Too
often, I see fly-fishermen start their casts with the rod tip held
waist high or even above the head. It's a common mistake, and not just
by beginners. Many experienced casters do it as well.The result is slack in your line, as much as 7 feet of slack that must be eliminated before you can initiate your cast. The common solution is to force the cast, which typically turns out badly because it leaves you with too little stroke to properly load the rod.
The better approach?
Get rid of that slack by dropping the
rod tip; drop it all the way down to the water. I go so far as to
actually stick my rod tip into the water (don't worry, it's waterproof).Once the tip is down, you can strip in any excess line. And once that slack is gone, you're ready to initiate a proper back cast.
