Neil proves you are never too old to have a few new tricks in your fly casting locker
There have been many times while fly fishing that I wished I was left handed in order to make a presentation to a feeding fish…and I’m certain that this has happened to many of you, too.
Well, I’m an Octogenarian who still thinks he’s quite capable of learning new tricks. The new tricks I set out to accomplish are two fold. One was to be able to cast as well with the left hand as with the right. Secondly was to become accomplished with single handed spey casting. To accomplish these two objectives I devoted an hour a day for the past 8 months to practice routine…30 minutes devoted to the left hand and 30 minutes a day to spey.
Regarding the left hand…I once read that if you imitated exactly what you do with the right hand the left could be conditioned to emulate the right. It works!! I took two rods with reels but without lines (at first) and began my exercise. Working through the unfamiliarity the left hand began to find its way. The next step was to include the line and determine if I could get a nice straight line to the intended target. Took a while, but as the old saying goes “practice makes perfect”…well, kinda, sorta.
Then, it was onward to the single handed spey casting. And, further, then on to YouTube to see what they had to offer in the way of instruction…and there was plenty. The first step was to become more proficient with the roll cast, more particularly with the left hand, to which I introduced the Snake Roll, then on to the Snap T. I must introduce at this point that all of this practice has been in my backyard and on grass…so I’m sure there will be a need to make adjustments when on the stream.
The upshot of all this has to do with desire. No matter what age you may be if you desire a result and have the patience to carry through with your plan you can become successful…whether an ol’ dog or new.