Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Fly Fishing & Other Fish Species Pond Fly Tackle

Got a new combo on order today as they had no more in stock, and there was no questions at Cabela's on returning the broken one.

There was a different guy (Bill) in the fly fishing department and he was awesome! Took the time to visit with me about casting the heavier flies and ended up taking me outside with a comparable fly rod to see first-hand how I was doing and offer some additional tips.

He suggested pointing my feet perpendicular to the direction I'm casting so I can see my backhand (and my thumbnail), and to keep my line straighter he suggested stopping my backhand at 12:00 as the rod tip invariably will end up at 10:00, to speed up my back hand and at the last minute to twitch my wrist, then going forward to also give it a minor snap at the last minute and to be sure and extend my arm as I "throw" the line forward.

I ended up with very little arch in my line, getting a full extension of the line going forward, then laying the fly on the water as it should. He also suggested setting a garbage can lid about 25' away (using 25' of line) and keep casting until I consistently hit it. Then instead of moving it farther away, keep making the target smaller until you can hit it at the size of a dinner plate.

He also taught me the single-haul which I'll need to spend some more time practicing as I had a habit of bringing my hand down during the forward cast instead of keeping it up high to "haul" in the line when going forward.

Watching youtube is one thing and definitely helpful in learning the basics, as well as tips and instructions offered by others, but the hands-on instruction was invaluable!

All in all I was getting more distance, a full extension of the line and very little arch in my cast. And now that I'm so excited about putting to use what I learned today, I have to wait the week or so for my new fly rod to arrive.

And to think this isn't even the tip of the iceberg in the art of fly fishing! Very excited to say the least!

OOOHHH! ready for a spey rod?

just kidding, it sounds as if Cabela's was helpful. Like all things in life it's surprising what you can learn if your willing.

Keep at it, soon it all becomes 2nd nature.

Had to look that one up, Dirk!

And I'm beginning to discover this is a very large iceberg, but exciting none-the-less.

And as a note to my lesson recap, (excitement/adrenaline was still rushing) I'm sure these suggestions were based upon making corrections to the way I was casting but made all the difference in the world for me. So if any of it is correct (by fly-fishing standards) and helps just one new-be like myself, then mission accomplished!

BTW, my replacement combo (see http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=386301#Post386301) has been shipped and will be here by end of day tomorrow so I see a weekend of fly fishing, this time bringing along a "lead snack" in case of another snagged snapper