Rickard Gustafsson | Saturday, 7 March 2026
I recently was saked to help to design a fly casting challenge/competition. It should be used for a remote cup in Sweden, it should work for both beginners and offer something for more experienced casters. It was decided to be an accuracy challenge and introduce the caster a bit to the discipline. We settled for two hula hoops as targets, 60-80 centimetres in diameter. This choice was made since it is close enough to the real targets and is easy to obtain. I also decided to put the closest target at 10 meters and not 8 meters. This might be surprising to some people, especially those who have not done a round of accuracy targets. But I think that a target at 8 meters or closer to the caster is a hard cast.
At 8 meters or closer you have very little or no line outside of the rod tip so you get more affected by the smallest of winds than with more line to transfer the momentum. You have to use a narrower casting arc than you might be used to. And in that narrow arc have to apply all the power needed. If you rely on “rod loading” you will have a bad time here.
But do we ever see people talk about these short and hard casts? Now very much. Do people practice them? Maybe some. Those competing in accuracy are hopefully practicing the 8 meter cast at least. But in close accuracy? I don’t think so. I don’t think many people realise how hard this cast is so it is never practiced and not available when needed. Yet it is a very useful cast as an overhead cast, sidearm cast, roll cast and Spey cast when fishing.
After designing the challenge I stumbled over this article:
https://www.johnjuracek.com/how-to-cast-15-feet/
A lot of good contents on John’s page. So I suggest you have a look at the rest of the articles and his YouTube channel also. https://www.youtube.com/@johnjuracek1848
Maybe I can elaborate further on the hard cast some other time. But this week I’m a bit lost. A lot of things going on in life.
And some advice I posted in some Swedish channels as inspiration to get prepared for the upcoming season. Translated.
Some of you are already out doing a bit of fishing, but for many of us the big day is approaching. Making those first casts in the water works fine, but a few sessions on the lawn beforehand will make opening day much more enjoyable.
Here are a few suggestions for how to get started with the season.
First, start with just a few meters of line outside the rod tip, say about 3 meters. Begin casting with the rod held low, using sidearm casts so that you can see both the forward cast and the back cast. Focus on forming loops of all kinds — tight, wide, and medium. Practice changing the loop size between the forward cast and the back cast. Also work through all casting planes, from sidearm up to vertical.
Once you feel comfortable with this, pull out another meter of line and repeat the same process. You can keep doing this until you have quite a lot of line out, but I think you should focus mainly on short line and control. That gives a lot of benefit for casting longer lines later. This is something you can use as a warm-up for both fishing and casting practice.
There is one more thing I think you should spend some time on. Rig your rod with the line, leader, and fly you intend to fish with. Cut off the bend of the hook for safety and to avoid getting stuck in the grass. Practice casting the way you imagine you will in a fishing situation. Many sea trout anglers use a dropper fly — if you fish that way, practice that way as well.
Spend a few hours on this and your first trip of the season will feel much more relaxed. And that’s a big reason to practice your casting — not only to cast farther or more accurately, but also because fishing becomes more relaxed and enjoyable when you don’t have to focus as much on the casting itself.
Cheers, Rickard
PoD: Not related, but I found it kind of fun and interesting.