These next few fly fishing tutorials are all about fly casting, and how to do it as accurately as possible.
It’s important when targetting fish and avoiding obstacles to be able to change the direction of a straight line cast and also to be extremely accurate. You can change direction either by changing the angle of the back cast alone, or by doing so during both the back and forward cast. If you are a beginner, even small changes of angle – as little as 30 degrees, for instance – can be handled by turning to the new direction before lifting the line into the back cast. You should be aiming in line with the new forward cast direction.
You need to lift with a little more effort to compensate for the loss of efficiency caused by the inclusion of the angle. If you change your angle on both the back and forward casts you can change direction by as much as 45 degrees. However, with bigger changes of angle mean deterioration of efficiency, which can become difficult to cope with.
Try to change direction after the back cast has extended could mean the fly hitting you in the head, so be very careful. If you are a right handed angler, and cast towards your left after the back cast has extended, you’ll get the same painful result time and time again. Isn’t it better, then to follow the basic rule of thumb in fly fishing: point the rod in the new direction before you lift the line from the water.
