The Overhead Fly Fishing Cast

The art of fly fishing casting may look extremely difficult to the beginner angler, but with a bit of practice it is not that difficult to become a good fly caster. It is important to know how to cast with fly fishing, and it doesn’t matter what equipment or fly collection you have – if you can’t cast properly, you will not be successful. It’s important to be able to land a fly fishing fly on an exact location on the water’s surface when fly fishing casting. This guide explains about the fundamental fly fishing casting skills required by the beginner fisherman.

It is recommended that the beginner learn fly fishing casting from a fishing instructor, but there are plenty of books, DVDs, and online guides that teach fly fishing casting. The two main fly fishing casting techniques used today are the overhead cast, and the roll cast, and all other fly fishing casting techniques are variations of these two techniques. The beginner will start with the simpler dry fly fishing method where a floating line is used which floats on top of the water. Beginner anglers will find it far easier to see the fly line when casting if the dry fly fishing method is used. It is also easier to detect a strike on the line. Also, using a bulky fly fishing vest can impede your casting stroke, and beginners are advised to use a smaller fly fishing chest pack or lumbar pack – there are a wide range of Fishpond pack models to choose from for the beginner angler.

When practicing fly fishing casting it is important to ensure you practice in a location with enough clear space, such as a open field. If practicing 45 foot casts, make sure you have 45 feet of open space in front of you and behind you, and about 20 foot of open space on each side of you. Wear glasses or protective goggles and a hat for safety. Ensure you use a yarn fly on your fly fishing line, which is a fly with no hook. It’s recommended to place targets (at specific distances) out in front of you, and you must attempt to hit these targets in your fly casting drills.

Overhead Cast

This is the most commonly used fly fishing casting technique, and most beginners should start using this technique. This technique has two sequences, the back cast, then the forward cast. With the back cast, you are lifting the fly line off the water in front of you, and up over your head until the fly line is behind you. Before the fly line touches the ground behind you, initiate the forward cast sequence. The forward cast part of the technique entails you bringing the fly line back over your head, and landing the fly on the water – hopefully in the exact location that you aimed at.

Roll Cast

The roll cast is used when you have obstructions behind you, such as bushes or trees, that prevent you from doing the back cast using the overhead casting technique. The roll cast technique is also handy in windy conditions, as it does not lift the fly line too high and expose it to the wind. In order to perform a roll cast, lift the fly rod up slowly until it reaches the one o’clock position (just past 90 degrees). This will cause the line to slide backwards on top of the water, without the line lifting off the water’s surface. Once you are in this position, you just perform a firm forward cast to finish the cast.

For more information about saltwater fly fishing gear, take a look at the Fly Fishing Elite news feed at Feedcat.net.

Technorati Tags: fly fishing casting, fly fishing techniques, overhead cast, roll cast

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