Why It Always Comes Down to Fly Casting -- And What Matters Most

May 1, 2022

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This episode is about fly casting — why it matters more than anything, and how we can improve our accuracy and control over the system with just a few key adjustments.

All fly fishing styles require good casting skills. My friends and I fish a Mono Rig for most underwater presentations. But this tight line approach for nymphs and streamers falls apart without the ability to cast and manage a long leader, through the air, exactly like a fly line. I say it all the time about tight line and euro nymphing — it’s casting, not lobbing — at least, it should be. Lobbing can get things done for a while, but to get anywhere beyond the basics, or even to get under the bankside tree limbs, we need good casting form. So we build loops with a great casting stroke, and then place not just the fly where we want it, but the tippet and leader in the best position too. Ironically, it takes refined fly casting skill to cast a Mono Rig.

All of us here fish long leaders and short ones. We choose a powerful Mono Rig for pushing nymphs and streamers around, and we cast dry flies with a fly line too. We fish a pure tight line with a single nymph, we fish dry dropper styles, yarn indys with short leaders and fly line, and streamers with sinking lines sometimes.

All of it, every bit of it, requires the same casting fundamentals and the ability to control lengths of line in the air. And we must build casting loops with speed for the line to go anywhere.

It’s fly fishing. So it starts with fly casting.

We break down some of our best tips for fly casting that apply to beginners and advanced anglers alike. We go through the essentials and some advanced ideas that apply to all fly casting styles, from dry flies to nymphs to streamers.

We Cover the Following

Correcting casting mistakes in the drift
Cradling the rod, and finding the balance point
Speed. short, crisp motions and clean stops
Turnover
Limit false casting, but use it for purpose
Oval in the rod tip travel
The casting V (10 and 2)
Distance discipline
Don’t reach

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