Books/videos for introductory fly fishing?

[crossover]

Looking to get into fly fishing this spring. Can anyone recommend a book, but preferably a video? I've read online about one day courses that teach you the basics, but I'd rather try it myself first.

[thatleetboy]

I've been listening to the Orvis podcasts.... hours and hours of great stuff.

[MJL]

The best recommendation I have is to spend the $80 per hour average with a fly casting teacher (in most cases, you only need 1hr + maybe an additional follow up class some time later). It’s the best investment you can ever make if you’re starting out – Many teachers will get you casting in the first 20 mins (woman learn even faster from my own observations) and spend the rest of the time fine tuning your technique - obviously some people take a little longer to teach though. After that, spend 1 or a couple 10-15min sessions during the day to practice on your own (so you don’t get fatigued). Some things are better seen in person so that you don’t develop bad habits first and then have to unlearn them when they become muscle memory – It speeds up the learning curve exponentially.

 

You can’t go wrong with any casting videos done by Joan Wulff or Lefty Kreh though. Mel Kreiger’s videos are also pretty good. Both Lefty and Joan are at polar opposites on how they cast (Lefty is a side caster while Joan is an upright caster – you’ll have to find a casting position comfortable for you) but the casting principles remain the same...Straight line path, smooth application of power and a crisp stop at both ends of the casting stroke. If you can throw a dart at a dart board, you can cast a fly rod.

 

If you really want to learn to cast on your own, a video camera is a great tool to use for motion analysis and loop analysis (i.e. fly line analysis) to see what you’re doing right or wrong on the cast. The best intro casting tips I can give you is ‘LEARN TO CAST ON GRASS’, 'LEARN TO CAST A BALL OF YARN INSTEAD OF A FLY' and 'WEAR YOUR POLARIZED GLASSES AT ALL TIMES'. I see way more people frustrated when they try to learn on the rivers with weighted flies (with sharp hooks!). You won’t have to worry about your line and fly drifting away from you or hitting trees behind you and you won't have to worry about hooking yourself if you know nothing about wind direction

 

The more technical aspects such as learning how to create a drag free drift, learning what flies to use, learning how to pick your line and flies off trees behind you can be pretty fun things to do on your own. Podcasts and Youtube videos are great for those (tons of stuff if you Google it). Obviously a professional guide would speed up the process but there are tons of other anglers out on the water willing to show you a few things for free. I lucked out on my first ever fly fishing trip when I was 16/17 – I ran into a fly casting instructor and a fly fishing guide in the parking lot at the Humber