Fly Fishing and Practice – Improving your fly casting
I came across this video today by TedEd, which describes the biological developments we go through as we practice. It gives a few helpful tips on how to progress skills and stay focused.
I think this advice especially applies to improving your fly casting. As the video mentions, starting out slow and planning the movements in your head is one way to build fluid movements and accuracy. As you complete more repetitions, the easier it will become for your body to recreate the form and motion involved in various casts. On the note of staying focused, one of the beautiful aspects of fly fishing is that you usually don’t have to worry about the distractions of the modern world, and I’m often in areas where my phone doesn’t get any service. There’s also an interesting reference to a study concerning the positive effects of mentally practicing, and visualizing the movements in your head. As we all know, presentation is one of the most important parts of becoming a successful fly fisherperson.
Here’s the full video:
Speaking of practice, I recently purchased a Redington Form Game Fly Rod to teach others how to cast. I have to admit, it has been a lot of fun casting it in my living room, and I often try to see how far I can roll cast with no shortage of household obstacles around me. It’s a nice distraction for days when I can’t be on the river, and has turned out to be an unexpectedly useful tool to further build my own timing and accuracy.
The form rod has also turned out to be a popular toy for my dog, Arlo. I plan to take him fishing with me as the weather warms up, and I’m starting to worry about his attraction to fly line…
Here’s a video below of him grabbing the yarn “Fly”: