| (Picture from maineflycastings.com) |
The L.L. Bean Ultimate Book of Fly Fishing states that a successful fly cast is broken up into four different parts, namely:
- Pickup
- Back Cast
- Foreward Cast
- Presentation
John Acuff points out that some people like to think their lives are a series of buckets. That they can live a "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" lifestyle in one corner of their lives, and then flip a switch and accomplish their dreams on the weekend.
This is obviously bogus. Back to fly fishing: you can't put too little power on the back cast, then throw a perfect forward cast and expect everything to turn out just right. Your rhythm is wrong.
When each part of the cast is pursued with discipline and practice, one feels calm and focused. Time seems to stop, and patience increases. You catch more fish, or you are just as satisfied if you don't. You enjoy the weather. Things seem quiet. It really does something to you.
Project Healing Waters is one of my favorite examples to cite when referring to this "something". When a veteran, blown apart halfway around the world by other men, can come to grips with life one pickup, one back cast, one forward cast and one presentation at a time - in that order - healing happens. To quote a young veteran in this video, His respect for nature increases, and his trauma seems to run out of him like the water he's standing in.
My point is, there is freedom in the groove, perfection in the practice. Want to heal your wounds? Want to chase your dream? Want to cast better?
All things in order, my friend, and put first things first.
Anthony
ReplyDeletePerfection piece on how to get that perfect cast, I would add patience, because one needs to have the wait on the backcast for the line to fold out to get that perfect presentation of the fly, in other words one always knows when he has hit that sweet spot. Thanks for sharing