#3.1 Learn to Cast a Fly Rod

So You want to Learn how to Cast?

In your quest to learn to fly fish or just learn to cast a fly, whether you are a beginner fly fisherman or a seasoned pro, we all had to start somewhere. Together we are going to go through some of the basic skills and drills needed to be able to get that string in the air and sing.

By now if you want to learn how to cast a fly rod, you have no doubt watched more than a few You tube videos by now and read a handful of on-line material about learning to cast a fly rod. Some of the information that is available is very helpful, and some, not so much. After reading and watching you might have more than a few questions, let’s see if we can help with that.

When I was guiding I was both blessed and cursed for doing all of the “Beginner Special Trip”. This was a 4-hour trip where we would take you out on the water, provide rod, waders, and few flies, in the course of 4 hours, you would learn how to fly fish.

The reason I say blessed and cursed is I was able to learn so many teaching tip and tricks to help a person learn how to cast a fly rod in just 4 hours. The curse was I spent almost 2 seasons doing nothing but this type of trip. I got pretty efficient in teaching a newbie in a short time.

Plan of attack, we need a plan!

Ok now that you have agreed to let me help you learn how to cast a fly rod, let me explain how we are going to do this. I’m going to break this lesson down into 3 parts. Each part will give you a chance to practice what you have learned. Hopefully if you have done some of the practice, when the next drill comes at you then you will be able to work on the new drill and then be able to combine part one and two, and then part three. By the end of the three sections, you should have a basic understanding of casting a fly rod, or the whole fling string thing I’m trying to teach and be that much closer to going out and catching fish.

So, enough blabbing let’s get started, “I want to fling string”!

Learning to cast a fly rod only takes a few items to get started:

·        A fly rod

·        A reel

·        A fly line

·        A leader/Tippet

·        A small piece of yarn as practice fly.

·        And a space to practice in.

In the beginning when you are first learning to cast a fly rod, where you get a fly rod is not all that important. You can borrow one, you can get one from a garage sale, or secondhand store, or you can buy a starter package form a fly shop, or even Walmart, (I will talk more about equipment later, I promise). The important thing is that have a rod that you can practice with.

Your rod should have a few basic components with it. First off, the rod needs to be whole, and not broken, or missing a guide, secondly it needs to have a reel on it, (make sure the reel works) and third it should have a line on it. If you have all three of these items, you are almost ready to race. Let’s check the fly line, is the line in one piece, does it have any missing chunks out of the line, is the line all cracked?. If all looks good then you are almost there.    

The last thing is you will need a leader. A leader is a piece of tapered monofilament line that is attached to the end of the fly line. Leaders run anywhere from 7Ft in length to 12 Ft in length. I think learning with a 7Ft leader will work for practice sessions. At the end of your leader is where we are going to attach a small piece of high visibility yarn. This yarn needs to be only about 3/4" of an inch in length, just enough for you to be able to see where your line lands.

You do not need to go to a fancy place to practice, you can do it in the street in front of your home, or a local park will do, as long as you have a large enough area to practice in without whipping a few kids or pets in the process.

Ok you have found a rod to use, now what!

Let’s take a quick second and look at the anatomy of a fly rod first. It is important that you are familiar with some of the terms we are going to use in the coming lessons.

·        You have a handle, usually made of cork.

·        The reel is attached to the handle.

·        The rod itself, 7 ½ to 9ft in length

·         Rods have small guides along the fly rod.

·        The reel holds line and reels up line.

·        Backing to fill the extra space on the reel

·        Fly lines 90 ft in length.

·        A leader 7 to 12 ft in length

·        Tippet, a small piece to protect the leader

·        Finally, your fly is attached at the very end.

Enough chatting let’s get started already!

I know you are chomping at the bit to get started but lest start with a few basics before we begin. First you will need to learn how to grip the rod handle correctly. Do this by holding the handle in your dominant hand, either right or left, whichever one you are. Your grip should warp around the handle, and your thumb needs to be on the top of the grip, (not on the side or bottom). Grip pressure should be equal to holding the hand of a small child, no need to death grip the handle, just even pressure.

Ok, we good so far? Great now talk a few seconds and play with the rod, just wiggle it around, shake it up and down, you know just goof around for a while. You need to see just how flexible and wobbly a fly rod actually is. Get a feel of bending it back and forth and see just how fast it whips around. Focus on your hand and feel the pressure of your grip on the handle. Good job you got this.

First practice drill:

The first drill we are learning is the “PICK UP AND LAY DOWN” drill. Let’s learn how to do this. The first thing is to find an area where you have about 30 to 50 in front of you and behind you. Now that you are a master of gripping the rod, let’s go ahead and pull about 20 ft of fly line off the reel. Either by shaking or walking get the line out in front of you and start out of the rod tip.

Before we start the next part I need to teach you a quick metaphor for this drill.   

With your arm at your side and your forearm bent at 90 deg. Let’s pretend you have a phone next to you, and that phone rings, and it is the Lottery Commission calling. You will want to pick up that phone rather quickly “right”?. This is an example of the speed you are going to learn in the pickup and lay down drill.

The key to becoming a good caster is to learn the correct speed and tempo to get the string flinging!!!

Let’s get this party started already, the starting position will be you with your rod in your hand, 20 feet of line out in front of you, and your rod should be parallel to the ground. Alright we good so far? Ready? Let’s pretend the phone is ringing, and you need to answer it quickly. You are going to take your hand up to your shoulder, like answering a phone. Your rod should be pointing strait up to the sky. If you did this right, the fly line have flown right over your head? Did it work?

You have answered the phone, but this time as soon as the line flies over your head, take split second to let the line straighten out behind you, and then just as quick as you lifted the rod, lay it back down, into the position you began at. If you have done it correctly, the fly line should be laid out in front of you in the same manner as which you began.

Try this for a few minutes until you can comfortably pick up the rod, let the line fly behind you and smoothly land on the ground in front of you. Don’t worry this will take a few times until you get the hang of it. The key here is to get a feel for the timing it takes for the line in the air and back on the ground.

You will know you are doing it correct when the line and leader are in a nice straight line in front of the rod tip. No big pile ups, or big squiggles on the ground. A little tip I use to help people is to say these words as you are doing the drill, (up--stop--drop) if you say this while doing the drill you will see how it automatically all comes together. Yeah I know it may sound silly but believe me it works. This will also help you to learn the timing you will needed to become a true “Ace” with a fly rod.

Casting a fly rod is very similar to swinging a golf club. You will build muscle memory over time, and you will need to train your muscles to work in a new way. For the time being, just go out and have fun with this new venture.

If you have any questions or a stuck with any part of this, please feel free to reach out to me.

Cheers

Gary