[Mike Barrio]

If you don't know where the fish lie but can cast well enough to cover all the water with finesse, you are likely to solve the mystery and catch fish.

If you know where they lie but can neither reach them or present the fly naturally, you are not even in the game.

Joan Wulff

Do you practice fly casting .... do you think it is a good idea to brush up on your skills?

[Colin Sunley]

I don't  no, My Practice is the river trips. 
Each trip to the river is different & each river is different, but every time I come off the river I know I have had at leased some good casts.
but I am still a grasshopper with much still to learn,

[Rob Brownfield]

I used to practice on the grass outside my old work until I found a "pond" 5 minutes walk away. That stopped the daft "You won't catch anything there rob" comments.

I used to worry more about distance, now I concentrate on different casts. I do this at the curling pond in Banchory as the banks are just like the rivers.

(Said in a west country accent)...

This week I are mostly practicing snake rolls.

Last week I were mostly practicing Double Spey with a Skagit

The previous week I were mostly practicing Circle C's

[Mike Barrio]

Casting in a park by yourself can be a bit embarrassing, yet if there are two or three of you that feeling goes away

I think the trouble with a bit of practice on the river is you'll inevitably end up fishing

I think for most of us, just thinking about your casting and trying to improve technique while you are fishing can help?

There is no doubt that an hour or two with an instructor once a year is a good idea, but how many of us do that?

[Marc Fauvet]

Casting in a park by yourself can be a bit embarrassing, yet if there are two or three of you that feeling goes away
or, by yourself you're considered the dangerous loony type. i never have any problems 

I think the trouble with a bit of practice on the river is you'll inevitably end up fishing
that's spot on Mike. it makes for poor practice and poor fishing. the key to good productive practice in a 'real' situation is to never bring flies, just fluff or better yet, real flies one intends to use but with the hook bend cut off at the rear of the fly's body.

I think for most of us, just thinking about your casting and trying to improve technique while you are fishing can help?
it certainly can't hurt to think about it, in fact it really helps but ! fly casting motions aren't 'natural' motions.
as i often say, you can be an excellent historian without having made history but you'll never be any good at anything fly fishing if you don't go out and do it and learn to do it well.

There is no doubt that an hour or two with an instructor once a year is a good idea, but how many of us do that?
i do that about 2/3 times a week... 

[Rob Brownfield]

I think for most of us, just thinking about your casting and trying to improve technique while you are fishing can help?

Not me...if I think about the cast, it goes wrong......if I "feel" the cast, it goes right. 

I was out on the lower Dee with a Skagit and 15 feet of T14 with a large copper tube having a chuck. It was sort of working and I was trying to remember all the tips I had watched on YouTube etc. After a break I waded back in and just started fishing. All of a sudden the line was thumping the tip of the rod as it screamed across the river. It was at that point I realized I was casting off of "feel", and it just worked. Naturally, as soon as I realized that, the casts started to drop short again lol

[Hamish Young]

Do you practice fly casting ....

Yes..... not often enough but yes. Trying to make the case in my head that it's relaxing and a good excuse to 'take 5' out of the office.

.....do you think it is a good idea to brush up on your skills?

Absolutely, yes. When I was a Ghillie it never ceased to amaze me that folk would turn up for a weeks fishing having pretty much chucked the gear in the car at the end of the same trip the previous year, never used it since and then expected to cover all the water like a pro on day 1. By the end of the week some would be 'coming good' with their casting but most not. I reckon an hour or three with an instructor before each trip would have made their whole weeks so much more enjoyable......

H

[Rob Brownfield]

When I was a Ghillie it never ceased to amaze me that folk would turn up for a weeks fishing having pretty much chucked the gear in the car at the end of the same trip the previous year, never used it since and then expected to cover all the water like a pro on day 1

Expensive gear and exclusive beat, a caster does not make.

I stick to cheap beats as I have cheap gear and cheap casting ability

[Derek Roxborough]

I usually have a go during the winter, more so if I have a new line, but it gives me a guage of my casting in the off season
easgach 1

[langland_fisher]

I practice Spey casting on Thames in west London. It's tidal so by choosing either side of low tide I can do the different river banks. I've been surprised by how many other salmon fishers have stopped for a chat!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rob Brownfield]

I practice Spey casting on Thames in west London.

Did you have a fly on? You have a chance of a silver tourist

[Derek Roxborough]

I will practice tomorrow, but I might just put a fly or 2 on,easgach 1