How to Basic Cast in Fly Fishing

Video Transcript

"I'm Steve Oxley with Denver Angler. I'm going to show you the basics of casting a fly rod. The first thing you want to do is grip a fly rod like you're shaking somebody's hand. Thumb on top, forefingers wrapped around the fly rod. You do not need to grip it firmly just hold it snuggly like this. The next thing you want to do is before you start to cast is you need to have a certain amount of fly line out of the end of the fly rod. In this particular case the fly rod is nine feet long. I've got about eight feet of fly rod, fly line, out of the end of the rod. That's what they call loading a fly rod. It won't cast properly unless you've got some of the fly line out of the tip of the rod. Keep your wrists stiff while you're casting a fly line; none of this stuff. Keep your elbow close to your side. If you have fly line in the water, lift the fly line up out of the water. Take the rod tip back to two o'clock, forward to ten, two, ten, two, ten and then lay it back down. Where ever you point the tip of the fly rod is where the fly line is going to go. That's the basic way to cast a fly rod."