The Casting Connection

September 2026

By Capt. Scott Swartz

Scott Swartz founded the Atlanta Fly Fishing School, which began in 1999. It is the largest such operation in the Southeast and the only Trout Unlimited “Gold Endorsed” school in the United States. His Florida Fly Fishing Schools started in 2008, helping anglers learn to successfully fly fish in saltwater.

Practice improves skills. Better skills improve enjoyment of our sport.

Fly fishing clubs often have gatherings for casting improvement, and every club has some members who will join you at a park for some practice. There are fly fishing schools, independent instructors, and even aspiring instructors eager to help get your cast dialed in. If there is not a club or instructor nearby there are videos on line. Video your own casting and compare it to the instruction.

Warning: seeing your cast on video is like hearing your voice on a recording. Usually it is not what we expected.

Whether video, or gathering with friends, observe the loops being formed. Loops tell the story of what you made the rod do. Look at the loops from the side and from the front. Normally they will be narrow and the top “fly” leg of the loop and the bottom “rod” leg of the loop should be parallel.

If distance is the goal, go for the tightest loops and the highest line speed you can cast smoothly. Learning the double-haul helps.

If accuracy is the goal feedback is easy. You either hit the target or you miss. Carefully watch the unrolling leader and very end of your fly line. It should unroll straight. If the end of the unrolling line curves to the side you might be twisting your wrist or not tracking the rod tip straight toward the target. Tracking is critical for accuracy and is also important to reduce drag for distance.

How do we practice? There are driving ranges for golf and shooting ranges for guns, but our casting range is usually a line on the ground marked for distance and targets scattered about.

Try casting while taking a walk. Photo by Jimmy Jacobs.

Repeated casting to a target makes it easy to get zeroed in. A better method for accuracy practice is to go for a walk and cast to random targets such as a bare patch, a leaf, or a dandelion. The benefit of mobile practice is every cast is at a different angle, a different distance and even a different wind direction. You cannot get zeroed in because every shot is different when you go for a walk.

The answer to the title question, Practice Makes Perfect?is no! The only thing practice can do is make permanent.

To ensure perfection start by practicing slowly enough to make every repetition precise. You can even pantomime motion without casting line at all. Shortcutting good repetitions and repeating casting errors reinforces mistakes, not skill.

Practicing will sharpen your skills but only perfect practice makes perfect.

Send your questions or comments to: info@atlantaflyfishingschool.com