Fly fishing which is also known as game fishing requires the angler to perfect their cast before they can hope to fish properly and in this sense is harder for the beginner to perfect than other sorts of fishing. Not only must you cast your fly to a specific spot (often some distance away) but also you

must move the fly through the water to mimic the actions of a living creature.

Fly Fishing is, of course, also different from coarse fishing and sea fishing in that you are trying to catch fish not through tempting your prey with actual food but with an artificial fly made to fool the fish into thinking that it is taking an insect or fly. Sometimes these flies are on the surface and hence known as dry flies and sometimes below the surface and there a great range of flies for below the surface fishing including buzzers, lures and a bewildering range of exotically named flies such as cats whisker or boobie.

Whatever the fly though it will be light and much lighter than actual food used in coarse and fishing and this impacts how you need to cast. Coarse fishing and sea fishing use food and often other weights to help the lines sink. As well as helping the bait sink this also helps the angler to cast. The casting action involves raising the fly rod in such a way that the weight of the bait e.t.c. on the end of the line creates firstly a backward momentum behind the angler and then as the rod is taken forward that momentum, as the rod bends to go forward again, takes forward the bait allowing the angler to cast a long way.

However, with fly fishing rods you do not have the advantage of the fly to produce that back momentum that gets converted into forward motion as the rod bends and you cast forward again. The game angler is reliant on the line itself to do that for them and hence it is vital that your rod and line are properly balanced and the way that you can tell this is that every rod and line is given a number such that you need to ensure that the rod and line have the same number. Different numbers will result in an unbalanced outfit that you will struggle to cast with.

So what do you need to do to actually cast accurately and as far as you want to? The key is to use the weight of the fly line to create that backward momentum which gets converted in to forward momentum as the rod bends when you bring the rod forward. Imagine your casting arm is the arm of a clock such that if you were to hold your arm up this would be 12 o’clock. Now raise the rod and line above your head and stop sharply just as your arm passes your head i.e. 1 o’clock, pause for a second and then bring the rod and line forward again and stop again at 10 o’clock. As you do this ensure that your thumb is touching the handle of the rod. The result should be a good straight cast.

The more momentum that you can create as you take the cast backward the more that will be converted into forward momentum as you cast forward and hence, although many anglers try to avoid it, casting into the wind can help as it increases the backward momentum of the line. That just leaves one thing – practice – lots of lovely practice.

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Author's Bio: 

Bruno Blackstone is a freelance writer interested in all things to do with the outdoors and helping others get the most from the outdoors. Starting with a psychology degree his early career was as a social worker and family therapist working with families to help them achieve more positive and stable relationships. In his more recent career he has coached many senior executives in both small and large organisations in areas such as strategy, human resources, organisational design and performance improvement. He now continues his work in the business world but he is also co-owner of My Outdoor Store a price comparison site for outdoor enthusiasts.