The most basic fly-fishing skill is casting. All other angling knowledge and skill depends on casting. Thus practice is very important, and should be done when and where you can concentrate on the casting, and not the fishing.

Firstly, remove the fly if it’s attached to your leader. Spool off about ten meters of fly line (not including the leader). Too much line can make casting very difficult. Hold the rod in your hand. Pass the fly line between your fingers and the rod-grip so that you're not tempted to let out any extra line. Your other hand will have no part in this exercise initially, in fact, put your hand in your pocket for now.

Holding the rod out in front of you, tuck your elbow into your hip and keep it there. If it feels uncomfortable hold it slightly out away from your body. The key to this exercise is to minimize any body movement. Initially this will be difficult, but with time it will become easier. Raise the tip of the rod until it is at about 20 degrees off vertical. Slowly move the rod through vertical to the same angle behind you. For now, repeat this motion using only your wrist. Do it slowly back and forth so that you get used to where the stopping points are.

The "art of fly-fishing" is no more than flicking the line ahead of you and behind you, to be efficient you need to flick the line as close to horizontal as possible. Once you know where the stopping points are, lay the fly line out behind you in a straight line. Using the same motion (i.e. Rod held at Two O' Clock behind you, passed through vertical, stopped DEAD at Ten O' Clock in front of you) but with more force, throw the line out in front of you and stop. If you have done this correctly the line will pass over your shoulder, fold over itself, straighten and fall to the ground mirroring the previous situation. It is very important to keep the rod at the 10 O’ clock position. If this did not work first time, try it again, and again until it works. It should not take too long to get this right. Some people feel uncomfortable holding the rod completely vertical. I suggest you tilt the rod away from you to about 45 degrees, but use the same motion.

The benefit of casting in the vertical plane is that your line is high off the ground and it will not get caught on things like grass, trees or other fly-fishers as often.

After you have mastered the forward cast, it’s onto the back cast. Remember the back cast is as important as the forward cast, except the obvious of course, that it’s going backwards. So you've got your line in front of you. You're holding the rod at the 10 O'clock position. Flick your wrist backwards through vertical (again with a sharp force) and stop DEAD at Two O' Clock in front of you, keeping the rod up. This time the rod should flick the line backward, horizontally. Again the line should fold over itself, straighten and fall to the ground. Keep doing this until you are comfortable. As mentioned before the back cast is as important as the forward cast, and unless you get this right, you might as well not venture near the water.

You have to remember that both forward and backward cast rely on each other. Ultimately without doing one cast correctly you will not be able to cast properly.

OK. Now lets put the whole process together. We will start with the back cast, put the line out in front of you, rod up at the Ten O' Clock position. You're going to cast backwards, stop the wrist dead, watch the line fold over, pass behind you, straighten and... JUST BEFORE IT DROPS TO THE GROUND perform the forward cast, flicking the line forward, just as you practiced before. The key here is waiting for the line to straighten before the forward cast comes in to play. If you hear a whipping sound, you haven't waited long enough (i.e. the line was still traveling backwards when you began the forward cast).

When you go out onto the water and you hear this whipping sound, check your fly, because chances are you've just cracked it off. If the line hits the ground you're waiting too long between casts and you'll end up tangling your line in the grass behind you, or whipping the water and chasing the trout away. If your line hits the ground check to see that you haven't lost your fly, snapped your leader, or caused knots (which will weaken your leader).

Periodically check to see whether your fly is still attached to your line. The last thing you want is to perform the perfect cast only to realize that you lost your fly and that you just tossing line into the water (Unless you're practicing that is - so there's your excuse for next time it happens).

So you've performed the back cast, followed onto the forward cast and surprise, surprise, now you attempt another back cast. Same principle. Watch the line fly forward (wrist held steady) and straighten. If you have a problem following the flight of the line against the sky with your eyes, watch the tip of the rod. As the line straightens it will start to pull and bend the tip of the rod in the direction of the line. When this occurs, the rod is said to be "loaded". The perfect time to cast is when the rod tip is loaded.
Before the line drops to the ground flick it backwards and then forwards and backwards and forwards and... What you're doing now is called false casting. Only when your line finally comes to rest on the water is it called a cast.

Do not perform this casting exercise more than 4 or 5 times in a row. One cast is a whole backward/forward cycle. Any more casts than this and your arm will get tired and your casting will deteriorate.

If you are experiencing difficulty, below are some problems and the possible reasons,

Line doesn't straighten behind or in front of me or hits the ground.

• You're not casting with enough power. The line drops before it straightens.
• Your arm is not coming to a complete stop and is disturbing the flight of the line.
• Your arm is stopping beyond the Ten or Two O' Clock point, effectively throwing the line into the ground instead of horizontally.
• You're waiting too long between casts.
• You're using too much line (reel some in).
• You're not gripping the line tightly between fingers and rod grip, allowing line to slip out as you cast.
• You're not watching your line or your rod-tip.

  I hear a whipping cracking sound or I get tailing loops (line gets caught up in itself while casting).

• You're not waiting for the line to straighten before starting your next cast.
• You're not watching your line or your rod-tip.
• You're casting with too much force.

  Line hits my rod.

• Wind is blowing from your casting side. Face the opposite direction or have the wind coming from directly in front or behind you.
• You're not watching your line or your rod-tip

  Line doesn't fold over itself in a tight "U" shape, but rather in a wide "C" shape.

• You're not using enough force in your cast.
• Your wrist isn't coming to a complete stop.
• You're not watching your line or your rod-tip.

  From the above points you've probably noticed that one point keeps coming up, namely: You're not watching your line or your rod-tip. Yes, this is very important and until you "get the feel" of casting and your body knows what to do keep watching that line.

  “Only through practice, practice and more practice will one
  become proficient in the art of fly-fishing.”

  The next big step. You're now going to take that fly-line that you've been holding tight between rod-grip and fingers and pass it over to your other hand. Keeping the line slightly away from your body, your non-casting hand must feel comfortable and in no way interfere with the casting hand. Hold the line tight and proceed with your false casting until you can cast properly without your non-casting hand waving around. Remember you want to keep the line from slipping through your hand, so hold it tight and give the rod something to work against.

  Once you've managed to get the action right, casting arm casting and non-casting arm not casting, you're ready for the next stage. Unspool five to ten meters of line from the reel, onto the open ground in front of you. Make sure not to stand on the line and that there are no branches or weeds that might tangle your line at your feet.

  On your next forward cast, you have to add a little exercise. Once your wrist has reached the forward Ten O' Clock position and STOPPED, OPEN YOUR NON-CASTING HAND slightly, release a little line and close it again. At this point the line should pass over your shoulder in front of you and straighten out. With your hand open, a meter or two of line will be pulled off the ground, and the length of line in the air will increase. Before the line begins to drop to the ground, CLOSE YOUR HAND and perform the back cast. Do not release line on the back-cast unless you are feeling very confident and/or brave.

  On your last cast you can leave your hand open until the line stops being pulled through, or when you judge that enough line has been let out. REMEMBER THAT YOUR LAST CAST IS NO DIFFERENT TO ALL THE OTHERS and should not be flicked forward harder or to a different angle from vertical. Once the line stops being pulled through, wait for the line to start dropping and then follow it down with your rod tip.