Kalyn Hoggard | Monday, 22 September 2025
Well, am I a showboat, and if so, then is it reasonable for me to be one or not? I have been told that a good instructor doesn’t throw pointy loops, tight accuracy loops, or distance casts around students. The reasoning behind this idea stems from the thought that when students see loops or casts that are difficult to do, they will be intimidated, feel bad about their progress, and be more likely to quit practicing. This isn’t an outlandish idea. People with certain personalities in certain circumstances react in a myriad of ways to the same stimuli. Something very similar to this can be found in the people that call me, “the saltwater guy.” Trout fly casting instructors in certain parts of the world feel threatened by people that can throw distance. So, they write me off as the distance caster, and their egos feel safe once again. I hope they never suffer the psychological trauma of seeing me cast in other ways.
Now that last little bit there without context might sound a little braggadocios. There are many experienced fly fishers and fly casting instructors that are not good casters. In my experience most are not good casters. When I interact with them, they want to call me the distance caster, because I cast farther than they can (60 feet). The age-old accuracy is much better than distance nonsense protects their ego, but I will address that at some other time. It really blows their mind to discover that I can also land my fly within three feet of a target at 40 feet. “He did some kind of weird whippy thing with the rod this time, and look the line is around that cone out there.” I will be the first to tell you that I’m not a wizard. I do spend a lot of time practicing, and I do watch videos of as many casters as I can. But it isn’t supernatural to hit targets and cast far. Except for Steve and Rick, they are not regular humans.
“Alright get back to it Kalyn.”
I say all of the above to say that I think people have a superficially inflated ego about how well they cast, because they don’t see great casting often. I also think that when my students see me doing silly things with a fly rod, they are inspired by it and work harder. At least that’s the student that I want to work with. Now that I have fully justified the fact that if I am caught in public with a fly rod, I’m going to try to do things I’ve never tried, I’m going to have a fun time, and I’m going to make some cool loops. It is good for me and it’s good for the on lookers that want to cast well some day. However, some people are sensitive, and some think that casting like that is inappropriate.
So… this is what I did
There is this group that goes on tour to different fly shops around the country. They want to bring an event to fly shops, and they want to encourage people to shop locally for their fly fishing supplies. Given that the internet is slowly killing retail, I love what they are doing. It just so happened that they were at one of my local fly shops this last week. So, I found it proper to go and support the cause.
Everything was going well until I noticed that there was a fly rod and a hoop hanging out in the alley way in the middle of the event. I did the required bend over and see what rod it was and discovered that it was a little 4wt version of a rod I was wanting to check out. Well then, you’ve got to take a look at the line, leader, and fly to have an idea of what you are getting into if you are going to cast it. And, of course, you want to take out as many tailing loop knots as you can out of the leader and stretch it back out. This one had a giant wool indicator they were using as a fly and I was wondering whether this leader could turn it over.
Well about that time one of the organizers wanted to make an announcement. He had climbed up into a drift boat on a trailer and had a microphone. He looked over at me and said guys casting the rod lets get your beautiful eyes up here. Not sure whose eyes were beautiful to that beholder, but he was being playful and lighthearted. So, when he finished his announcement, I took my first cast with the rig into his back to let him know I’m always down for a little playfulness.
Now, what happened next was totally on him. Jokingly he held up the OK or asshole hand jester, however you interpret it, and said, “If you can throw that fly through this circle I’ll give you a free hat.” Now Sexy Loopers, I’ve been waiting for this moment my entire life. A chance at glory in front of a group of people with similar interests. Oh, you are on buddy! I just flick it up there at him and hit his arm, and he says I’ll give you one more chance. Now I know that he is being serious, and instead of a flick side arm off my back foot, I change positions. Elbow moves in front, dominate foot steps forward, crawl my hand into the key grip up on top of the cork, and I slowly move the rod in front of my right eye. Tack driver engaged.
The dude is about 45-50 feet away up in a drift boat on a trailer so the circle in his hand is about eight feet off the ground. Well, I bang it! I mean one false cast and I throw smoke (giant wool indicator fly) right through this guy’s hand. The look on his face was wonderful. I went up to him and said that I casted competitively, and he tried to claim that I hustled him. To which I responded, “You hustled yourself.”
Did he think the cast was possible? I started it, so am I arrogant? Hell, I’m writing the story down, and sharing it with my three readers. What do we think guys? Cool story from a clown, or something nefarious? Should an instructor avoid this sort of public display?
I’m no one from nowhere. Is it not good for business for me to peacock a little bit? Does the industry need more people to display their talents so we can grow our community? Is anyone else going to try to live stream Worlds? I’m going to try.