I wouldn’t say I was a great caster. I wouldn’t say I was a bad caster either. It’s just some days I can cast well and other days I feel like I’m trying it for the first time again. Even throughout a days fly fishing I can go from 20 yards of perfectly straight line with a delicate waft of the fly to 10 yards of coiled up mess and every fish in the area laughing and running away!
I started fly fishing as a kid and came back to it in my early 30’s and over the years I’ve picked up some bad casting habits which mean I’m very inconsistent, especially on long days with tied arms. So, in an attempt to try and put things right and improve my fly casting ability I’ve been on the search for some tips. I’m also contemplating getting an hours lesson on advanced fly casting techniques at some point but before I do that I feel like I need to go back to basics a bit and try and iron out those bad habits – bending wrists, loose loops, trying to put too much energy and effort into the cast and twisting upper body. I also want to improve my haul technique but again, back to basics first.
There are a LOT of videos, courses, books and websites that tackle all aspects of fly casting but I’ve found videos to be the best learning tool because you can see things in motion. The first video that really took it back to basics and built up the methods clearly and easily is this great video by Hywel Morgan – Start Fly Casting
Love the Hywel Morgan video. Realised immediately a couple of things I’ve been doing wrong!