvement for the fishing you do. The rest of us can use some improvement so that we don't face that situation again.

And that's all I've got to say about that.

[hungNtree]

LF,
I remember reading an article (of yours I believe) about practicing and trying to get the fly on the paper plate. I've been trying that, and to be perfectly honest, I think my average would go way up, if my plate was larger. lol

to be honest though, that has helped me alot and I appreciate the tip.

hNt

[FishnDave]

Its tough to compare apples to oranges...or lemons.
Most of you cast. I have 2 signature methods of line and fly delivery I use interchangeably with no rhyme or reason behind it.
The first style I call "chuck-and-duck". This is a great style when casting into a stiff wind with a heavily weighted fly. If I occasionally forget to duck...well, I tend to remember better on the next cast.
The second style I call the "fling-and-flail". This, sadly, is the more graceful of my two techniques. Since one never knows when you might encounter someone walking along the waters edge who might be prone to having a weak stomach, I've learned I should do most of my fishing after dark.

[qrrfish1]

Utah David,

I feel it's important to get the fundamentals down pat. After that you need to determine whether you are better suited physically/mentally for a fast rod, a slow rod, or in between. There are days when I just want to go out and fish the heck out of the water (combat fishing with streamers) and days when I'm content to fish no more 30 yrds of the stream with tiny drys! For me those two scenarios /situations would not be possible or as easy of a transition if I did not have a good foundation to work from. Even fishing the same stretch of water on the same day with two radically different rods (9' 3wt graphite and 7' 4wt bamboo) requires quite an adjustment to your casting stroke! But it's a piece of cake if you have the basics down pat - the rod will tell you what you need to do! No one can teach you all the weird casting gyrations and situations you will encounter on the various types/sizes of streams you will hopefully fish - that only comes with the experience and practice! This is the nature of fly fishing, and for many, like me, the allure!

One of the things I would like to learn properly is the double-haul - not that I intend to go double-hauling all over the place, just that there are times that I sure could have used it! Why walk away from a fish just because you lack the technique - not the ability.

Both of those guys are absolutely right, because they have each reached their objective, and for their individual personalities, they have taken a good foundation and gone their separate ways - nothing wrong with that!!

Best regards, Dave S.

So whats holding you back from learning the double haul? Its a wonderful tool to have at your discretion to apply.

[DG]

I think people spend way too much time worrying about the length of their casts, and not enough time learning the rest of this sport. Casting is not fishing. It certainly helps, but the best caster in the world won't catch fish if they don't have the ability to read the water, predict drift, identify bugs, mend, and all those other things. Iif I can't reach a fish because my cast is five feet too short, and I can't walk 5 feet closer... I find another fish. They are just fish, after all, and NOBODY catches every fish in the river, regardless of how puffed up their chests are. As for style, I seldom double haul, and my style is my own. I have no idea how I look when I cast, where my elbows are, and all of that crap. I haven't looked at my backcast in thirty years, and only look at my forecast because that is the side of the head my eyes are on. I watch the water, not the rod or the line. Footing is never stable, and if I had to position my feet "properly" for each cast, I would make a heck of a lot fewer casts and catch a lot fewer fish in the process. Walk a heck of a lot less, too. After 35 years of doing this, I look at the water, decide where I want the fly to go, and more often than not, it lands right about where I want it, without me thinking too much.

Well, unless the trees eat it.

[BSwan]

... I haven't looked at my backcast in thirty years, and only look at my forecast because that is the side of the head my eyes are on...

Well, unless the trees eat it.

For 6 or 7 years in a row I fished in Montana with a brilliant guide and caster. One day, in the middle of an arduous casting session/lesson, a frustrated I asked "How long am I going to have to keep checking my backcasts?" The reply was "For the rest of your life, Bob."

[DG]

Amazingly to some of those who have been "taught" by "experts" , I can cast fairly well without looking at my cast. Not everyone needs to watch the cast to know how the line is moving, or where it is. As for the trees sneaking up on me, I have a fairly good sense of what is around me most of the time. Situational awareness.

There is no right or wrong in this sport. There is just the way people do things. If one need rules, play golf.

[fishdog54]

grrfish1,

Never had the opportunity to learn the double haul - no other mystery behind it. Seems like I have always been on the teaching end and never took the opportunity to advance myself. No one taught me (one on one) fly fishing or tying - learned what I know all myself - mostly by reading!

DG - Most humbly have to disagree with the "There is no right or wrong in this sport"! Sure there is! Just like riding a bike or running or throwing a javelin, there is a right way to move your body to optimize performance. Fly casting is a mechanical movement and in optimizing that movement you can either cast 15 ft or 45 ft. You can flail away, putting everything you have into a cast and get no where. You can put 1/4 the energy into a cast that is executed correctly and send your line out there almost effortlessly! You need to know how to let the rod do the work and not your arm. Yes - there are other fish in the creek, but I just care about the one in front of me I'm trying to fool/reach. All the tools you mentioned are important. If just one of those tools fail you, you are not going to catch that fish. No amount of stream entomology is going to help you if you can't put the bug over the fish, and no amount of casting prowess will get you that fish if it doesn't like the fly you picked. All the skills and knowledge combined are what will get you a fish - right down to the knot you used to connect your tippet or your fly or your dropper. There really isn't a reason to walk away from a fish, because you can learn the skill necessary. As I've said before, I'm guilty of walking away from fish just because I never took the time to learn to double-haul! Nothing saying that once I do learn that skill that that fish will like my fly - so then I will work on that!! I don't like rules either - but trying to beat/ignoring the rules of mechanics/physics is not goin get you there! IMHO!! Why walk away from a perfectly good challenging fish to find another! I honestly don't know why you wouldn't "puff out your chest" after figuring out a particularly difficult fish. Did I miss the memo - because I thought that WAS why we fly fish???

Best regards, Dave S.

[qrrfish1]

grrfish1,

Never had the opportunity to learn the double haul - no other mystery behind it. Seems like I have always been on the teaching end and never took the opportunity to advance myself. No one taught me (one on one) fly fishing or tying - learned what I know all myself - mostly by reading!



Best regards, Dave S.

If your willing to take a chance at learning, I'll be glad to help you teach yourself the double haul. There is no cost to my offer other than when you learn pass it on. I've worked with a number of people over the internet both in the U.S. and other country's were English was a second language to them and we over came that too. My bet is you understand far more than you may think you do already all I'm offering is to help you use what you already know.