From the Orvis fly fishing blog’s most recent Ask the Experts post –
Tim Linehan, Linehan Outfitting Co. (Troy, Montana):
The single most common mistake clients make?
Clients make too many false casts. You can’t refute the fact that fish are caught with flies in the water. If you have an angler in the front of the boat who makes one false cast and puts the fly right back on the water, and the angler in the back of the boat makes two false casts every time, theoretically and all things being equal, the angler in the front of the boat will have his fly on the water twice as much throughout the day. You could reasonably assume that will translate into more strikes.
The remedy for overzealous false casting is simple.
As a guide, I keep a Taser gun right next to me. If a guest makes more than one false cast, I let them have it. Generally it only takes a shot or two and the problem is solved. This method is tried and true. But keep in mind if you’re a guide and decide to employ the Taser method, be sure to have your feet planted firmly on the rubber mat each time you let it rip. One time, the bottom of the boat was wet, and I gave the guy in the front of the boat a good jolt. Seems the current traveled the length of the boat and hit me and the guy in the back. Later that day, one of my guides wondered why he saw the three of us slumped over and floating downstream with a fog of smoke surrounding the boat. I told him it was the Hibatchi.
Yet another reason fishing in Montana will make you a better fly fisher.
Tim and his wife Joanne run a top notch operation in the oft-overlooked Northwest Corner of Montana; Jess has spent some time up fishing with them in the past few years (good thing we broke Jess of the excessive false cast flaw years before…).
Thanks to Steven Palmer for the link.
