Why false casting can be counterproductive

Many aspiring fly fishers, in their zeal and enthusiasm to learn how to flycast, become burdened with the common problem of false casting too much.  Although the false cast is an indispensable tool in proper fly fishing, for many reasons it can become a "bad habit". 

As mentioned, there are constructive uses of the false cast, but for many beginners, the tendency to its use are misunderstood and misguided.  These are just a few of the reasons we emphasize to our students why false casting can be counterproductive:

  • false casting wears out: lines, leaders, flies & guides . . . the more of it you do, the quicker these items wear out & thus don’t perform as well
  • false casting tires out: arms, wrists, forearms & shoulders . . . the more of it you do, the quicker you tire out, lose casting accuracy and efficiency, and the sooner you want to stop fishing
  • false casting reduces fishing time . . . a fly works better on the water than in the air ("I’ve never caught a fish with the fly in the air")
  • false casting limits/restricts distance control . . . all aerialized line you "work out" when false casting must go somewhere; it can’t be easily shortened in mid-cast nor done so accurately
  • false casting scares fish . . . the repetitive back & forth "whipping" of the fly line over the water is counterproductive to fishing success; because fish are afraid of airborne predation, the more commotion we cause over their heads the more alerted they are to our presence and hence are less inclined to take our fly
  • false casting dries off the fly . . . this is OK if you are fishing a dry fly, but a wet fly is not meant to be "dried out" between casts; (not to mention that 90% of the time fish feed beneath the surface where we want a fly to sink & remaining wet between casts assists with this.)
  • false casting is used by a beginner to lengthen the cast . . . this is often the opposite of the right objective; why cast further than the nearest fish? Usually within 30-40’ away.
  • don’t recast after a “bad” cast . . . "2 wrongs don’t make a right"; you may not like the cast, but the fish don’t give a hoot.

THE MOST EFFICIENT FLY CAST IS ONE MADE WITH NO FALSE CAST . . . SO, " PRACTICE FALSE CASTING...DON'T MAKE IT A PRACTICE ! "

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