Casting my fly

[Plum Island]

Ok I have done some research, and I'm alittle confused here about casting my fly. Is it easier to cast it once I left it drop into the water? Or should the fly not touch the water until the final cast? Some say "let you fly/line out like 20ft or so in the water", and LIFT the line, and fly off the water into the back-cast. This seems hard, but maybe it's not. That's why I'm asking. Others say they have taken the casting lesson, and the fly doesn't touch the water until the final cast. Is this true? If so...what happens once the fly and line are out like 30ft or so...if I want to re-cast...do I reel/pull the line/fly all the way in?? and start again?

[Mal Greene]

Kev, fly casting is not that difficult. To begin strip 20 or so feet of line from reel. Shake out 10 or so feet and initiate backcast. Count 1001(one thousand one), then start forward cast.Remember to stop backcast arm position at one o'clock. This allows the line to straighten for the forward cast. Stop forward cast at ten o'clock. Once the line straightens out before you drop rod tip to water to complete presentation. As for when to lift line from water it depends on what type of line you are using. A floater can be picked up with 40-50 feet of line out, where a sinking line must be stripped back to within 10-15 feet of rod tip before recasting. In either case a roll cast will lift line easiest for your next cast. Hope I was of some help. Mal

[Sammy]

Kev,

Until you get better at casting using the water to help "load" your rod won't hurt one bit. Let out some line, backcast to about the 2 O'clock position then foward cast to 10:30, let the line hit the water then repeat for one or to more ghost casts. The friction of the line on the water will load your rod helping you considerably in learning how to cast. Once you learn the dynamics of it you'll be able to do this while keeping the line in the air rather then hitting the water. Keep it simple and make it comfortable for yourself, don't get too hung on strict techniques.

It's not supposed to feel like work.

Good Luck ...... Tight Lines.

[Plum Island]

Thanks Sammy and Mel for your support & help.
You made it much clearer to me I will let you know how my casting is after I try it again Thanks again!!

[Jaiem]

I'm going to take the other POV and say you should not let the fly hit the water during the cast for two reasons:

1 - The slapping of the water could spook fish.

2 - Slapping the fly on the water could cause the fly's materials to foul.