As temperatures cool and the wind blows gently through leaves showing the first inklings of change, freshwater fly anglers start getting their tackle rigged up to head for those secluded mountain lakes and streams where the trout are beginning to wake up.

Fall is the best time of year for trout fishing, the low temps jolting the fish into greater activity than the hot summer months. And while spin-casting to these fish is certainly fun and challenging in its own ways, fly fishing adds an almost meditative quality to the experience. Many anglers love the idea of learning how to fly fish, but they’re not really sure where to start. It’s certainly not easy, after all, which is why HUK, the prominent fishing apparel company, put together this Ultimate Guide to Fly Fishing.

“One of the most graceful motions known to nature is the fly fisherman’s cast. The sweep of the line through the air and the plip of a dry fly touching down, hopefully right above a trout, is downright cinematic.”

— HUK Ultimate Guide to Fly Fishing

Image Courtesy of hukgear.com | 2020 — Image Courtesy of *hukgear.com* | 2020

OVERHEAD CAST

In HUK’s Ultimate Guide to Fly Fishing, they cover 4 different types of casts a fly angler can deploy. The first is the basic overhand cast, “the foundation that other casts are built upon.” As written in HUK’s guide:

“The overhead cast aims to flick the fly behind you and then in front of you to the desired spot. Even with the most complicated casts, the goal is the same – to use the weighted line to propel the fly to a spot on the river.” - HUK

REACH CAST

The second cast the HUK guide outlines is the Reach Cast. “Mostly,” the author writes, “the reach cast corrects drag in the air with a well-placed flick in the forward cast. If done correctly, it can make your casting even more accurate.”

Anglers attempting the reach cast start like they would an overhand cast, as written in the HUK Guide, “beginning the back cast with average, smooth acceleration, and stopping at a 1 o'clock position. When the rod starts to load, unfurl the line in front of you in a fluid forward cast and stop at the 10 o'clock position. [Then] make a small arching movement with your wrist in the direction you want the mend to go. It looks mostly like flipping your hand over, either palm-up or palm down, with the rod in it.”

“Fly fishing provides both the rush of adrenalin when a trout hits your line and the hypnotic effects of rippling rivers. It doesn’t hurt that trout, and other fish, generally are most comfortable in remote and stunning vistas.”

— HUK Ultimate Guide to Fly Fishing

In addition to these two types of casts, the HUK Ultimate Guide to Fly Fishing also goes over: