“THERE IS NO GREATER FAN OF FLY FISHING
THAN THE WORM.” —PATRICK MCMANUS PHOTO: ONTARIO TOURISM
GRACE ON WATER Skill COMBINE TWO ART FORMS BY FLY FISHING FROM YOUR CANOE
Ask anyone and they’ll say the most beautiful form of fishing is fly fishing. Watch an experienced fly caster sling line across the water and you’ll see why. Learn to cast from a canoe and you’ll fall in love with the beautiful combination of canoeing and fly fishing. You may even catch a few.
FIRST, THE CAST The first mistake new fly casters make is trying to muscle the
cast. Like swinging a golf club, the power of the cast comes from technique, not big biceps. Keeping a straight wrist, start your back cast by raising your rod tip backwards, loading tension in the rod tip.
At the top of the cast, at an angle of 1 o’clock, snap your arm to a stop. You can also look at your line and stop the back cast when your leader is about to come off the water. Stopping the the backcast abruptly will ensure the line unfurls evenly.
Once the rod stops vibrating from the back cast and you feel the rod tip being loaded in the other direction, begin your forward cast. Leading with the elbow, snap the rod grip forward by pressing forward with your thumb and pulling back with your ring and pinky fingers. This will lay out the cast evenly.
As world-famous casting instructor Joan Wulff says, the motion is similar to opening a screen door, pressing the button with your thumb and pulling the door open with your pinky and ring finger. Stop the rod when your thumbprint is pointing towards your target.
BETTER BOAT BALANCE When casting, make sure your body is centered in the canoe and your hips are straight and silent. Stick with casting straight ahead for now, if you need to change direction, just move the canoe. Casts to the sides of the boat have a tendancy to rock the boat more. If you start rocking the boat while casting, not only will your cast suffer, you may lose your balance.
LINE MANAGEMENT One of the trickiest and most
frustrating parts of fly fishing is line management. Add gunwales and paddles and it gets even worse. Before each cast, make sure your line is gathered at your knees, free from snags. Get a shirt or small bucket if you keep snagging and place it in front of you. This will act as a stripping basket and help keep your line clear.
36 PADDLING MAGAZINE This article first appeared in the 2015 Summer/Fall issue of Canoeroots.
Ben Duchesney is an active paddle angler and web editor of Canoeroots’ sister publication, Kayak Angler. When he’s not fishing, he’s working on his first book, a fly fishing manual.
j DIGITAL EXTRA: Click here to watch Ben Duchesney demonstrate proper fishing technique.
fly
You’ll Need What Zen-like patience
Graphite fly rod Large arbor reel Weight forward, floating fly line 10-foot leader Canoe
TIPS TO REMEMBER
The power of the cast comes from your wrist and arm movement.
Slow is smooth and smooth is stable. If you’re having trouble timing your cast, slow down.
Before you get in your canoe, practice your technique from your lawn, while sitting flat or kneeling. Then try in your canoe on your own.
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