Posted on July 07 2026
Home for a Doctors appointment today and to pickup Jean at the airport tomorrow. Hope to be back on the river Wednesday.
It's probably a good time to talk about some of the things that are holding people back from catching fish. To begin with, lets be clear, the Delaware River System every year hosts more of the best fly fishermen east of the Mississippi than any other river, (perhaps any other river in America, period). It also hosts many, many anglers who have had success elsewhere or who are relatively new to the game and find the river system more frustrating than challenging, (it is a very difficult place to consistently catch fish). I'm no expert in any one phase of the sport but I've fly fished now for over 70 years, I've got game, you might say a jack of all trades, master of none. Most of what I say will be for the fishermen either new to the river or new to the sport, many of you will be bored, but hopefully, many of you will learn a thing or two that will "Up Your Game", (a shameless reference to the title to my second book).
Have spent time watching anglers for years and am amazed at how many bad habits most of us have. Will make an absurd example of angler "Double Haul", who hopefully doesn't exist in real life, and try to compile a list of many of the reasons, casting alone, causes DH to not catch fish.
DH spots a rise and begins to cast, not sure of the distance, he makes false casts aimed at the fish, lots and lots of them, after the third false cast the fly hits the water on the back cast, on the sixth cast it hits the water in front of him, (his chance of catching the fish is gone), on the eleventh cast he lays the fly on the water but, he doesn't like where the fly landed so he immediately picks it up, (scares any fish in the area), makes half a dozen more false casts and lays the fly down again, this time he pulls in line to get the fly in line with where the fish rose, (again a fatal mistake), then he mends the entire 60 feet of line to keep the fly from dragging, (and in the process scares every fish within the 60 foot area between himself and the fly). Undaunted he repeats the process over and over for the next two hours, occasionally changing flies because he's sure the only reason he's not catching the fish is that he doesn't have the "right fly".
How to help Double Haul?
1- Your absolute best cast is the first forward cast you make after you pick up a line that you have let straighten out downstream. Why? Timing errors. Every time you turn the line around, the timing has to be perfect and it never is. By the time DH has made 6 false caste he has turned the fly around 12 times, the timing mistakes are multiplied and he is slapping the water front and back. When I'm blind casting the first forward cast is back on the water, When casting at a rise the first forward cast is at the place I want the fly to land and I land the fly on the second forward cast.
2- Both the line and line shadow, on sunny days, spook fish, try not to ever false cast over the fish.
3- Hitting the water with a cast anywhere near the fish ends your chance of catching that fish as does picking up a cast aimed at the rising fish. I wrote an article a few years ago about living with your bad casts, let it drift by the fish, it might even get eaten by a fish farther down stream that you haven't disturbed yet.
4- Adjusting the position of a fly you think went to far is something everyone has done, not matter how far upstream my errant cast has landed, I have never had a fish eat an "adjusted" fly.
5- Mending the entire line spooks more fish than anything. It disturbs the entire distance between DH and his fly and always drags the fly. If you want to stop or delay drag there are casts that that will help you do so, (we'll talk about them another time), but if you shuck out line from the rod tip faster than the current is moving the fly downstream you can float your fly, drag free, until you run out of line.
6- Continuing to beat a dead horse is an insult to the fish's intelligence and reflects badly on yours. If you did any one of the things Double Haul did, you are not going to catch that fish today, so go look for another one.
One of my earliest mistakes was thinking you put the fly on their nose if you saw a rise..something I see new anglers do all too common. We taught in our chapter of Trout Unlimited intro to fly fishing school was to gauge how deep the water was the fish was rising in and then double that distance to place your fly in front of it..more if really selective fish. And of course light tippett and long..
Long leaders 16ft+ help an average caster mask some of the ineffective habits. False casting is by far the worst offense i see day after day
Excellent advice and super helpful as always to get these refreshers! Your previous advice regarding blind casting has helped out a lot as well. Thanks! One other plug – find a good guide or mentor if you are new. A guide that will critique your cast, talk about reach casting, how to play the wind, etc It made all the difference for me. If they are not showing you, then ask for instruction – a drag free drift is a must and to find someone who can really explain and teach that is worth the expense.
Excellent!
Technical yet easy to understand, Simply amazes me how many poor casters there are. The.number of fishermen who fish with mismatched equipment is mind boggling. They no nothing about rod flex or line load or the simple mechanics of casting.
Great article! Good work!
Angler119- Thanks for the advice. It’s always good to get a refresher. Like a golf swing , we can slip into bad habits without realizing it. . I’m going to give the UWB another try on Wednesday and post the good, bad and the ugly( hopefully good) . Take care. Ed
An afternoon to learn a lifetime to master. Very informative and helpful as always.
The movies told me shadow casting brings fish up!
Thank you the great article and frank assessment of the mistakes we make.
I would like to add one…….leading the rise too much. I do it a lot, scared I’ll spook the fish by casting too close to the rise, and usually end up spooking the fish when it begins to drag because I can’t manage the long drift.
How do you gauge the correct distance to land the fly to the rise?
When I first saw this place, I was what you described, successful at “home”. I realized right quick I need to learn how to cast. I would practice for hours at home. It was 2 seasons before I got proficient at casting. Casting on the lawn and in the water are to different things! Wind and current are your enemy. Good bow hunters always practice. Ted Williams took batting practice, before each game. Practice is something not to miss if you get the opportunity. I still do in the spring to shake off the cob webs. Stalk more, cast less.
A119 great article!! I found this very helpful and will try to change and improve on some of the things I do.
Thank you for sharing that information.
I fished yesterday afternoon for a couple hrs (2-5). I landed 2 fish and had many refusals. Not a great hatch but just enough to get some fish eating on top.