Fly Fishing: Presentation Presentation Presentation

The number one reason why most fly anglers fail.

“I have guided clients from all over the world on our streams and I have taught dozens of local anglers the subtleties of approaching these catch and release waters and the NUMBER ONE reason that most anglers fail to get the results they should is because they simply don’t cast well enough.

When all is said and done most of us spend far too much time worrying about flies and leaders and all manner of gizmos without actually being able to use all that technology to good effect.

The expensive rod, the micrometer tuned degressive leader and the host of fly patterns all fail to work if the fly is  not presented properly and in the right place, and that means that YOU have to cast them. You aren’t out there with anyone else and don’t go blaming the wind or the trees or whatever, fly fishing is a sport where there is nowhere to hide, you are solely responsible and it amazes me how few anglers take their casting abilities, or too often lack of them, seriously.”  The Fishing Gene

I recall an evening on the Metolius River, near Allingham Bridge many years ago. Fish were rising. I shared the spot with a few other anglers. A caddis hatch was in progress. I tied on the EHC and commenced to cast, and cast. The angler above me was having great success. I was not. After several fish, I remarked upon his success and my lack of success. I even remarked how we were using the same fly and that I must be in the wrong spot.

The angler remarked that I was not in the wrong spot. It was my ‘presentation’. Huh? Within that brief period of time my focus forever shifted away from primarily the fly to how to present the fly. No longer did I obsess about match this and that. I spent for more time considering the approach, the angle, the currents, the seams and the likely lies. I thought about the ‘presentation’. That night, I was casting and oblivious to the drag and I am sure I was much too hard on my cast’s landing and pickup.

As much as we can become obsessed with gear and the secret fly, we can too, become obsessed with casting. Particularly for distance….  So, presentation, presentation, presentation. Best wishes, SB

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