My goal this year is to improve my casting. As the world’s worst caster, I have to ask why a casting forum doesn’t exist on FAOL? Everyone who flyfishes must cast right? I mean there are forums for things like rod building and not all who fly fish build their own rods. I believe the numbers should be there to support this.
One could find individuals in their area to exchange casting videos, find a casting instructor for a quick lesson, or just ask questions about fixing tailing loops.
Could be a neat idea, … Then again, I like running down one single forum for all the stuff . I read pretty well all the posts too, so this way I don’t have to change forums.
Tend to agree with you Sashjo. When I find a new fly fishing site I tend to look straight for a Casting forum. Always looking to improve my casting and eager to get the good guff from more experienced persons.
I’ll add that it’s pretty difficult to troubleshoot a cast without actually seeing it. I’ve found that a lot of folks don’t know what they’re doing wrong and often can’t describe it well enough (or describe the wrong thing altogether) for someone to to analyze.
I suggest that if you really want to improve your cast, you need a coach. Find a local club, flyshop or casting instructor. Some offer free assistance.
[url=http://www.flyfishingarkansas.com:faf77]www.flyfishingarkansas.com[/url:faf77] has a fly casting forum on their bb. Moderator is Chuck Easterling, certified instructor and FFF certification tester. Good tips and answers if you have specific questions.
These are the idle thoughts that posses a man’s mind when he’s not able to fish.
I’ve gotta go with JC on this one. Attempting to teach fly casting on an internet BB would be akin to a blind man trying to tell a deaf man what the color red sounds like.
Back in 1987 I was shipped home frrom Scotland, where I had been working, with a neurological disorder called Guillane Barre’ Syndrome. I had hoped for my wife to join me toward the end of my job and we’d tour the country and I’d be able to fish some of the waters there. I"ll be the first to admit that at that time I wasn’t a very good caster.
While rehabilitating it was noted my progress was slow and I was depressed. My doctors asked my wife if there was something I was interested in to see if they could incorporate that into my rehab. She told them about my haven taking up fly fishing not too long before going to Scotland and that perhaps using casting lessons might help. they agreed and she rented 2 videos on the subject, one by Dr Gary Borger and the other by Doug Swisher.
I watched the videos over and over again and with the assist of the tip from my rod and some yarn made some real progress. It wasn’t too long before I was on the lawn with a complete rod and fly line and cast at least 30 minutes, to one hour, each day.
By the time I was cleared to return to work I considered myself to be a pretty good caster and continued this regimine for nearly a year. I still go out to my lawn and cast when I can’t go fishing and use the winter moths to wash away the blues too. I’ll leave it to Colston Newton, and others from the board, who have seen my casting and give their impression as to if avideo can make a person a good caster. Regards…
Don’t disagree with you JC. I was merely stating the videos gave me some casting form to visualize, which I hadn’t had any exposure to prior to that. I believe my casting style, and technique, developed from the many hours of practice which no video could ever replace. Often, it is much easier to visualize, when seeing it, than to try and mentally do so and given my neurological disorder at that time I certainly wasn’t in any shape for mental imagery! Regards…
I think that there are those that learn from visual presentation, as well as from the audio side and when you incorporate actual "hands on as Banjo was talking about in his rehab, then there is some merit given to what he saw then practiced. If every one “learned” from the same medium of exchange, then there would be only one method of teaching, but that is far from the case. thank goodness for all the videos, the books the forums, the classes, and every other means of teaching that exists…eveyone can learn something from one or all of them…
[This message has been edited by dleo6446 (edited 09 April 2005).]
Howdy Sashjo,
I will just jump in and say: Save yourself a long learning curve. Get a Good Fly Casting Instructor to get you started RIGHT.
It is much easier than trying to relearn with bad habits.
Style is not the important item the mechanics are. These are the building blocks of all casting.
ol Al
Let me see if I have this right, most casters on video do it wrong, therefore it is a far safer bet to teach casting via the written word… sometimes.
I’m confused.
Howdy Jackster,
Under stand that some people learn but just reading the material.
Some learn by just watching
Some learn by doing.
Some never learn.
Teaching is the “art” of knowing how to reach the student.
Good teachers,instructors, coaches know the difference.
Thanks for all the replys and e-mails. I was simply making an observation regarding the lack of a casting forum and not so much looking for help for myself. I am not a beginner. I should have stated that I am the worst caster for someone who has flyfished for 30+ years. Until a couple years ago, I never or rarely fished dry flies. Now, I prefer dry fly fishing since my biggest thrill has become watching the take of a fly I tied.
Every year, I pick something to improve in my flyfishing. Last year, it was fishing dry flies which lead to improving my casting this year. I have improved. I try to cast at least 15 minutes each day. I don’t just use one rod to practice since I rarely fish with just one rod. I can double haul, almost have to with my 6 1/2 ft 3wt. I can throw a tight loop with my RPL but I would not call it sexy. I’m trying to get to that next level and I realize to do that requires practice and more practice.
We all learn in different ways. After practice, reading works best for me. (Yes, I enjoy sexyloops.) I didn’t find using a casting instructor helpful but maybe I just didn’t have the right master caster.
I consider FAOL to be the top fly fishing web site. IMHO, it is lacking when it comes to casting. A casting forum was my suggestion. However, it appears that the idea has gotten the thumbs down.
something we did here in North Texas was to set up a group that meets regularly. We practice, test out each others’ gear, critique each other, bring in an expert, eat burgers and shoot the breeze. Its been a very good deal for all involved. No dues, no board or officers, just some folks helping each other get better at casting.
Regards…