Kalyn Hoggard | Monday, 3 November 2025
It has been a pretty busy week for me. I gave some lessons, did some guiding, got to do some “scouting,” fishing, and even caught a pretty nice rainbow trout with the ole two handed rod. There’s an entire debate about whether the rainbow trout that live in the Great Lakes are to be considered steelhead or not. The West Coasters maintain no salt no steel. I suppose they are correct, but that means we have to name our rainbows something other than steelhead. Here I am officially promoting the name, “Greater Steelhead.” Since they are not steelhead, but have the same genes, and they are in the Great Lakes, then it only seems right to call them what they are… Greater Steelhead. But I digress. I was also given the opportunity to do a demonstration at “The Early Show” put on by DRiFT in Chicago, IL.
The show was a lot of fun. The organizers were friendly, and the atmosphere was laid back the way I like it. We were fortunate enough to have some warmth and sunshine in the Midwest in November, which was a blessing in and of itself. The venue for the event was maybe a little to nice for the likes of me, but it was a neat place to have a cast. The Mayslake Peabody Estate. We had the added enchantment of leaves changing colors, a beautiful lake, and bucks chasing does around through the lawn while we were casting. It is that time of year as you may know. I honestly had a wonderful time, and would love to be able to participate in the future, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.
Demonstrations…
What constitutes a fly casting demonstration? I suppose demonstrations typically have a topic to narrow the scope, but what do you like or dislike about demonstrations you have seen in the past? Should demonstrations be geared toward teaching something about casting mechanics, a cast, or a technique for fishing? Should demonstrations inspire, uplift, and challenge people to think about or practice fly casting? I suppose the easy answer is that demonstrators demonstrate in different ways for different reasons, but are there recipes that lead to the perfect inspirational or educational pie?
I chose to steer the conversation through accuracy and effortless distance, and into how those things are symptoms of catching the loop control virus and are not distinct onto themselves. If you would like a detailed description of what I mean by that, then please refer to the previous episode, “Accuracy is more important than Distance.” I like this topic for demonstration purposes, because the cast options are endless, and it’s a straightforward perspective on the skills that are required to accomplish various different fly casting feats. Also, everyone wants to be able to cast farther and more accurately. Most people even know that it will help you catch more fish. Bringing all of that together, I hope, adds to the inspiration and education parts of what a fly casting demonstration ought to be? But I’m not sure.
I know I don’t want to demonstrate in the safe zone with the same script over and over, year after year ad infinitum. Not my style. On the drive home from the fly show I had an idea. What if I just demonstrate my fly casting? Crazy concept I know but follow me. If we ever get to meet in person and you get the chance to teach me how to properly cast, then you are going to see me warm up. I put in headphones, I toss cones and hoops around on the ground, I dance, and I perform every cast I can in every plane, at all speeds, go for lots of experimental stuff, and I can almost do it with rhythm. Ha. That’s what I do when I’m just by myself casting and not focusing on anything specific. I deeply enjoy making the loop surrender to my flow, and to be honest it’s a demonstration of my fly casting to whomever is watching and to myself when no one is. You may also want to visit the previous episode, “Am I a braggart?”
“So, what are you going to do stand out there and showboat for an hour, then pack up and go home?” Well, I don’t really know yet. What if I walk up, put in my headphones, dance for a half hour, and ask if there are any questions? The show can go the way of the bold and could end up being different and valuable every time. However, if no one has anything to ask at the end, then I might need to produce a canned talk or just pack up and go home I suppose. For some reason I really love the idea of this. I like the idea of starting by making wiggles in the line and ending with complex single hand Spey aerial squiggle fun. What if I could wiggle the rod in the horizontal, gradually build it into a loop, and false cast it into a distance cast. Maybe I start by putting wiggles in the line with the rod in the vertical and turn it into a very precise accuracy hover to a tight delivery onto a cone at 40 feet cast. What if someone sees me aerial mend around several objects in rapid succession on both sides, still land the fly in a target, and wonders how that is possible? They may ask after the demonstration, and then I would be able to lead a discussion about aerial mends.
“Here is what I can make this fly line do. Do you want to ask me anything about it?”
Maybe this is a good recipe, and maybe it isn’t. It seems that people don’t always like to eat humble pie, and that’s not what I intend to serve. It seems that some people believe that Hero Casts are not appropriate. “Making casts like that will intimidate your audience and is going to result in a lack of participation.” I can see how that may be true. I have been awe struck by great casting several times in my life, and hopefully I will continue to have that experience in the future. I know that it always gets me fired up and pushes me to practice, but not everyone is the same. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? I think I’ll make a pie.