Fly Fishing Casting – Overhead casting

The art of fly fishing casting may look extremely difficult to the beginner angler, but with a bit of practice it is not that difficult to become a good fly caster. It is important to know how to cast with fly fishing, and it doesn’t matter what equipment or fly collection you have – if you can’t cast properly, you will not be successful. You need to be good enough at fly fishing casting to be able to land your fly at a specific target location on the water’s surface. The fundamental fly fishing casting techniques required by the novice angler are described within this article.

It is recommended that the beginner learn fly fishing casting from a fishing instructor, but there are plenty of books, DVDs, and online guides that teach fly fishing casting. The two main fly fishing casting techniques used today are the overhead cast, and the roll cast, and all other fly fishing casting techniques are variations of these two techniques. The beginner will start with the basic dry fly fishing method where a floating line is used which floats on top of the water. It is far easier for beginner anglers to see the fly line and detect a strike on the line when dry fly fishing. Also, using a bulky fly fishing vest can impede your casting stroke, and beginners are advised to use a smaller fly fishing chest pack or lumbar pack – there are a wide range of cheap Fishpond pack models to choose from for the beginner angler.

When practicing fly fishing casting it is important to ensure you practice in a location with enough clear space, such as a open field. If you want to practice 45 feet casts, it is important to have 45 feet of open space behind you as well as in front of you. For 45 foot casts also check that you have 20 feet of space on either side of you. Wear glasses or protective goggles and a hat for safety. It’s also recommended that you use a fly with no hook (called a yarn fly) on your fly fishing line. For your fly casting practice sessions, place targets out in front of you, then you must try to hit these targets when fly casting (hula-hoops can be used).

Overhead Cast

This is the most commonly used fly fishing casting technique, and most beginners should start using this technique. This technique has two sequences, the back cast, then the forward cast. With the back cast, you are lifting the fly line off the water in front of you, and up over your head until the fly line is behind you. Before the fly line touches the ground behind you, initiate the forward cast sequence. Bring the fly line back over the top of your head for the forward cast – the fly should land as near as possible to the target you were aiming for when you initiated the cast.

Roll Cast

The roll cast is used when you have obstructions behind you, such as bushes or trees, that prevent you from doing the back cast using the overhead casting technique. As the roll cast technique does not lift the line too high, it is also ideal for fishing in windy conditions. The technique for performing a roll cast is also fairly simple. Lift the fly rod up vertically until it just passes the one o’clock position, which is just past your ear. This causes the fly line to slide back on top of the water’s surface, without the line lifting off the surface. Once you are in this position, you just perform a firm forward cast to finish the cast.

For more information about saltwater fly fishing gear, take a look at the news feed for Fly Fishing Elite (Feedcat.net).

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• Beginner Fly Fishing Tips (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
• An Introduction to Nymph Fly Fishing (thejoyofflyfishing.com)

While fly fishing is conceived to be one of the most restful hobbies you'll ever engage in, there is still a certain amount of skill requirement in order to be successful. You might have heard so much about the cast and about tying your own flies and may wonder how to really improve your fly fishing techniques in order to improve your catch broad. There are just a few simple things you can remember in order to affect your time on the water a more enjoyable experience and to just plain old catch more fish; let’s review these few simple things to remember about your fly fishing techniques.

Being gentle with your cast is important and probably the most important of all fly fishing techniques. Many anglers make the error of trying to force their cast the direction you do with typical fishing. Remember that you're not attempting to achieve too far leading of you and surely don't want to sink your bait the way you do with regular fishing. Your destination is to just skim or flit your fly over the upper of the water. You also want to remember that with fly fishing, the fly is virtually weightless and the line is heavy, so the line pulls the fly and not the different way around. If you give your line just the slightest bit of direction you'll see how it pulls the fly behind it and how the fly then skims the water. Practice your cast as part of your fly fishing techniques as much as you can. You can stand in the yard and just use a line without a fly. Aim for about ten or fifteen feet in front of you and keep practicing until you can gain it perfectly.

Other ways to improve your fly fishing techniques is to get sufficient with working the line. With typical fishing you commonly have no slack in your line but with fly fishing, that slack is necessary for when you pull the line up for another cast. Beginning used to how it looks to watch the slack with your secondary hand may take some exercise. As you practice your cast, exercise covering that slack so that it doesn't have involved up in the line and so that you have enough slack overall. Both hands are going to be important when it comes to your fly fishing techniques so get used to how the line feels to you and what it takes to control it.

While you’re exercising your fly fishing techniques, remember not to get too taken up in instructions and the “proper” way to cast. If you do, you might find that you’re lost on the enjoyment of fly fishing overall. Anglers have been successful with fly fishing for hundreds of years without fancy schools or teachings, so you don't need to worry too much about these matters. Do the best you can with your own fly fishing techniques and remember to enjoy

What are nymphs and the best nymphs to use for nymph fly fishing

What is Nymph Fly Fishing

Nymph fly fishing is a more difficult fly fishing technique than dry fly fishing, as the nymph is under the water’s surface, and cannot be seen by the angler. Novice fly fishermen learn dry fly fishing first, because the fly is easy to see, and then progress to nymph fly fishing at a later date. Nymph fly fishing can prove to be more successful when fishing in deeper water though, especially if there is no insect surface activity or hatch.

An aquatic insect in the adolescence (or underwater) stage of growth is called a nymph. Insects you see on the top of the water’s surface are all adults, and have all grown out of the underwater stage. The flies used for nymph fishing imitate the underwater or larvae stage of an insect.

Why Nymph Fly Fishing is Tough for the Beginner?

Nymph fly fishing is challenging because the angler will not be able to see the fish rise up through the water and take the nymph like you can with dry fly fishing. Because it’s more difficult to detect a strike, the novice angler may not know when to set the hook. Also, quite often the novice angler cannot tell the difference between a fish striking the nymph, and the nymph bumping against underwater obstructions such as logs and rocks. Its always frustrating for any angler if the nymph gets hooked onto any underwater obstruction, such as a rock or log.

Dry fly fishing is two dimensional. As nymph fly fishing is three dimensional, the fisherman must work out the depth of the nymph for the best chance of catching fish, and modify his line set up accordingly. Also fish don’t tend to strike a nymphs as hard as they do dry flies on the water’s surface, so it’s more difficult to know the exact time to set the hook.

Equipment Required for Nymph Fishing

For successful nymph fishing, you will need a strike indicator. A strike indicator  is a brightly coloured object that floats on top of the water, and when this indicator bobs in an unnatural manner that means you have a strike. The strike indicator is normally attached to the fly line, or is tied onto the leader a suitable distance away from the nymph.

Next, you will need some small weights to put on your floating fly line or leader to get your nymph to the correct depth. Alternatively, you can use a sink-tip fly line instead of a floating line with weights. Another useful item for nymph fly fishing is a good pair of polarized sunglasses which will reduce the glare reflected from the water and enable you to see the strike indicator clearly. The type of fly fishing rod you use will depend on the size of the river or stream being fished – generally, the smaller the river or stream, the shorter the rod required.

Dead Drift Fishing Technique

The most common nymph fly fishing technique that even a beginner can master is the “dead drift” fishing technique. This involves casting directly across the river, and letting the fly line drift downriver whilst keeping any slack out of the line. If the nymph is drifting too quickly, perform a upstream mend. If the nymph is drifting too slowly, perform a downstream mend. In the event of a strike, the angler just points the rod at the fly, and lifts the rod to set the hook. This method of fly fishing requires that the angler head downstream.

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