why is it someone can have 20 years fly fishing behind them and get a hook caught in a tree and people mention casting lessons ??? is it like a sexual thing with some fly fishermen?


billy

It's a very good question and very well presented


I would just caution one thing though; bad habits picked up in early stages of casting development are real bu99ers to 'unlearn'. You end up spending years recifying them.

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Time is a stream I go fishing in.

Nah man the longer your at it the more aware you are of your limitations and the little faults in your technique.It is impossible to analyse correctly your own casting stroke without interfering with it. You don't have to take a lesson but it could speed up your progress and help you avoid bad habits.
And as for leaving a few flies in the foliage, if you are not doing that you are not trying hard enough . PJ

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When you can see without being seen,strike without knowing why,and guess correctly where the best fish lie,they have taught you all they can.
(T.C. KINGSMILL MOORE)

I think your having a wee laugh at us.But truth be told,a beginner with 1 lesson will save years of Cr*p casting faults.In fact it might even help them cast 15yards instead of the 10 yards I see everywhere I go.I'm not an instructor (not got the patience) but I can tell a self or friend taught caster at 100yards.Though this thing called flyfishing is about catching on an atrificial fly.and not really about casting.It really helps if you can cast a bit.

Jim

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The Fishermans Friend is the Flirty Fly,Fickle Food for Fleeting Fish.

on a serious note , i understand like many other things bad habits can be a bark to get rid of but i was thinking about it earlier .

carp fishermen for instance need to cast on target many times whilst say spodding then actually getting the baited hooks out and down on the lake floor . lots of time effort and money is spent on presentation nowadays probably on par if not more so than fly fishing in the repsect there's a lot of rigs etc with the carp anglers but casting lessons are not banged on about ..

you see newcomers to course that find it all but inpossible to cast a weighted float 20 foot even using a 13 foot rod but no one bangs on about lessons .

don't get me wrong , i have had lots of help here and i have finally fought my way through the basics but couldn't help notice the constant reference to it , not just on my posts i must ad..

I don't think you read my post.

Jim

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The Fishermans Friend is the Flirty Fly,Fickle Food for Fleeting Fish.

Even though this thread is 'aimed' at 1-hander rods I can assure you it's just as true, if not more so, with 2-hander spey casting.

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"The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a
living are now outnumbered by those who vote for a living." -- Anonymous

Well
I used to spend quite a lot of time retrieving flies from the vegetation behind me, cracking lures against my rod and untangling birds nests caused by tailing loops etc.
I tried to fix the problems myself but with limited success.
I had a lesson. It didn't fix everything but I spend a lot more time fishing now and a lot less time sorting out messes.

I also found I was casting further with less effort and with better presentation and a persistent ache in my wrist went away.

I thought it was worthwhile.

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"Take not out your 'ounds on a werry windy day" Surtees.

i replied to dartmore , your post was added during my reply ... why the assumption **** casters havn't had lessons ? i'm sure there's plenty of **** casters that have spent a few quid trying to do it "right"

do we need to cast perfectly ? do we need to cast effortlessly or is casting the fly where it's needed the important factor ? i'm sure everyone here who drives a car does so with "bad habits" but gets from a to b quite efficiently .

my point isn't one that lessons are not beneficial to some but more of the fixation on them


billy

casting Lessons are for the fly anglers who want to become professional anglers; self taught with all it's faults, brings greater pleasure and satisfaction.

JMO of course