5 Fly Fishing Casting Tips

Using these 5 fly fishing casting tips, you can master the delicate art of fly fishing. Unlike regular fishing, it takes a lot more than the press of a button to make a proper cast when fly fishing. Because the line’s own weight propels your bait where you want it to go, a certain feel for your cast is required. The technique is easy to learn, but hard to get good at. These tips, along with ongoing patience and practice, will help you cast like a pro the next time you go fly fishing.

1. Get ambidextrous. In regular fishing, only one arm is really needed to make a cast, because that’s all the control that’s needed. But when you’re fly fishing, you need to make the actual cast with the right hand, and control the line with the left. Without that line control, you won’t be able to make a proper “loop” during the casting motion. It’s that loop that will give the fly fishing line momentum and propel the line forward.
2. On the initial casting motion, create momentum by moving the rod back and forth from ten to two. This motion creates that aforementioned “loop” when done properly. With your left hand, you should simultaneously be pulling out the amount of line that equates to the distance you want your cast to be. Do it in several steps, while keeping that motion going with your right arm.
3. Keep the rod “in plane”. The term “in plane”, if you’re new to fly fishing, basically means in line with your forearm. The key to making sure your fly fishing cast stays in plane is to keep the proper form with your right arm. It should stay very close to your chest, and you should never allow your wrist to break. To make it easier to remember, think of your right arm as a solid lever going back and forth.
4. Make abrupt stops at the end of each lever motion. When your rod hits the ten, make a gentle jerking motion back towards the two. The same goes for the two to the ten. These jerks back and forth make a nice loop, which in turn translates to good momentum.
5. Don’t aim for the spot you’re trying to cast to. Though it sounds counterintuitive, you should avoid going directly for a specific spot on the water. Instead, focus your aim at a spot in the air that is about four or five feet above where you want the fly to land. This will keep you from undershooting your target.