Fly Fishing - How To Cast
July 31st, 2010Fly fishing is a little different to bait fishing or spinning.
It’s important that you choose the right fly fishing rod, as this is the piece of equipment that is the most crucial to your success.
One of the problems people first have when the take this variation of the sport up, particularly if they have spun or bait fished before, is adjusting to the fact that the more effort you put into the cast is not, unlike the other forms, the determining factor in how much distance is achieved.
Casting a fly line is all about technique. With no weights fitted to the line as in other forms of rod fishing, it is all about using the fky fishing rod in the correct manner to get the line to travel through the air.
The most important part of the cast is what is called the “back cast”, where the line is cast backwards over your shoulder. This “loads” the rod. The great temptation is to cast the line back, and then immediately throw the line forward on the forward cast. This is incorrect.
A correct back cast involves stopping the rod in the vertical position, whilst at the same time stopping the line with your free hand. What this does is “load” the rod. In other words, the line, when stopped, will pull the rod backwards. It is vital that one waits a second or so until one can feel the rod has loaded, before moving the rod forward and at the same time releasing the line.
This allows the line to flow freely through the rod rings, the impetus caused by the springing action of the rod. The temptation is to back cast violently and with the rod ending 90 degrees to the ground, then throwing the line forward as in a bait or spin fishing cast.
If the back cast is not done properly and the rod is allowed to travel back further than the vertical, there is then insufficient power stored in the rod for the forward cast, and the result is usually a tangle!
Casting also invloves what is termed “false casting”. This is where several casts are made without the line landing on the water.
This way more line is cast out. The optimal number of back casts is said by some to be three. More than three and you will miss the “sweet spot” in the line, where the weighted part of the line is pulling out more unweighted line and impetus and energy in the cast is lost.
Casting a fly line is dependant on being calm and collected, with a smooth rod action and proper back cast.
Zac has been a keen fly fisherman for a long time, and loves to pass on tips and techniques. When taking up fly fishing Zac recommends buying fly fishing combos. The great thing about fly fishing combos is that you buy all the main elements, rod, line and reel at a discounted price.