Casting Important Part on How to Fly Fish

Seasoned fly fishermen usually say the same thing when confronted on the question of how to fly fish – get your casting technique down for maximum fish catching. Unlike regular rod and reel fishing where the weight at the end of the line is what helps the line exit the reel, it is the weight of the fly fishing line itself which brings the fly lure right to the fish.

Setting Up for Practice

Before heading to a fishing hole, you will want to practice on how to fly fish cast in a large grassy or dirt packed area. Cement and asphalt are not great surfaces to practice your casting as the rough surfaces could ruin your fishing line. Tie a bright piece of colored yard at the end of your line or even a brightly colored lure so that you can see what your fly is doing during the process.

After tying the yarn or fly onto the line, the next step in learning how to fly fish is to pull out about 20-25 feet of line out of the fly reel and lay it on the grassy area next to you. You need this amount of “play” in the line so that you have something to negotiate lightly through the water.

Get a Grip

Learning to hold the fishing rod in preparation for casting out the line is the next step in how to fly fish. While the rod is in your hand, put your thumb on the top of the rod grip and keep it on the top as this provides you with better accuracy as well as force in your cast. Also, the butt of the rod should be perpendicular to your wrist and forearm and kept under.

Make sure the line is through your rod in learning how to fly fish and then pull about 20 feet of it and place it on the ground to the right hand side. Holding your rod in a grip, the opposite hand grasps the extended line tightly for better casting momentum. Once you are comfortable in this phase, you can start to experiment with different casting when learning how to fly fish.

The Cast

The actual cast itself is next for the lesson on how to fly fish and you must use efficient movements for a successful turn. Flick the rod back a bit to a 45 degree angle, which is about the 2:00 o’clock position and then hold it. This causes an abrupt stop at 45 degree angle mark so your fishing line will shoot backwards.

Next on the how to fly fish list is flicking your wrist back to the 2 p.m. position as this action will cause the fishing line to fly forward out in front of you. If you did everything correctly, the fishing line would have straightened out and landed with ease rather than a plop. If your tied fly on the end of your fishing line made a distinct straight down dive into the water, then you did not learn how to fly fish properly. The line should extend out into the water and with a tugging motion, you learn to lightly tug on the line so that the fly appears to be skipping across the water rather than sinking in it. It takes patience and plenty of time to effectively learn how to fly fish, so unless you are gifted, don’t be surprised that you do not catch anything the first few fly fishing trips.