My practice routine for fly casting.

Below will be the practice routine that I personally use when I want to practice my fly casting, an explanation of why I am doing what I am doing, and what exactly each step of the fly cast does. It is very rare for me to get much time to practice, so when I do I want to maximize every second I have. This probably is not the best routine out there, but it is what I use and I think that it can be very helpful.

The routine is for approximately 30 minutes and covers the basic fly cast. You can adapt this however you would like, but this is just what I do and it helps me tremendously. I will link the Pete Kutzer video at the end of the blog so you can have a visual, and to see the video I reference during the blog. (Again, Orvis isn't paying me to say this stuff.)

The premise of my practice routine is spending 5 minutes warming up, 10 minutes focusing on the individual steps of the fly cast, and the last 15 minutes putting all of the steps together to achieve the fly cast. 

Before I actually practice, I like to take a couple of minutes and stretch. It helps me loosen up a little bet and will lead to less fatigue. Or at least it does for me. I mainly stretch my arms and shoulders. 

For the first 5 minutes of my practice, I start with just my fly rod. No line and no reel. The goal for this portion of the practice is to just work on the motion of the fly cast. I start with my rod pointed out in front of me, and traveling in the straightest line possible, I want that rod to come back. Once your hand is about at ear level, I want to make that rod stop, and take a moment to pause. The pause won't make sense without the line, but you need to practice making the pause (I will explain why in a minute.) Then after the pause, I want to smoothly accelerate the rod forward, and stop it at the start position. I will work on this for roughly 5 minutes, then I will add my reel and line to the equation, and move on to isolating the back cast. 

So for the next 5 minutes I work on solely my back cast. This is the first half of the cast, and is where the majority of your line speed is achieved, since this is the part of the cast that you are loading your rod with energy. I am focusing on picking that fly line up off of the surface and bringing it to a stop at the end of the back cast. (The way I learned this was from the Orvis videos from Pete Kutzer, so I am going to sound a lot like him in this blog, sorry.) So for this five minutes I am focusing on the following things, 

1. Picking my fly line up off the surface it is on, thus starting the cast. 

2. Providing a smooth acceleration of the fly rod (and in turn the fly line) along the straightest line possible.

3. Stopping that smooth acceleration at the end of the cast. 

This is all I will do for 5 minutes. I will not even make a forward cast until the next step.

So for the next 5 minutes, I will work on my forward cast. The forward cast is where we are going to transfer the energy we loaded into the rod and the line in the back cast, into the forward cast, and get the fly line (and the fly) back into the water. Not many instructors will tell you to do this, but for me breaking down the forward and the back cast is the best way for me to learn.

I will start with the line behind me, with my rod tip straight up in the air. This will simulate where we just stopped in the back cast practice. I am going to take the same steps for the back cast (smooth acceleration and a stop) and apply them to this step. It will not feel very graceful, but for me it helped me get energy going back towards the water in my forward cast. So we are taking the rod, providing a smooth acceleration forward, and making a stop. The most important part of this, is making your rod travel in the straightest path possible. This is the key to accuracy in fly fishing.

I like to call this first 15 minutes of the session the isolation portion of the practice session. It is during this that we isolate the two parts of the cast, and work on them individually, apposed to working on them in unison.

Now for the last 15 minutes, I put everything together. This is just a repeat of what I did first in the session, only this time with line on the rod. To make things realistic, I like to put targets out in my yard to try and hit while I am casting. But for the first few times, I wouldn't suggest doing this. All you need to focus on, if this is your first few times picking up a fly rod, is getting the motions down. Once you get the motions, you can move to try and hit things. Start with your rod in front of you, make a smooth acceleration to a stop, and once you make that stop, pause. This pause allows your fly line to straighten up behind you. Without this pause you will end up getting a tangled mess when you make the forward cast. The length of this pause is determined by the amount of line you have out while you are casting. The more line you are casting = a longer pause in between the back cast and the forward cast. After the pause, make another smooth acceleration, and come to a stop. The goal is to have your fly rod travel in a straight line during the entirety of the cast. Your fly line should then straighten out in front of you, and land back on the ground or water.  I do this for 15 minutes at the minimum. 

It is important to keep somethings in mind while you practice. 

1. IT WILL NOT BE PRETTY FOR THE FIRST FEW TIMES. We were not born with the natural ability to make the fly cast. It takes time. Stick with it. 

2. You want the rod to be traveling in the straightest line possible. This will allow for tighter loops and translates to accuracy down the road. The rod moving in a straight line is the most important part of the cast. 

3. It is important to have a smooth acceleration. Although you want to build energy in your line fly casting is about efficiency, not power. 
4. Take a minute while you practice casting and watch what the fly line is doing. Doing this will help you be able to self diagnosis.  

As always, if you have questions, you can contact me. I will be happy to answer any questions about this or anything else fly fishing related.  Also, refer to the video below if something seems to be escaping you. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDJJ6W23gHw&t=97s

Good Luck and Tight Lines, 

Josh