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!

Casting Instruction and Coaching

From your grip, to lifting line off of the water, to your loading move, to your power snap to unload the rod, there is a lot to learn about fly casting.  Behind every great fly fisherman, there is a fly caster that has to know how to get his/her offering where it needs to be in an efficient manner.

So, who needs a casting lesson?   Just about everyone...

We have worked diligently over the past several years to put together a variety of casting instruction packages to meet the needs of just about anyone who owns a fly rod.  And most importantly, we have spent a ton of time not only teaching casting, but sitting at the feet of a casting guru to learn her perspective specifically on casting instruction.


Packages:

1. An Hour at a Time:  This is for the fly caster that just wants to get together occasionally for an hour at a time to work on a particular aspect of their casting or learn new skill.

An Hour at a Time is $60/hr.

2. Casting Coach:  This is the ideal way to learn and improve your casting.  Casting Coach consists of a package of 5 sessions.  Each session is an hour long.  We start at the beginning with the basics of fly casting and send you home after each session with a set of directed tasks to work on until our next meeting.  Initially, you might think some of this is too basic, but when we are all said and done, you'll be happy we went back to the very beginning and started fresh.  Having a solid foundation of fundamentals is the key to a lifetime of casting pleasure.  When your foundation is solid you can then advance to hauling and/or 2 handed casting with ease.  Think about Casting Coach as no different than hiring a golf pro to work on your golf game.  This is the exact same idea.

A 5 session Casting Coach package is $250.

3. Casting School:  I have a team of coaches ready to get together and do a 2-3 consecutive day school for your group. These schools can be tailored to your group's needs and can be as lite or intense as you need.  We will develop the casting school around your needs and can come to you or we can schedule a destination retreat of your choosing as well.

Evolution!

What a great day on the water with Bill. He called a few weeks ago and said he wanted to learn to catch steelhead on the fly. I love spending the day with a client that just wants to learn everything they can. I watched Bill evolve today from struggling with his casts and line management to making drifts and landing fish like a seasoned pro. That folks is what it's all about.

Are you ready to learn something new? There are a couple weeks of action left. Call me. LET'S GO FISHIN'!