THE BACK CAST
Split the
cast into two parts start with the back cast. First, find an
area with a lawn, try to find a place free of distractions,
do not start on the water, you need to concentrate on your
movements, the last thing you need is to think about is
avoiding trees, bushes, water currents, etc. And remember
something worth doing is going to take practice. Strip out
about 30 feet of line out of the rod tip and lay it out
straight in front of you, lower the rod tip close to the
ground, make sure there is no SLACK LINE in the system, hold
the rod with the EXTENDED FINGER GRIP thumb on top of the
cork, keep a firm wrist, hold the line under the middle
finger of your rod hand, let the other arm hang loosely at
your side, get your self into a comfortable OPEN STANCE,
left foot forward for right hander's, concentrate on keeping
your shoulders square to the target. Start by lifting the
forearm, lift the rod smoothly starting slowly directly away
from the target, lifting the line to the point where the
leader is attached to your fly line, now lift your elbow and
accelerate the rod directly up and back finishing with a
your hand slightly away from you with your thumb pointing
straight up and level with your right eye with a positive
stop, check that you have not opened the wrist, the butt of
the rod should be no more than two inches from your forearm,
let the line unroll and extend to the rear, stop there and
let the line fall to the Ground, if you want to repeat
simply turn around 180 degrees and try again. You are half
way there.
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All images © Ben Blackwell
THE FRONT
CAST
Once you feel
comfortable and confident with the back cast and you can
cast a straight line out behind you, advance to the forward
cast. Now instead of letting the line fall to the ground on
the back cast, after the positive stop on the back cast
drift a little up and backwards with the rod, this slight
drift allows you to go with the flow, following the
unrolling loop until it has lost its momentum. At the moment
when the line is just about to straighten we begin our
forward stroke, remember only a straight line can load a
rod. If we wait too long the line will begin to fall so
there is a magic moment just as the line is straightening.
Now concentrate on the specific point you want to cast to,
come forward but this time in reverse starting with your
elbow and finishing with your hand, we want the application
of power to start right down in the handle and to
progressively move up through the rod finishing at the tip,
so start slowly smoothly increasing in speed ending with a
positive stop at about 45 degrees from the horizontal. A
loop of line will form in front of you, as the loop unfurls
and straightens gradually fade the rod down following the
unfurling line down to the starting position. If you have
problems putting both casts together go back to just half
casts. The basic cast is the foundation of all fly-casting,
practice it to perfection, only then will it be possible to
master the more advanced casts.
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All images © Ben Blackwell
PRACTICE
I cannot emphasise this enough, don't wait until you are on the water to practice casting, It is impossible to practice casting while fishing, there are just too many other things to concentrate on. Practice on a lawn or a pool free from obstacles and distractions, every hour spent practicing will bring you closer towards fly casting efficiency on the stream.