CASTING COACH

As with all things, great fly casting starts at, well, the beginning. To get a grip on casting you have to start with the grip. An ideal grip allows the muscles of the hand to fully engage the rod's action

With the wrist bent down, the rod grip should rest lightly in your bent FINGERS. The HEEL of the hand should rest on top of the grip. The THUMB rests on the top of the grip with the pad flat. Notice there is space between the muscles at the back of the thumb and the rod grip.

Now, just spend some time holding the butt-section of your rod in this relaxed position. Get used to gently comfortably holding the rod with the proper grip. When teaching my daughter how to cast, I actually just had her walk and sit around the house holding the rod properly and relaxed. You want to build a muscle memory that is relaxed while holding the rod. This will allow you to feel and respond to the rod as it loads and unloads line.  A tight grip with you white-knuckling the rod will never help your casting.

Use this picture to help you visualize not only where the rod should be in your fingers, but also how lightly the rod should always sit in your fingers. Remember, the fingers, thumb and heel of the hand are on the grip to not only guide the rod, but to detect feedback from the rod. A death-grip on the rod will only hamper that ability.

So, the rod grip is resting lightly in the fingers. Now just take note of the position of the fingers, thumb, and heel of the hand with a proper grip. And don't forget to have a grip that leaves some space between the muscles at the back of the thumb and the rod grip. Also notice with a proper grip, the rod butt is parallel with the forearm. If you have a smaller heel to your hand, the rod may even rest in contact with your forearm in this position.

Again, just take notice of the position of the fingers, thumb, heel of the hand, and the rod butt from a top view.

Now, practice practice practice. Stay relaxed. And we'll have another CASTING COACH tip for the next step soon!

Fly casting is far more simple than you might think. If you're ready to start casting or improve your casting...call me. I have a variety of casting instruction options to get you going. LET'S GET CASTING!