How To Cast a Fly

A Brief Intro to Fly-fishing
Back when fly-fishing was considered a mystery known only to snobby English gentlemen and CEOs, the fly was some fur and feathers tied to a small hook with some thread. The mystery was knowing how to make it all look like a real fly or some insect the fish were feeding on that day and how to get it to the fish without spooking them. Today, however, the fly has become an integral part of most fishing styles. From fresh to salt-water, the fly is considered a finesse lure and creates some of the most exciting fishing you can find.

The mayfly, which trout mostly feed on and what most people think of when you say "fly-fishing," starts its life as an egg on the bottom of a stream and then becomes a nymph. Sometimes trout will root with their noses on the bottom for nymphs. After a year of feeding and swimming, the nymph rises to the surface and takes flight. Within a few days, the mayfly mates and then dies. (It’s all very compelling.)

For general purposes, the "fly" isn’t just something that looks like a fly anymore. The most popular flies are the variations of the Wulf and the Wooly Bugger however, anything from shrimp to mice can be considered a "fly" if it's light and flies through the air.

Fly line is much different than regular fishing line. First is the diameter; fly line is about ten times thicker than, say, 8-pound test. This is the first secret of fly-casting; the line pulls the lure to the water instead of the other way around. Fly line doesn’t come in "tests," but instead, is categorized by weights. Four- to eight-pound are the average weights used for most fly-fishing.

In fly-fishing, the line and leader are both tapered to make connecting them easier. Leaders are about ten feet long and can be bought knotless or knotted. The knotted leader is the slightly more advanced of the two. A longer or shorter leader can be used; it all depends on the lure and location.

As I mentioned earlier, the line is used to deliver the lure to the water. It’s actually the weight of the line that does this. The line is thick and heavy enough to be whipped up into the air and hurled with a low trajectory in order to get the lightweight lure to the location needed. This low-trajectory casting makes it easier to get under low-hanging tree limbs and bridges, which also makes for good bass, bluegill and crappie fishing.

Practicing Line Movement
If you’ve ever whipped around a wire, a rope, a hose or anything of this nature, the principle of fly-casting is already known to you. If you have never done this, grab a nice heavy cord, rope or the garden hose (about twenty feet long), stretch it out and whip it around the yard like a bull whip.

1. Make side-to-side whips and take note of how the "line" moves and lands when you make different moves (straight, humpy, circular). Practice a steady side-to-side motion and note how the "line" begins to be "used up." You might get some funny looks from the neighbors, but you’ll be getting the hang of the whipping motion needed for fly-casting and it’ll give them something to gossip about.
2. Practicing with a heavy cord or light rope first is highly recommended. This will make it easier to understand the whipping motion and it’s like running with weights on your ankles, then taking them off. Position the "line" out in front of you; now hold the end up with your arm at a forty-five-degree angle, sort of like the Statue of Liberty but not so high.
3. In a quick, one-two motion; slightly bending the arm at the elbow, bring the wrist back over the shoulder and out front again, straightening the arm at the end. Notice how the "line" makes a loop and snaps the rest forward. This is the basic principle in fly-fishing. Keep doing this with a steady rhythm until you get the end of the "line" to move.
4. Okay, now if you’ve been watching, you might have noticed that the more you move your arm back and forth, the more the "line" starts to move. You should now be ready for the "reel" thing, pun intended.

Removing Hooks
This is where we should stop for some first aid training. Warning: Flying hooks can and will hook into things. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, it will. If you should be unfortunate enough to have a hook lodged into the skin, hopefully you looked into the standard method of removing hooks. If not, here is a short study of one procedure:

1. Always clip the line first.
2. Pinch on the hook’s shaft with your other thumb and forefinger or a pair of pliers (where the curve starts).
3. Push the hook toward the flesh, deactivating the barb at the point and then out toward the curve.
4. Address the wound and administer care as needed.

