Every once in a while something on our Bulletin Board will really stir up all sorts of thoughts, especially when someone else suggests a person might do better by taking casting lessons. Oh my. That can be a very tender issue.
Excellent essay on casting improvement, Deanna!
You covered the basic themes very well:
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Quality 1:1 instruction - live and in person…in a developing progression over time. You can teach someone to cast well enough to fish in one lesson, but you cannot make them a “fly caster.” I know many great casting instructors…famous even…who will tell you THEY can’t. 3 of the best I have ever met teach the basic casts (overhead and roll to 30-40’) and tell their students to practice and go fishing and have fun for a year or 2 and then come back if they want to learn more.
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Practice - the “mechanism” you said you couldn’t name many of us nowadays call “muscle memory,” borrowing the term from kinesiology (sports science). It is simply repeating the same task enough times the same way to make it reflexive…almost subconscious. This ONLY comes with proper practice…repetition is the father of learning. But my father (an awesome tennis coach and corporate trainer) always said, “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.” Admittedly, he was an intolerable perfectionist. LOL But I got the idea.
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Versatility as a goal - without solid fundamentals, advanced casting is impossible. And advanced casting opens up a whole new world of enjoyment in one’s fly fishing. It truly does…even if you are perfectly content to fish for bluegills on farm ponds for the rest of your life. One of the finest casters I know is a small stream trout specialist who often fishes streams you can lay a typical fly rod across. Try to make an accurate presentation to trout sipping tiny mayflies into an 8’ wide gin clear 2’ deep trout stream with high vegetation lining both banks in a typical 15mph Rocky Mountain breeze and you’ll figure out quickly what accuracy and presentation are all about! But that same guy can (who is an FFF Master Casting Instructor) can hit a tailing Bone Fish on the nose at 90’ with a 9wt bamboo fly rod, too. So he can fish anywhere, anytime he gets the opportunity. And fishing with him once in a 30+ mph wind, he taught me some 1-handed spey techniques with our Hexagraph 5wt rods that allowed us to keep fishing for trout on some beaver ponds at about 10k’ in the Jemez mountains.
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Different grips, styles, and techniques have different strengths and weaknesses - like tools in a toolbox. They are all good to have in your arsenal, but “if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” As an adaptive casting instructor, I encounter people all the time who have had to stop fly fishing because of an injury or degenerative condition. Universally, this is because they only knew one way to cast. Had they understood the 5 fundamental concepts of what makes a fly cast work, they probably could have figured out a new way to cast on their own. But in every case so far, I’ve been able to help them adapt their cast to a new, painless, effective fly cast within an hour.
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It’s not rocket science - you made it sound simple and attainable, and it is! Too many casting instructors and those who write about it fall into the trap of either trying to impress folks with what they know or simply not having the communication skills to take the complex and make it simple. Every physical action is actually very complex if you break it down. The human body is a very complicated machine! Add a fly rod, reel, line, leader, and fly, and it’s even more complex. But making it all work is actually quite simple when you ignore all the BS. It is only when you get to the advanced stuff that you have to pay attention to one or more of those details.
Nowadays, it’s very rare to read plain language casting advice that is worth a hoot. But yours is always excellent. So was Jim’s. Thank you for your leadership over the years.
There are a couple of areas that I see where men in particular resent getting any kind of lessons. One is with firearms. I teach a basic NRA firearms class. Because they are men they think that they don’t need instruction when it comes to these things. That somehow if you ask for help or are struggling you are less than a man. I see the same thing with casting. It’s all a skill and a learned one at that. Yes some have more of a predisposition than others to hand eye coordinated types of activities, but if the best football players, tennis players and golfers in the world practice and get coaching, why do we see it as such a weakness?
It’s really frustrating to go fishing with a man that brags about fly fishing for the last 20+ years and can not cast a 7 wt a true measured 40 feet. The rod goes all the way to the ground in the backcast and the forward cast goes all the way to the water. Don’t dare make a casting suggestion, because he has been doing it for much longer than you have. You can’t tell that I am sharing that one from personal experience can you?
Instead of buying the next wiz bang fly fishing gaget that you didn’t know that you needed last week but have to have now that you read about it, go spend some money with a qualified coach and enjoy your season. Now is the perfect time to take a lesson. It’s early in the season and you can reap the benefits all season long. Late in the season is not the time.
Jason Borger once told me at a fly fishing show that he practices casting almost daily. Why don’t the rest of us. Some say that we practice when we fish. That is like saying that we should never run a drill for a sporting event but only do the activity when we play an actual game. This is an issue close to me.
Rick
Rick, it’s worth mentioning that a good practice session only needs to last about 15-20 minutes. The main point for most anglers is to not allow the muscle memory of the basic mechanics to deteriorate.
