George, I was given a fly rod at the age of 10 with no direction. I at first got frustrated and hung it up. Then at the age of 13, I found a fly fishing only section of trout stream near my grandfather's house, and had no choice but to learn to fly fish. So I spent many a summer days tangling lines and losing flies. My grandfather was not a fisherman, so he just sat on a bank reading a book while I trudged away. I am not sure what method I taught myself, but as best as I can tell, the chop roll cast would probably best fit what I typically do. However, I do a lot of "side arm" casting as well. Seems to give you more room rather than straight overhead when in tight areas. I am sure it aint pretty, but when I got to college and took my flyfishing class at Penn State, the instructor didn't seem to care as I could put the fly where I wanted it. When I finally caught some of the extremely smart brown trout that has seen it all on a size 28 midge I was quite excited. Size 28 is a small hook! But if you used anything but that size, the trout had nothing to do with it.