Fly Casting Practice Makes Near Perfect

By Bob Ives

Fly fishing for trout is a lot of fun, but learning it can be a lot of work. If you want to be good at it, you’re going to have to spend some time practicing it, whether in your backyard or at the lake. But once you get the hang of it, it’s like riding a bike (on a tight rope). One thing want to work on is conservation in your casting movement. If your arms and shoulders are moving all over the place, you’re casting wrong because the cast should mostly be done with the wrist.

Don’t Fly Cast Too Much

Fly casting is certainly the heart of fly fishing, but on the other hand, you don’t want to spend all of your time casting. The idea of the cast is to get the bait, or the fly, where you want it and to be able to work it in a likely spot that holds trout (or whatever your chosen fish is). Casting for the sake of casting will do you no good. If you are fishing in deeper waters, this is not as much of an issue, but trout spook easily and disturbing the water around them will chase them away.

Making Long Fly Casts

There are situations where a long cast can come in real handy. Certainly there are times when you just want to reach a good spot far away from you, but the value of a long cast really comes into play when you are trying to cast ‘beyond’ where a trout may be, and then work the fly back to the fish. This keeps from scaring the fish.

Learn How To Roll Cast

No, this is not a movie director’s job. Roll casting is a method of casting that allows you to fly cast in tight spaces where there may be brush and trees behind you. There are several styles of roll casting. This method employs a tension curved loop of line called the D loop.

The rod does not stop during casting and the D loop is always in a different plane to the delivery of the cast, never crossing the same air space twice during the cast. The line barely touches the water during the cast, and the rod doesn't stop, but it changes direction and speed and keeps loaded at all times.

You must ensure there is no line slack. So as the tip of the rod turns in an elliptical fashion, a D loop is formed. The line should extend out into the air before dropping to the surface. If there is too much water contact during the cast, the line won’t lift correctly from the water and the cast will not be successful.

Certainly this is seems like a complicated style of fly casting, and it’s tough to explain it in print. But that’s where it comes in handy to make a few fly fishing buddies while you’re out on the water. It’s amazing will people will show you if you buy them a few beers.