I absolutely agree on the 15 - 20 minutes to practice casting - AND practice something - not just see how far you can pitch the fly. Can you cast 4 tight loops in a row? In both directions (foreward and backcast) - how about a big fat loop?
This is called line control, can you make a right hand curve cast? and left hand curve cast? How about a puddle cast? Know what that one is?
I do manage to get in some practice during the “off-season” by fishing a small year round stream. After years of getting by, I was forunate to find a couple casting instructors that really knew what they were doing and imprpoved my casting immensly. They were Deanna Travis and Jim Birkholm. They were never to busy to lend a hand to anyone who asked ( and, in some cases, to those who didn’t ask). I do try to repay their kindness by passing on what they taught me.
REE
I once heard a golf instructor say she should be able to walk up to someone on the practice range and ask…“What are you working on?”
Practice is a must and I agree it need not be very long.
Yesterday we were out in the park knocking dandelion blooms off from ten. twenty and then thirty five feet
with a yarn topped tippet…
There were some kids smoking and teasing us until they figured out just what we we doing and then
they all showed an interest…
Casting practice is very cool and relaxing…
My 2cents…
Good article Dee, Thanks!
Be safe
Steve
I really enjoyed your article LF. It got me to wondering if the way I practice is a good way or not. I’ve only been fly fishing for a year, so I’ve tried to practice alot and need to practice more. The only instruction I’ve had has came from Doug Swisher videos and a couple of trips with Jack and Warren. (which I enjoyed and appreciated greatly) I don’t know of any certified instructors around here so I’ve had to come up with my own practice regimen.
I don’t know if this is a good way or not, but when I practice I cast straight line cast, slack line cast, right reach cast, then left reach cast then repeat the 4. I try to make my cast, then pick up and do the next one without any false casting. Standing out in my yard I do fairly well, out on the water… well my username should give you the idea. 
When I try casting to target, I use the mulch around our trees in the yard for a target. The mulch surrounds the trees in about a foot or so in all directions. I figure if I can land my fly on that I’m doing very well and it’s realistic, at least around here for fishing under the overhanging branches. (I DIDN"T say I could do it, just that I try. :)) Anyway, that is how I practice and I just wondered if you think that is a good way or should I practice differently.
I probably shouldn’t mention this, but I will anyway. I just use a piece of yarn for a fly and usually before the session is over I have a CAT fish after the fly. A 4 legged CAT fish that is. I’m sure that doesn’t help my casting skills, but it sure adds another degree of difficulty trying to land a fly on target.
thanks,
hNt
PS, I’m not a proud manly man, I love this sport and want to learn all there is to know about it. What is a puddle cast?
PS, I’m not a proud manly man, I love this sport and want to learn all there is to know about it. What is a puddle cast?
Also known as a pile cast…
This cast will allow you to have extra slack line for a longer drift.
Especially up front at the tippet and fly…
Start with a good low backcast and a high forward cast , on the forward stroke stop high, about 2 o’clock, and then drop your tip allowing the line and tippet to pile up at your target area.
I slow my forward motion a bit as well, as normal your rod tip should end up pointing directly at your target once your rod is lowered on the water.
There are some good Utube videos showing just how to accomplish the cast, then all you need to do is tune it to your own rhythm.
I am a firm believer when it come to casting to each his own…
Be safe
Steve
I must say I agree with Casting Practice and at Seventyfour I still practice at least once a week. Like LadyFisher says Not juat seeing how far I can cast but Practicing all types of casts. Reach Mend, Puddle, Zig Zag [Wiggle] and Curves. Makes for good fun.
I am also a firm believer that “The Top Ten Percent” get that way because Casting is Second Nature to them and, they can consentrate 100% on fishing.
Casting Practice help improves a fly anglers fishing time on the water, but what really helps the most is the correct handle size and shape that best fits your hand.
I struggled for over the first five years, when I first took-up fly fishing. I took lessons, I practice, and I just could not feel the fly line or the fly rod while casting. It was only when I was building my first fly rod, that I decided to find out what my hand grip size was, and which handle design best match my hand shape.
It was only then that I discovered how to control my casting motion, and I could feel the fly rod and fly line as I cast.
PS: I wrote an article on my findings for FAOL, hoping that this might help others that have a similar problem when casting. ~Parnelli
PS: Looking back at the article, it was one of my earliest attempts at writing for FAOL, but what I discovered and did, could help others…
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/rodbuilding/customgrip.php
Thanks Steve, that sounds exactly like what the Doug Swisher videos call a slack line cast. He teaches it to throw a large lazy open loop on the front cast and then drop your rod tip. The line just piles up in front of you for a good drag free float. I’d never heard the term puddle cast though, thanks a bunch.
The main difference between the slack line cast and puddle is that the puddle cast allows your fly to remain at the target
for a bit longer where the slack line allows for a longer drift but takes the fly away from the target quicker.
Puddle is great for a slow static feeder or gulper on fast water near the bank.
