While fly fishing is considered to be one of the most relaxing hobbies you’ll ever engage in, there is still a certain amount of skill necessary 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 overall. There are just a few simple things you can remember in order to make 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 mistake of trying to force their cast the way you do with typical fishing. Remember that you’re not trying to reach too far ahead of you and certainly don’t want to sink your bait the way you do with typical fishing. Your goal is to just skim or flit your fly over the top 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 other 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 hit it perfectly.
Other ways to improve your fly fishing techniques is to get comfortable with working the line. With typical fishing you usually have no slack in your line but with fly fishing, that slack is necessary for when you pull the line up for another cast. Getting used to how it feels to control the slack with your secondary hand may take some practice. As you practice your cast, practice handling that slack so that it doesn’t get tangled 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 practicing your fly fishing techniques, remember not to get too caught up in instructions and the “proper” way to cast. If you do, you might find that you’re missing out on the enjoyment of fly fishing overall. Anglers have been successful with fly fishing for hundreds of years without fancy schools or instructions, so you don’t need to worry too much about these things. Do the best you can with your own fly fishing techniques and remember to enjoy!
by John Reece
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