There is no denying that bigger, heavier, more wind-resistant flies are more difficult to cast. Males being males, you will often see some puff out their chests and say things like, "Well if you can't cast that on a Skagit rig you can't cast very well." or "Whaddaya need a 9wt for to cast those, I cast those on my 5wt" I wonder how much faster we could learn things if we would drop the macho, the bravado, in the end . . . . the shit attitude. Outside of the foolishness, the undeniable remains . . . . . . .Casting slight, sparsely dressed and well-designed flies is much more pleasant.

How I came to learn about easy casting flies. Before Steelheading, I went through a couple of year phase of being a Permit nerd. I was spending 3+ months in the salt, practicing casting nearly daily and I was always on the vise refining the best crab flies possible. With the help of a friend, I went down the road (logical one, yet less travelled) of designing a better casting and presenting fly, not necessarily a better-looking one. My best crab flies were function not fashion. For those who know me well, I can tend to be that way. ‘

After making my conversion to Spey fishing, my salt trips dwindled and I spent more time closer to home. Guiding Steelhead had provided a theatre to watch many different casters of different abilities. In these observations, I found flyweight and resistance to be of great importance, especially with beginners. The "stick" or "Bulk" of obnoxious flies adds an extra element of complication for the new caster. More often, the problem with their cast is in the guts of it, like improper anchor placements or poor D loop formation. I still feel that removing as many X factors as possible is a much better place to start with a struggling caster. I think building confidence and a "momentum" of progression in a student's casting is far more important than throwing the latest and greatest "Signature fly."

My focus in fly design went down a similar road as my Permit flies. Easy to cast and looks good in the water. I got away from heavily weighted flies, although they do have a situation and purpose, I am still not partial to them. I Got away from soggy and water-absorbing materials. I started trimming rabbit strips to the optimum width to achieve the look I want but not the bulk. I've even gone as far as to have whole rabbit skins custom cut for my flies. I've gone into a bit of a rabbit hole with this post. Its original purpose was to segway into how I rig my chinook tubes. I'm just going to save that for another post.