I was wondering I have been working on casting every free moment for the past few weeks. I do see a vast improvement. However I am looking for more. I have been to my local fly shop and Chuck at “Foothills Flyfishing” is one of the best casters I have ever seen. His instructions are very percise. I feel, however that Chuck has done about all he can do. Does anyone have a suggestions to help me improve. I must admit I have gone a bit over board about improvement and have not been focusing on fishing but I just feel there is more out there. It is just like tying what else can I add. Maybe I need to go back the basics (you know simpler is better). Ok I really need some warm weather to get here.
When you get this ‘perfect’, write me. 
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/cst/cst3498.php
Go focus on fishing. After all, that is the purpose of casting and that is where you learn how to apply techniques. If Chuck is a good caster and has taught you all he can, I think the rest you are going to learn is through experience and watching others cast.
JL - What are you attempting to achieve? If your fly lands the way you want and close to where you want it - isn’t that the goal? There are other-than-basic casts that you can master - the steeple cast or one that goes around a corner. I just want to get to the point where I can cast well without thinking about every stroke.
Remember the adage - You can learn to fly cast in a 1/2 hour, but it takes a lifetime to master.
The best video I’ve seen on improving your casting is George Roberts “Saltwater Fly Casting: 10 Steps to Distance and Power”. (Don’t let the “Saltwater” in the title discourage you. What he teaches applies to freshwater, too.)
I’ve got a bunch of casting videos. They’re all good, but Roberts’ is the only one that gives you a step-by-step plan to improve the basic casting stroke. It’s not for beginners, but it’s good for anyone who understands the basics. You can get it at Cabela’s.
The idea is to catch fish. I don’t give a hoot what my (or your)cast LOOKS like but I sure do care if you CATCH more fish than I.
Put things in their proper pespective.
Reminds me of the people that go skiing and wear the latest fashions and can’t ski worth a hoot.
Sorry to be so blunt but someone had to say it.
or from George himself…
I agree wholeheartedly. I teach fly casting and my philosophy is to provide students with a sold foundation. After we’re done, if they can deliver the fly from Point A to Point B and it results in a hookup, then we both feel pretty darn good.
I have guided a number of fly fishers, ranging from beginners, to first-time saltwater fly anglers to world-class fly-fishers.
One day, I had a guy out from Chicago. We were on a load of fish, so I had him anchor the kayak about 30 feet away from the fish. Only trouble was he could only cast 25 feet maximum. I didn’t want to go back to shore for a casting lesson, so I thought about the problem.
I told him to “lift the anchor, take one paddle stroke forward and drop it again.” That put him five feet closer and solved the problem. He ended up catch 15-20 fish.
One of the things that I experience quite a bit is anglers from trout country who have real difficulty getting the necessary distance. Combine that with strong wind and we’ve got a big dilemma. Though many of them have fly fished for 25 or 30 years, they are rarely required to make a long cast.
Fly casting for one angler means an entirely different thing to another.
At any rate, if most anglers can get the fly out 50 feet, they’re in good shape in my neck of the woods.
I had the link to George’s site in my original post, but I took it out when I noticed it was no longer his site! I emailed him to find out what’s going on.
Go fishing and the casts will make more sense. If you’ve been practicing them that much you will get even better when you actually apply them to fishing and stop thinking about casting. Good luck!
Sorry, for the first post, I re-read your post and realized you are trying to improve your casts and not just learning how to cast. If you feel that you have hit the wall on improvement, you might try tweaking your equipment setup to get better results. A book that helped me was The Cast by Ed Jaworowski, that I borrowed from the local library. However, I still can’t cast 100 feet, but I can fish a lot better with the different techniques in the book. I guess in your post that you didn’t really say what type of improvement you were looking for (more distance, better accuracy, curve casts?). A book that I own, Joan Wulffs Flycasting Techniques teaches a little different cast from the other book, and I found for me, that my accuracy was better with Wulffs
technique and distance better with the other.
Justice,
Have someone video your casting. You can watch your self and see what you are doing.
OK, “Maybe I need to go back the basics (you know simpler is better)” I gave you the link to the basics. Have you perfected them yet, or are you going to build on an imperfect foundation? Do you have absolute control of your loops, both front and back? How good do you want to get? What is your goal? Just better than you were last year? Or better than Chuck? Set a goal. Some guys actually enjoy the casting part of fly fishing. Not all I guess, but some do.
Pete,
Enjoy every day! go slow , it will come…
Steve
JL -
I recently viewed a set of three DVDs put out by Rio on Spey Casting featuring Simon Gawesworth. While I consider my own casting quite unconventional and just adequate to catch fish, watching Gawesworth was well worth the time.
I did pick up a number of points that apply to single hand casting even though Simon was using a spey rod. Since watching the DVDs, I’ve been able to try a couple of the techniques he was using and incorporate them into the variety of casts I use.
About two years ago, I was taking “another look” at the Snake River near Shelley, Idaho, because several friends kept telling me about all the big browns in that section of the river. It was another look, because the previous two or three times I had been down there I didn’t fish because I just didn’t like the aesthetics of the place. Anyway, I saw a fellow doing things with a long rod that I had never seen done before. I approached the fellow, who was with a client, and asked them both if they would mind if I watched for a while. Both were agreeable.
What a show. It was more like art or ballet than casting ( kind of like Oyster with his bamboo rods ). Turned out it was none other than Simon. He is a really nice fellow, in addition to being one of the top spey instructors in the world.
John
JC,
Our club put on a casting clinic last weekend and we had 30 people who had never touched a fly rod. I used your method extensively during the class and I can say it works like a charm. Easy to understand and gets the “stop the rod here” point across easily. To make sure the back cast was “upeth” I stood beside the caster and put my arm up behind them. Great system.
Rick
Pete,
Not at all! Your energy certainly shines through and that is a great trait
to have!! 
Steve