Steve
Good article and to the point. Study, practice, and perfect, is the phrase my students hear from me more than anything else, be it fly casting, fly tying, or just plain angling. I agree completely with your statement about the fly casting certification program. I took lessons from two certified instructors (the second was better than the first) and still didn’t get it. Then I a friend (uncertified), who later encouraged me to teach casting, taught me to cast.
Some things I have found helpful: Have the caster stop focusing on distance, and concentrate on proper form. Have the caster learn to cast while seated in a chair, on one knee, and sitting flat on the ground. Once the caster has learned to cast 60 feet or more effectively in all positions, I have them repeat the process with their non dominant hand. I have found learning to cast with ones non dominant hand make casting flaws more evident to the angler.
Very much enjoyed the read. Couldn’t agree more about practicing. One thing that hasn’t been mentioned, and that I find very helpful, is practicing casting flaws. Tailing loops are a good example. Learn to cast a tailing loop at will and then correct it at will. This allows you to feel the difference between a good cast and a poor one. Once you have this feel you can get really crazy. Try to put the tail at different points in the loop. Try to get only the leader to tail. Then go to the other end of the spectrum and get the loop to tail as soon as it passes the rod tip. I find this extremely instructive. It’s kind of fun too.
Also, the comments about casting instruction have got me thinking. Now it’s possible, likely even, that I am misunderstanding the notion of a standard method of casting instruction. I think the standardization piece should go only so far as the basic elements of casting, like the 5 Essentials for example. How an instructor goes about communicating those essential elements should ultimately depend on the student. Every student is different and I don’t think one single, or standard, method is best for all of them.
I’m a much better instructor now than I was eight or nine years ago when I began working fly fishing schools. This isn’t because I learned some single, most effective way of teaching someone to cast. It’s because I worked with hundreds of students over the years and learned to discern more quickly a student’s learning style and could zero in on the techniques, word cues, etc. that would ultimately allow me to get things to click with that student.
Every student is different. A good instructor has filled his quiver with many, many different teaching techniques, phrases, etc. and can quickly adapt the instruction to fit that particular student.
Some good stuff Mr. Fishing newsman and Mr.Goodwin
I think it’s also nice to learn to throw a large loop front and back
as well as small tight ones and change of direction casts,
all at ones hearts desire…
I certainty am not an instructor but, I see my Son practicing these ways
and he has turned out to be a pretty good caster…
A tailing loop at will, I would bet he could…
Steve
I have casting ponds a few miles away from where I live and also whenever we visit my wife aunt and uncle in San Francisco I make it a point to go to the casting ponds in Golden Gate Park. The folks at each of these ponds are more than happy to help. A second pair of eyes really help to pin-point bad technique and show you how to improve. If you have casting ponds near you I suggest you take advantage of the talent that hangs out there.
Wow. This article and discussion of it have turned out to be one of the best treatments of “how to improve your casting” I’ve read in a long time. I have to agree with T. Goodwin about the instructor program stuff. The FFF CICP emphasizes the difference between style and substance. Substance is uniform throughout and is not compromised. It consists of the the five basic elements of all good straight-line casts, six fundamentals for diagnosing casting errors, and some basic definitions of terms (for the sake of communicating concepts uniformly). Style is pretty much everything else. LOL But a couple of examples would be the choice of stance and grip of the caster, or even the teaching method of the instructor. This is proper because if you get a student who wants to improve his/her accuracy for small stream fishing with light weight, slow action rods in short range situations, you want to be able to teach things like the forefinger grip, the aerialized roll cast, the sidearm roll cast, etc. Stance and grip preferences are likely to be different for these applications than from the next student you get who wants to improve his accuracy at distances in excess of 50’ in windy conditions with 8-12wt saltwater gear who fishes from the bow of a flats boat. But the fundamental elements (the Five Essentials) for both students do not change. In my experience, this is the way the FFF program teaches it. And from everything I have ever experienced, read, seen, and heard, no fly casting expert contradicts that. It’s about the only thing they all agree on.
So I don’t know how you could standardize things beyond that, Deanna. But you are a very wise woman who has been around the block more than once when it comes to teaching people to fly fish. So I would love to read your thoughts on this subject!
Deanna, finally read your treatise and was very pleased. Thank you for your delicate expertise. My hip and ankle may be in rough shape, but my casting skills remain at their peak because I try to get on the water at least once a week if not more. This doesn’t mean I’m a skilled caster, just that my skills are at their current peak:roll:.
While in Alaska a couple of years ago the guide kept encouraging me to double haul that floating line. I tried and tried, but it just wasn’t working. Come to find out the 8wt I was using required a 10wt WF floater to load it correctly. Once the right line was on the rod a sweet double-haul was very easy to attain. Sometimes our stroke may be off due to other factors than our skills - something to pay attention to.
Thanks again for the great article.
Kelly.