Practice Makes Perfect

I did a talk recently and asked how many of the people attending played golf.

After some coaxing, a few people put up their hands.

I asked if any of them went to the driving range. All of the hands stayed up.

I then asked how many people practised their fly casting.

Even fewer people put their hands up.

I always work on the basis that if I can get my fly to the fish with the minimum number of casts and minimal disturbance, then I have a good chance of catching it.

Practising casting means that we build up muscle memory and, when it comes to being in a real-life fishing situation, we don’t have to think about getting our fly from A to B, but instead can focus on making sure we get the right drift.

For trout anglers, a practice regime of just 10 minutes every now and again can pay huge dividends.

The way I like to start is with a manageable amount of line. I’ll work on making a good side cast while watching my timing and ensuring that the line straightens on both the back cast and the forward cast. I keep the line in the air with a false cast and, if all is going well, I’ll keep the false cast going and move my hand up to the normal overhead casting position while still focusing on my timing.

If this is going well, I’ll then move my hand across my body and cast off the other shoulder while still false casting.

Sometimes, I’ll move the rod over further so that I am side casting off my other side.

I then move the rod back (while still false casting) to where I started and then stop.

I find this routine builds muscle memory and, when I’m fishing, I can always find a cast that will easily get me to the fish.