Removing Stubborn Hooks
If the hook will not dislodge using the first method, here is a surefire way to get the bugger out:

1. Using an 18-24 inch length of heavy line with the ends tied together, loop it around the good wrist and thread it between the thumb and forefinger.
2. Pinch the rest of the line into a loop and put it around the hook, positioning the line at the bottom of the curve.
3. Put pressure on the eye of the hook and pull the line hard. By the way, this will hurt if the hook is tangled up on the bard.
4. Address the wound and administer care as needed.

Go to most any fishing website and type "de-hooking" into the search box and you might find a diagram of this procedure. Now that the first aid portion of the article is over....

Casting a "Fly"
Now, where were we? That’s right; holding the rod out at a forty-five-degree angle.

1. Grip the rod handle, with your thumb on top. This goes for all rods. If you are using an actual fly rod (which is highly recommended), grip the handle in front of the reel. Make sure the leader is all the way out, with a little fly-line poking out past the last guide loop. Hold the rod out like you were shaking someone’s hand. Now, shake hands with the rod, except use only the wrist. Keep one eye on the rod tip and leader line. Get a feel for how the rod whips and how much force is needed to generate a slight curve. With the other eye, notice how the leader lifts off of the ground and bounces around.
2. Continue to shake hands with the rod. With your free hand, make three or four pulls from the reel. This is called "stripping." If you’re shaking the rod correctly, the fly-line will feed itself through the guide loops. The more line you strip, the bigger the shaking motion needs to be. Neat, huh? Okay, if you got the fly-line to feed through the guides, stop shaking the rod. If you didn’t, either keep practicing or stop shaking the rod and feed the line through the guides manually. Shaking the rod is just a handy little way to feed the line out.
   With your free hand, make one strip from the reel and hold the line with a light pinch; this will keep it from feeding through the guides. You should have about two feet of fly-line from your hand to the first guide ring on the rod. Position the rod at a forty-five-degree angle, with the arm as if shaking hands, closing a door or pushing a small sailboat into the water. However, you want to look at it.
3. Face the target at a slight angle with your free-hand shoulder and foot out front. About a 45-degree angle is needed for this stance. Including fly-line and leader, there should be about ten to fifteen feet of line on the ground in front of you.
4. Swiftly lift the rod tip up, using mostly the wrist, and stopping at high noon. This movement should lift the line into the air while continuing to hold the line at the reel. When the weight of the line begins to pull the rod tip back, snap the rod tip forward and push it out to forty-five. When the line begins to pull the rod tip forward, pull the tip back up to noon, keeping the forearm at a forty-five-degree angle. (The arm moves like a wheel arm on a stream train.)
   The line should be making a tight loop and flipping at the end. You want to "bull-whip" it, however, you don’t want the snap at the end; just a flip will do. Snapping will depreciate the integrity of your knots and fly.
   You should be making your lure "fly." If not, keep practicing until you get the lure to fly around with some control; just watch out for "flying" hooks.
5. Once you've got the hang of flying (so to speak), things begin to get a little tricky. If you are making a short cast, this is where you snap the rod tip forward again and let go of the line; the weight of the line carries the fly to its destination (usually straight out from the tip of the rod). It will only go about twenty to thirty feet. You have just executed a "forward cast." For longer casts, when you snap the rod tip forward again, briefly let go of the line and then pinch it again, pulling the rod tip back again afterwards. As the line is moving back, make another strip or two and repeat the process until you’re ready to let go or "cast." This is known as "double hauling." It’s meant for long distance casts of about seventy to one hundred feet or more.

I hope at this point you’ve gained a little knowledge and confidence, which do go hand-in-hand. You should be able to make a forward cast, which will lead you in the right direction. So my job here is done. If not, go to your nearest outdoor shop (Gander Mountain is one of my favorites these days) and ask for some help. Trying to get someone to show you things isn’t hard if you can wait your turn; the experts are very helpful. (At least at the store I go to!) They even hold fishing and hunting shows sometimes; they’re free and you might learn a few things while you’re there. Thanks for reading and I hope your next fishing trip is a successful one.