What should you do before you go fly fishing with a Captain in the Florida Keys?
Practice your fly casting before you go.
You hear it every weekend after a big game, professional coaches often say that a player succeeded because “they reacted to a situation instead of thinking about it.” I believe that statement holds true for fishing too.
And No… Casting while fishing does’t count. I start a month or two before my trip with the rod weights that I will be using. So if it is Tarpon season, I break out the 12 weight after warming up with a lighter rod and get to work. Being able to cast without thought is my goal.
I find myself at practice watching the line react to my casting stroke. This can be bad while preparing for a trip, at some point you must concentrate on the fish and not the line. Make sure that you understand that the lines behavior on the front cast is a result of the habits that you interjected in the back cast.
Try to fix problems without looking, a good way to do this is to practice casting at targets. Place fish markers down in different wind directions and distances. Cast to a specific side of a target and plan to lead the target. Try and limit and or reduce the number of false casts necessary for you to release the cast. This can be the difference in whether a fish is too close or far away. Be prepared to make a, “speed cast”, this is where you have fly in hand as you stalk fish, see the fish, and quickly cast to your quarry. This is the norm for casting when fishing with a guide.
Line management and boat coordination also can be linked to casting success. Make sure that if you expect the weather to produce windy conditions that you are comfortable using a line management tool such as a stripping basket or “line tamer.” They can be hard to adjust to without prior practice and sometimes impossible to fish without. Practice casting & managing line in windy conditions.
Practice can turn an ordinary day of fishing into a succesful outing!
