A good question came up on the Board about casting planes principally for saltwater fly fishing and taking shots. I suppose like many people I heard that with heavy flies one should use the Belgian or Oval Cast for such conditions. It was actually while fishing for Barra with Graeme Williams of Insight Flyfishing, in Darwin, that I discovered the problems with this approach.

For this style of fishing we were taking tight shots deep into mangroves, through “slots” of vegetation that demanded that the fly travel directly over a vertical loop - mostly. The problem with the Belgian Cast (horizontal backcast/ vertical forward cast) is that it’s very difficult to finish the backcast with the fly perfectly alighted to the forward cast.

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There was a question recently on the board about casting techniques when fly fishing for permit. It took me back to when I was borderline obsessed with chasing those… um… spectacular game fish!

Occasionally, I will get a student in my beginner’s class who will come right out and say they want to learn to flyfish so they can catch a permit on fly. I usually nod as if I understand. I do not inform them that I personally think they should set their sights a bit lower at first, but hey, everyone should have a goal. Why should I rain on their parade, even if catching a permit on fly was the toughest challenge I ever undertook with a fly rod in my hand?

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I've recently been watching a wildlife documentary called Night on Earth about the nocturnal goings on in the animal kingdom, and I've been enjoying it a lot. The quality of the low light footage is amazing, maybe soon there will be a consumer level camera that can pick up the lumo lines at night!
As entertaining as it has been, the coral reef episode was what really grabbed me. They were shining a black-light over the corals to show how they flouresce, which also showed how many reef species are also fluorescent. Mantis shrimp, crabs, gobies and lizard fish all displayed fluorescent pigment, all prey species for loads of flats targets.

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Organising casting events can be fun as you generally deal with people who are also keen in encouraging others to improve their casting or perhaps learn how to fly cast and start fishing. However organising them can also be frustrating.

For the last few years the BFCC have supported the Game Fair in running fly casting competitions as an attraction to encourage people to attend the show. We started small by running just a couple of events, then as the years progressed, we ran a few more with some aimed at everyone to enter and others at the competitive casters.

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I am still fly fishing in Thailand, mainly chasing Barramundi.

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Earlier last year, I wrote several pieces detailing some thoughts I have about the similar nature of the sport of Golf, and the craft of Fly Fishing. It was in one of those essays that ran on Feb 10th, 2019 entitled "Slow Motion" that I introduced all of you to a man named Jim Waldron. Jim is an incredible Swing Coach, who has developed a program that in my opinion uncovers the truths of a proper golf swing. And, although this week's Front Page is not about the swing, it is about a concept I was introduced to by Jim that sheds some light on why I believe so many of us have become obsessed with fishing.

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