Welcome to another installment of “Ask a Fly-Fishing Instructor,” starring our own Peter Kutzer, who works at the Manchester, Vermont, Fly Fishing School. In the video above, he answers a question from blog reader “griffjc,” who wrote,
From all the advice I’ve gotten on casting, the rod has only ever been described in a forward-and-back motion. Is there ever a reason to cast slightly to the side or even at an extreme angle, meaning either left or right from my body? If there is a reason, what are the benefits? If not, what would be the ramifications of casting this way? Sorry if this question seems inane. I’m a super noob.
In this lesson, Peter demonstrates several situations in which you’d want your rod angled away from—or even across—your body. Plus, he throws in some bonus tips for casting when the wind is blowing toward your casting arm. If you’ve got more questions for Peter, post them below, and we’ll address your casting problems in an upcoming video.
I do a lot of sidearm casts, and most of the time the fly hooks away from the direction of my line. (I’m a right-handed caster; the fly veers pretty sharply to my left.) I see something very similar in this video at 2:36 and 2:45 (and in the bow and arrow cast at 2:59). This is a big problem when I do one of my very favorite fly-fishing things: throwing dries at feeding carp in flat water. What can we do to improve the accuracy of our side-arm casts, whether in our casting mechanics or in rigging tippets and flies? Thanks.