Every day I meet enthusiastic fly anglers in the shop who profess, "I would like to cast better and catch more fish on the fly." My question to them is, "How quickly can you present the fly at 40, 50, 60 and 70 feet?" Every single person seems to look at me in bewilderment as if they have never thought about how fast they can cast to a certain distance. The honest truth is saltwater fly anglers don't practice enough on the speed of their cast combined with distance.
On March 30th Josh Eddings and I, with the very professional help of Josh's friend Luke, managed to capture some pretty exciting redfishing footage. Upon reviewing the film Josh made some comments to me regarding his casting prowess and how he felt he could have landed more fish if he had done x,y, and z with his casting. Keep in mind Josh landed, on film, five redfish on the fly in under 45 minutes of actual film footage and that does not include the fish he did not catch because of various flubs and excitement.
In reviewing the day we both agreed that his shot percentage was unparalleled but he could have capitalized better if he would have:
a) held onto his fly line after the cast was made by forming and o.k. symbol with his line hand thumb and index finger instead of letting go of it at the end of the cast...
b) cast further to the fish to prevent them from being so close at the time he presented the fly that they could sense the boat and or its occupants and their movements and...
c) presented the fly to the fish more quickly.
For example if angler #1 can present the fly at a distance of 60 feet to a school of redfish, tarpon, bonefish etc. in under three seconds he stands a far better chance of catching a fish than angler #2 who can only present the flyat a distance of 35 feet and it takes six seconds to do so. The number one thing I am teaching the average charter angler when he steps up onto the bow of my skiff is how to fire a fly at a moving target from the "ready position" in under four seconds. With a little practice and some coaching anyone can accomplish this goal and the single greatest benefit to the angler is you will catch more fish because of this drill.
To practice the ready position make certain that you have around 50 feet of fly line neatly coiled at your feet or in a stripping basket. With approximately 25 of those feet including the leader, say 9 feet, placed outside of the rod tip and the remaining feet of loose fly line managed at your feet collect the fly and place it in your non-casting hand. Carefully hold the fly with your thumb and forefinger by the bend in the hook. Now find the connection between the fly line and the leader and pinch this in your non-casting hand between your ring and pinky fingers. This leaves approximately 16 feet of fly line between your non-casting hand and the rod tip. You are now in the ready position and capable, with practice, of loading the fly rod with a roll cast towards your target which the momentum of will delicately pull the fly out of your fingertips thereby allowing your line hand to be free to perform the duties of the double haul and shoot the remaining 25 feet of fly line to the target with a minimum of two false casts and a maximum of three false casts.
For an increased level of difficulty practice this drill on a moving target. A leaf in the yard on a windy day or casting a piece of yarn on the end of your leader in front of a family pet that is playing in the yard. Drill this muscle memory into your casting game before your next trip on the water and you will see increased rewards in your angling.
If you want to see this illustrated call or come by the shop and I will teach you how to execute an accurate cast from the ready position or join us in our upcoming Fly Fishing School and learn this and other techniques to advance your fly fishing pursuits.
Tight Lines and Loops,
Capt. Seth Vernon
