#3.2 Learn to Cast a Fly Rod

Learn to Cast a Fly Rod part 2 of 3

Hello and thanks for coming back for more of my series on learning to fly fish, or just "learn how to cast a fly rod". In part one we covered some of the very basic items needed to get you casting a fly rod, I even gave you a drill to get you started. I hope the practice was well received and you were able to begin to learn how to cast your fly rod.

Before we get into the bulk of the next lesson we are going to learn a few key terms that you will need to reference from this point forward, (don’t worry there will be no quiz at the end).

Take a look at this cheesy illustration and you will be able to see the terms we are about to learn.

The reason we need to be familiar with these terms, because any video you watch on “how to cast” is more than likely you will hear an instructor saying one or more of these terms when talking about casting a fly rod. Since you looked at this amazing artwork, you now know what that particular term refers to.

Casting arc:

Casting arc will refer to the distance that your fly rod travels both backward and forward. If you are only casting 20 Ft. of fly line your casting arc will be very short, meaning you will only move your arm forward and back a very small amount. However, if you are casting 60 Ft. of line yours will be much wider, to allow time for the line to travel in its new direction. From time to time, you will use. . “Casting arc and casting stroke can be interchangeable in some conversations”

Rod position:

You will or may have already heard casting instructors using the term “10:00 o’clock to 2:00 O’clock”, (what, beer thirty already)?. No, this only refers to the position of the rod in reference to your body as positioned to a clock. Your forward cast should stop around the 10 O’clock position, while your back cast or back stroke should stop nearer to the 2:00 O’clock position. It’s that simple, so next time you hear a video instruction telling you to stop your cast at 2:00 O’clock, (it does not mean you have to practice until 2:00 P.M.) simple stop your rod near that position

Control hand:

I cannot stress enough how important it is as a beginner to “KEEP THE LINE UNDER YOUR FINGER”….. There is nothing funnier that watching a person chase the line in their left hand, with a rod in their right! Believe me when I say, “your left hand will be able to find your right hand without looking. Simple, give your right hand a gift of line from the left and place it under the index finger.

As you are learning to cast this simple thing is the difference between success and failure on a fish. When you are casting you will let more line out with this finger, and you will bring line back in with the same finger. So, in the beginning please learn to keep the line under this finger.

Casting Loop:

A casting loop is the shape of the loop formed by the fly line as it travels forward and backward during the casting stroke. The really cool think about a fly line in the air is self-diagnostic feedback. As you watch someone who is a good caster you will see what is called a “tight loop” this means the top of the loop and the bottom of the loop are relatively close together. A poorly shaped loop will have a large space between the top and bottom of the loop. Tight loops mean the energy of the cast is concentrated and will travel nicely to the target. A wide loop means poor energy and low speed. Generally, when someone is throwing open loops they will cast harder to compensate, which only amplifies the weakness of the cast, (the harder you push the lesser it goes).

Casting plan or line path:

I’m sorry I did not include a drawing showing the plane of the line, but it is simple the path that the line is flying on. Is it parallel to the ground? Or is it angled upward or downward?. This is what we say when talking about the casting plane.

Now that we are completely confused let’s do another drill:

In our last drill, the “pick up and lay down, or up-stop-drop” we started with the rod in the 9:00 O’clock position, lifted the rod to the 12:00 O’clock position, stopped for a brief second and just lowered the rod back to 9:00 O’clock. Several reasons for this drill, first is to get the feeling for correct speed needed to get a fly line in the air. You might notice it does not take all that much to get the line in the air. Second is to give you the feeling of the rod stopping and the line changing directions. The stopping of the rod is key to getting a good turnover of the fly line.

In our next drill we are going to start at 9:00 o’clock, or start position, with the rod parallel to the ground,  20 + ft of line out of the tip of the rod. From here were going to lift the rod as before like we are answering the phone, but this time we will stop the rod at or near the 2:00 o’clock position, (if you look at the clock drawing you can see the stopping position).

In casting talk we are going to refer to this as going from a vertical cast to a horizontal cast. The horizontal cast is the one everyone sees, when the fly line is flying back and forth as you wave your stick in the air.

If you have done it correctly, the line should come off the ground, smoothly sail right past your face and fly behind you. As you watch the line, we need to wait a split second to allow the fly line to completely straighten out behind you. The exact moment your line is straight, this is your key to begin the forward part of the casting stroke. On the forward stroke you will stop the rod in 10:00 O’clock position. Once again you will need to wait a split second to allow the line to travel forward. Again, once the line is straight in front of you this is your key to begin the back stroke.

In the last drill I gave you a tempo of (up-stop-drop), this time you are going to have anew tempo and it will go like this (up-stop-forward-stop-back-stop-forward-stop) In the beginning I want you to do only this many false casts, and on the last forward cast, when the line is straight, you will simply drop the rod back to the 9:00 O’clock position, or the starting position.

You will know you are doing it correctly when your line comes air born briskly, flies past your face, then smoothly travels forward, you stop the rod and the line completely straightens out and you lay the rod down and you have a nice straight line on the ground in front of you, the same distance away as when you began.

Does your line look nice and straight? Or is it piled up at the tip of the rod?

I know this may be a lot to take in all at once, but with a few minutes of practice you will be able to master this basic starting block of casting from this point forward.

Speed and tempo, this is not Nascar racing:

In the drills we are doing you are being trained in my sneaky subliminal way. My goal is to teach you the proper speed and tempo of a correct casting stroke.

The whole goal is to learn to accelerate the rod and come to a hard stop. We need to focus on the words (smooth acceleration and brisk or hard stop)!.

Remember the answer the phone drill? If you take the receiver from your ear and then hang up the phone, this illustrates acceleration and the stop!, or using a hammer to hit a nail, or a meat cleaver on a chopping board, (I could go on all day with these metaphors). Get the picture? Smooth acceleration and a brisk stop. This is crucial to developing a smooth casting stroke.

How does your casting loop look?

I said that you can tell how well you are casting by the shape of the loop. Let’s look at yet another piece cheesy artwork to learn more about this.

Closed loop is when the acceleration speed is correct. The top and bottom of the line are spaced perfectly apart.

Open loop is too little acceleration, and the rod never loads up with the weight of the line, or too slow.

Tailing loops are formed when the rod goes forward way too fast, causing the line to dip below itself. Tailing loops are the number one cause of “knots” in your line. If you have tailing loops, just slow down just a tad bit.

Perfect practice makes perfect:

Now go out and find your practice area where you are free of trees or bushes, little children on bikes, wind, birds, small planes or any other muck ups, and practice this new drill. Remember (up-stop-forward-stop-back-stop-forward-stop---and drop) this is your new tempo. Begin with a manageable amount of line, like 20 ft. or so. Use this cheesy drawing and look at the loops in your fly line as it flies through the air. Which one does yours look like? This will take some time to learn. Once you begin making good loops at 20 ft. try adding 5 or 10 feet more, but if the wheels fall off the bus, bring some line in, until you get it right. If you are casting a long distance and have bad loops you will struggle to become better.

If you have any questions or problems please feel free to reach out to me.

Cheers

Gary, AKA LaMachine,

As Always feel free to hit me up with questions or comments.