Being able to cast a fly fishing rod is one of the pure joys of fly fishing. It is a skill that requires practice in order to master. But when you get good at it, your casting is fluid and effortless. Looking at the back of large brook trout sitting underneath a low lying limb and then placing your dry fly just in front of his nose is a satisfying experience. Placing your fly line exactly where you want it to go increases your chances of catching a trout.
Here are some beginner fly fishing techniques to help you learn how to cast your fly rod for the first time.
First, put the rod at your feet and stand in an open area with at least 20 yards of space both in front of you and behind you. Pretend you are holdign a paintbrush in your dominant hand, and stand comfortable with your dominant foot just slightly in front of the non-dominant foot. Keeping your upper arm relaxed and your elbow bent at 90 degrees, begin to move your forearm, wrist and hand forward horizontally, with the imaginary paintbrush at about the level of your waist. Imagine the paintbrush is dripping with paint and you are trying to flick the paint forward without scattering any paint out to the sides.
In order to do so, you'll move your forearm smoothly forward with the paintbrush held out to the side. If you flick your wrist forward too early, teh paint will spray everywhere. In order to keep the paint on the brush, you'll want to minimize swinging the handle of the brush as you move your arm forward. As your forearm moves ahead, you'll flick your wrist forward at teh last second, trying to fling all the paint on the brush straight out in front of you.
As you do this forward flicking movement, shift your bodywieght forward onto your front foot. This entire motion is one fluid movement.
Now you'll reverse the process.
Imagine that the brush is soaked with paint again. Slowly bring your forearm backwards, keeping your upper arm loose and relaxed, and letting your forearm guide the rest of your body. Slowly rotate your shoulders back while keeping the brush angle still so that the paint doesn't spatter. As you bring your forearm past your body to the rear, again flick the paintbrush backwards trying to flick the paint straight behind you.
You can see that with each movement forward and backwards, there is a slight pause at the extremes while you allow the momentum of your forearm combined with a flick of the wrist to throw the paint directly in front of you and directly behind you.
Practice this motion with just the body over and over again. when you feel like the motion becomes fluid, move your forearm from a horizontal position close waist level to about a 45 degree angle, like a pitcher trhowing sidearm. Practice the motion again, and slowly progress until the movement is done directly overhead.
Take frequent breaks so that your arm doesn't get tired and your form stays good.
Newcomers to all sorts of sports flock to different specialty sports stores each and every year. All of them are after the same thing; beginner gear that will help them get into the sport and stay there. Whether you are a man or a woman, young or old, if you are looking to start fly fishing, beginner fly fishing gear is what you need.
But you may be surprised that there are not sections of the store especially cordoned off for beginner fly fishing gear. Oh no, most of what you will need can be found all over a fly fishing store. The trick that will save you confusion, frustration, time and money is to know what you need in order to break into the sport of fly fishing.
The Know How
You can find advice and information on what beginner fly fishing gear you need on the internet. The internet is a great fly fishing resource. You can find blogs, forums, reviews, advice and lots more information on all sorts of websites related to fly fishing. You can find out what beginner fly fishing gear and fly fishing tackle you need to get started and you can build on that later as you advance. All newcomers need a few basics.
You will obviously need a fly fishing rod and fly fishing flies. No, you cannot use common house flies; fly fishing flies are actually baiting doohickeys used to attract fish. You will also need a reel and line. That is the bare minimum you need in your beginner fly fishing gear. From here on out the gear you add is simply to improve your experience or to better your technique and skill.
You will definitely want to look into wading boots so that you do not slip and break your neck and a fly fishing vest to keep you organized. The bare basics are all the beginner fly fishing gear you need to start out with. With this gear in hand you can decide whether you really like fly fishing and whether you want to invest even more money into this sport and hobby. Once you know that you want to progress you can buy more gear, add to your collection and better your skills. Lessons, tips, advice and knowledge are your greatest assets as a beginner and advanced fly fisher. Anything that will get you further is valuable and nobody is ever too old or too good to learn.
People watch fly fishing on television and they think that beginner fly fishing must be very easy because it looks like that on television. First of all what you are watching on television is not beginner fly fishing, that is fly fishing being done by professionals with years of experience who have worked on and perfected techniques that take years and years to get right.
Secondly it is television and the chances that everything went that well in the first take are probably pretty slim. Television has a way of dressing things up so that it all looks so appealing and easy to everyone at home and this is where this notion that beginner fly fishing is so easy comes from. Well, beginner fly fishing isn't easy and here are some valuable tips you will need to get you started.
For equipment you need a pole, a reel, special fly fishing line, and a fly. Many people make their biggest mistake with beginner fly fishing at the line. Fly fishing line is thicker and heavier that standard fishing line for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that you do not use sinkers or lures in fly fishing so there is nothing to weigh the line down. Therefore the line itself needs to be heavy so you can fly cast it properly. It is also thicker because you need to cast with accuracy and that is hard to do with lighter line. So make sure that for your beginner fly fishing expedition you get the proper supplies and tools to get the job done.
Don't Skimp
Many people will attack beginner fly fishing with a mind to catch fish and no mind on the equipment they will use to get the job done. Never skimp on your equipment because if you buy cheap equipment and it fails on you at the beginning of your trip then you have a long fishing trip ahead of you. Get the best reel you can afford and the best pole you can find. You can ask someone at the sporting goods store but you are better off asking someone you know that fishes because sporting goods store clerks love to see people in beginner fly fishing and try to sell them stuff they don't need.
Fly casting is about the most difficult thing you can ever do and it will require practice. Make sure you take the time to get used to casting the fly line and get used to fly casting in general because it does take some practice.