Hi

My boyfriend Tim, who is on this site now by the way, loves fishing and he is having a go at fly fishing. He has been to Ladybower, Thrybergh, the upper Don and on the wharfe at poole. None, may I add are easy places to catch a fish.

His casting kept landing his fly line in a heap about 15 feet out from the bank. So I have told him to practice his technique first before he ventures out again. I don't want him to get fed up and pack it all in cos I love fly fishing, and love his company but he is like a bear with a sore backside on the bank cos he gets frustrated at not being able to cast properly.

Rather than him chucking it all in, literally, would he benefit from daily practice ? Can anyone recommend any dvds that provide easy to follow instructions on how to cast a fly ? erm not sure about one to one tuition cos well whoooo gosh he can lose it a bit.

I am coaching him at the moment but well gosh it's like learning to drive with your boyfriend, expletives all over the place.

I think he needs to comfortably cast 20 plus metres before he goes out fly fishing again.

Our fly lines, reels and rods must be 20 years old at least and all rods are carbon and everything else is roughly the same age. May be we need to start updating everything. We have bought a new rod by Maver and a shakespear Trion which we claimed off the insurance as 20 percent went missing out of our garage and likely to be on a car boot somewhere.

Oh he is a very good course fisherman and his retrieve and sense of what the trout are taking is first class though and well he will catch a lot of trout when he learns to cast properly.

Thanks

Andrea

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I can't kill fish ohhhhh.

I would strongly recommend getting some 1-2-1 tuition with a qualified casting instructor. It's all well and good trying to coach him yourself, but it's like me trying to teach the wife to cast, it just ain't going to happen. They don't listen properly and think they have it sussed when really they don't, and you try and tell them, and then it all goes south and you get cross with one another.

At least with an instructor you have the "relationship" side of things taken out. He'll be able to introduce different techniques and drills to help as well, and he will also take a look at the set up you are using and will either say it's fine and dandy (which it probably is) or recommend something else that might be better suited.

Good luck.

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If you lend someone £20 and never see that person again, it was probably a wise investment

I agree, qualified instructor is the way to go.

Lessons really do save loads of time in the long run. The important thing is to practice between lessons and not when your fishing. No good going back for a second lesson till you have mastered what you were taught in the first one.

Try:-

http://www.jimcurry.co.uk/

Very skilled caster, but more importantly a very good communicator.

That's it in one!!! If they can't get over what they are trying to teach you, in words and phrases that you understand, then they aren't an instructor.

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If you lend someone £20 and never see that person again, it was probably a wise investment

AAPGAI instruction is the way to go.

You can support this with Mel Krieger's book and DVDs (The Essence of flycasting).

Now that man was a communicator!!!.
Search youtube there is loads of stuff on casting.

I would agree with all the comments here. Book some one-to-one tuition ... it makes life so much easier.

I've only been fly fishing for 2 years (20+years coarse fishing) but I equate fly casting to skiing ... you can learn on your own but you're more likely to have an horrible accident and have poor technique.

An instructor will get you started with good technique and practice techniques. It's worth the money.

I'd love my girlfriend to come fly fihsing but I'm not going to risk trying to teach her myself ... the whole relationship thing gets in the way. Leave it to the professionals.

I can sympathise with your boyfriend in the frustration side of things. Fly casting is a difficult skill to master ... but when you get one cast reasonably correct you feel brilliant. Just tell him to forget about trying to match the really good casters he'll see at a fishery ... they've probably been casting for years ...

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Cheers,
Lawrence

hi andrea welcome to the forum!

apart from all these great vids from you tube, the 'orvis progressive fly casting method' DVD has been ultra useful, it goes through overhead casts and roll casts in good detail but well explained and goes through hauling techniques very well.

if you have a biggish back garden you could take him out there for target/turnover practice. I had the same problem trying to teach a uni mate and It was frustrating for both of us, but keeping a level head and keeping him calm will help the most. When hes doing well sing his praises, when hes struggling gently guide him in the right direction.

all the best for you and your man

jonnie