Looking away from your target is the surest way to miss it. Think about that. Whether you’re shooting a bullet, an Adams dry fly or a basketball, staring down your mark is the first order of business. An intense focus on one point, one objective, gives your brain the...
Let’s keep this one simple for a moment. Cast with one hand and reel with the other, because it makes good sense. Because it’s more efficient by a mile — it requires less movement and there’s less chance for error — and because using your off hand for all line...
Casting matters most. Accuracy of delivery, of where the fly lands and how the leader finishes, is the key to effective presentations and efficiency on the water. Hitting targets means we confidently cover the river. Less false casting means more drifting, more...
For underwater presentations, I cast so my flies land first, always. I cannot think of a circumstance where this is not true. The weighted fly or added split shot hits the water first, and the tippet follows. The leader, maybe an indy, and then the fly line lay on the...
The fundamental kernel of fly fishing lies in the angler’s ability to cast and manipulate line, leader and tippet, to send not just a fly to the target, but to also control what that fly is attached to, both in the cast and throughout the drift. This is what separates fly fishing from conventional tackle. And nothing teaches or trains an angler better in this concept, revealing the options inherent, better than fishing dry flies . . .
All fly types — all rigs — need speed to reach their potential. Cast with acceleration and good crisp loops. Do it with dry flies, nymphs, indicator rigs and streamers. And don’t let anyone tell you differently . . .
Part of what distinguishes fly fishing from other styles of fishing is retrieving line by hand. But then we need to get the line back out there. When should we shoot the line back through the rod guides? No one ever seems to talk about these options. But there are four of them.
We can shoot line on the pickup, on the backcast, on the forward cast and on the forward cast following the power stroke . . .
“Your first job is to find some accuracy. You’ll see the fly every time, once you can hit your targets.” I nodded at the fly again. “There’s enough visibility built into that fly that you can find it quickly, as long as the fly lands where you’re looking . . .”
Turnover is the fundamental difference between spin casting and fly casting. And all good fly casts, with fly line or otherwise, allow the line/leader to turnover in the air and then hit the water. That’s the difference between casting and lobbing. Without good turnover, we are simply lobbing the line.
Remember this: lobbing is limiting. And a good casting approach, with great turnover, introduces a wide range of options . . .
But, what about that pretty magazine pose? What about those videos of nymph fishermen with their arms high and extended, reaching the fly rod out to maximum length? It’s silly. It’s unnecessary. And it won’t last for long.
Reaching is an unsustainable body position at any age. Reaching the arm takes power from the forward cast. And by keeping the elbow in a natural and relaxed position, casting accuracy and delivery options improve dramatically . . .