Beginer's Fly Rod Choice

[Al Agnew]

Yes, too much wrist. Makes it too easy to go too far back, and too difficult to stop the backcast sharply.

I can't tell how much line you had out, but even with just 10 feet of line out, you would be going too fast...no pause whatsoever at the end of the backcast. You're doing that to try to remedy what the line is doing as a result of going to far back on your backcast. If you go too far back on the backcast, the line doesn't straighten out behind you but keeps going downward, so that if you paused on the backcast, the line would hit the ground behind you. So you automatically come forward as quickly as possible to keep the line from reaching the ground behind you, but what's then happening is that the line never gets a chance to straighten out and load the rod, instead just looping sloppily.

You need to try to lock your wrist almost completely, and cast with your elbow. You won't be able to completely cast by bending just your elbow, your shoulder will get into the act some as well. But by keeping your wrist relatively rigid, you'll find it a lot easier to stop the backcast sharply at the 1-2 o'clock position, and pause before coming forward. Do a little exercise of stripping out about 30 feet of line off the reel and onto the ground, keep your wrist locked, and gradually work all the line out false casting, stopping sharply at 10 o'clock and between 1 and 2 o'clock, and then see how long you can keep all that line in the air. If you are stopping sharply at 10 and 1-2, and pausing just as long on the back cast as on the forward cast (you can SEE when the line straightens on the forward cast, so try to pause to wait for it to straighten on the backcast the same length of time), you should be able to keep that amount of line in the air indefinitely...or until your arm gets tired. Once you're able to do that, try working out 10 more feet of line. The vast majority of your fly fishing you won't be using any more than 40 feet of line, so if you can handle 40 feet you can fish most situations.

Of course, there are lots of exceptions and lots of times you can get by with, or even want to use some wrist action. Your wrist will probably unlock as you complete a forward cast and drop the line on the water. But too much wrist will screw up most casts with more than 10 feet of line out.

[Lancer09]

Something to try...
Find a big coat.

Put your hand in the sleeve.

Fit the reel in the sleeve

Hold Handle of rod all in sleeve of said jacket.

If you have to tape it all up so you can't bend your wrist.

Figure out how to feel the rod throw the linen instead of you.

[gramps50]

Yes, too much wrist. Makes it too easy to go too far back, and too difficult to stop the backcast sharply.

I can't tell how much line you had out, but even with just 10 feet of line out, you would be going too fast...no pause whatsoever at the end of the backcast. You're doing that to try to remedy what the line is doing as a result of going to far back on your backcast. If you go too far back on the backcast, the line doesn't straighten out behind you but keeps going downward, so that if you paused on the backcast, the line would hit the ground behind you. So you automatically come forward as quickly as possible to keep the line from reaching the ground behind you, but what's then happening is that the line never gets a chance to straighten out and load the rod, instead just looping sloppily.

You need to try to lock your wrist almost completely, and cast with your elbow. You won't be able to completely cast by bending just your elbow, your shoulder will get into the act some as well. But by keeping your wrist relatively rigid, you'll find it a lot easier to stop the backcast sharply at the 1-2 o'clock position, and pause before coming forward. Do a little exercise of stripping out about 30 feet of line off the reel and onto the ground, keep your wrist locked, and gradually work all the line out false casting, stopping sharply at 10 o'clock and between 1 and 2 o'clock, and then see how long you can keep all that line in the air. If you are stopping sharply at 10 and 1-2, and pausing just as long on the back cast as on the forward cast (you can SEE when the line straightens on the forward cast, so try to pause to wait for it to straighten on the backcast the same length of time), you should be able to keep that amount of line in the air indefinitely...or until your arm gets tired. Once you're able to do that, try working out 10 more feet of line. The vast majority of your fly fishing you won't be using any more than 40 feet of line, so if you can handle 40 feet you can fish most situations.

Of course, there are lots of exceptions and lots of times you can get by with, or even want to use some wrist action. Your wrist will probably unlock as you complete a forward cast and drop the line on the water. But too much wrist will screw up most casts with more than 10 feet of line out.

This might be a dumb question, when stripping out 30 ft if line does this include the leader?

[Lancer09]

On a "30" foot cast, yes.

however most lines heave a taper that will still be changing around the 30 foot mark or just finishing their taper. I would say go with 30 feet of the actual fly line.

[Al Agnew]

Yep, 30 feet of actual fly line.

[gramps50]

I tried Al's excerise yesterday, it wasn't as easy as it sounds, wasn't to bad with about 20 ft out but with 30 things would get crazy.? I tried using one of those elastic band with sayings on them that were the rage a while back. It helps in keeping the wrist straight but isn't perfect. Saw a YouTube video about casting to use about a 1/3 of a roll of toilet paper, slip the tube over the rod handle and hold it in place with your arm. Spent a lot of time picking up the TP roll. :-) Got some more work to do I know I have to train the muscles in my arm and this will take awhile so I'll keep plugging along.

[Fishingmill]

It took me countless hours casting in my backyard before I was any good on a river. One thing that helped me were watching casting videos online. Orvis has a good series of videos of various casting techniques.

[gramps50]

I figured it would take a bunch of practice before I was ready for any water, practicing in the yard is how I learned to baitcast too.

Went to the park today, more room than in the yard. Worked on keeping my wrist straight and the rod traveling in a straight line. Had a wrist brace on but in another video I was able to see most of the casting happening with my wrist.

If I let out about 20 ft of line I can make it look pretty good, start letting out more and I can see the loop going to the dogs. Appears to loose speed and just falls apart. I can get out about 25 ft before this starts happening.

Was false casting out to the side so I could see the loop a little easier.

[snagged in outlet 3]

Google Joan Wulff and watch her free videos online.

She boils it down pretty well.

I think fly casting is like swinging a golf club.

The earlier in life you start the better you'll be.

Similar mistakes to both.

People who take up golf later in life apply what they know about swinging a baseball bat to it.

People who take up fly casting later in life apply what they know about spin or bait casting to it.

Both are completely different and only make learning harder.

I taught me kids by having them go to the extreme then pull them back.

Try and crack that line like a bull whip then ease off until the line unfurls.

Pete

[Greasy B]

The golf swing analogy is a good one. Fortunately I took up fly fishing when I was a young man, unfortunately I took up golf much later, it shows.

You can take the golf/fly fishing analogy further. My golf swing varies from crude to down right terrible but I still play and I have a blast. The trick is to pair up with friends who are at a similar skill level, go with a good attitude and bring plenty of balls.

Many fly fishing situations only require modest casting skills. Find some bedding Bluegill in early summer, if you can cast 20 ft you can catch the heck out them. Another simple method is swinging buggers and soft hackles to trout in a stream with a modest current. If you can cast 20 ft then pay out another 10 or 15 ft of line you can fish very effectively. When you start getting into fish you'll find that the actual cast is no big deal and you can start working on other necessary skills like hook setting and line control.

Good luck and don't give up.