Casting versus Fishing

The other day someone remarked to me that I like casting whereas this person likes fishing. I responded that I like fishing and casting. Casting with my friend, my fly rod, makes fishing fun every time. The tournament fly casters I know are also avid fishers and spend much time on the water with their fishing friends – their fly rods. Practicing together makes your rod your buddy. The reason fishing is so much more fun with a well trained fly rod is because the cast itself is a reward – just as hitting a target is an elemental reward, a competent cast to the place where a fish could be is a reward. This turns fishing situations with bushes, overhanging trees, underwater structure etc. into pleasure opportunities. You become a student of your back cast, your roll cast and all the other little tricks you develop. Every situation offers a reward. To have fished the water well is a worthy goal. The catching is certainly a bonus but it is in our power as dedicated fly fishers to leave every body of water, whether still or moving, knowing that we have fished the water well. That makes any fishing trip worth while. Why let the fish decide whether we have had a good time.                                                                              Peg    

Fly Casting Forum features news of fly casting and plug casting competition, scores and techniques, fly rod calibration and evaluation data, teaching programs, history of the sport and the people who have nurtured it through the years, discussions, questions and comments concerning fly casting techniques and ways to make our times alone with the water and our fly rod more memorable and satisfying. Anyone who shares our approach to fly rodding as an art and a dance with the line is invited to follow this page and submit responses to our features. We welcome comment and inquiry.

Many people want to cast well enough to fish effectively but we are reaching out to people intending to master the rod and line so they can enjoy the sensation of casting a fully controlled loop to a particular spot, be it near or far far away, with such aplomb and savoire faire that the cast itself is a sufficient reward. This cannot be accomplished without serious practice and attention to the theory of making the fly rod move the line. We want to encourage others to become fly casting hobbyists, like us, in addition to their fishing hobby and to cast where they look, under the wind, into the wind, under the bush, back handed, over the off shoulder or clear out of sight.

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