Allison said:
I'm pretty new myself, but between books and classes, I find the best thing for me is really 'feeling' it. After several weekends of 'cracking the whip' and losing flies, I got that part. Lost some flies, didn't get fish, whatever.
I'm left-handed and female, and whatever. Just get out there every other day and practice, and the world is your oyster. Who gives a ding dang if you don't catch jumbo fish right away anyway? When you get it right, you KNOW it. When I am on the water I spend an hour just casting for the fun of it.
PS. With wets it doesn't matter how you cast them anyway.
A huge part of improving is practice. That is super cool that you recognize you need to practice. And, you hit a big nail on the head about people finding their own 'touch' and 'feel'; part of learning is self-discovery and learning what works for you.
However, to really improve you should practice correctly (even if you're left-handed - grin!), and not practice bad habits or little casting quirks. And, you might not know or recognize some of those kinks or quirks unless someone else was there to note them.
When I'm fishing and the 'catching' is slow, like you I sometimes practice my casting. Heck, I've caught fish sometimes while I'm goofing off casting . . . When fishing from the beach, for example, and I'm trying to bust big casts and the day is identified by "I got two grabs today", I'll sometimes pay extra special and specific attention to my front and rear loops, timing, haul speed, rod turnover, etc. So, it's practicing distance casting while fishing. Bonus! But, not all fishing conditions might allow this luxury.
So, kinda like golf, a person should practice casting like going to the driving range, so they're ready and have the 'feel' (you're exactly right, by the way, it just becomes 'feel' and instinct after a while) when it's time for fishin' and catchin'.
And, I've seen many circumstances where being able to cast a certain distance or present a fly a certain way made all the difference in the world and enabled a particular fisherperson or persons to be more successful than others who were also there fishing. It's all about getting the bug TO the fish and presenting it properly, and if you can't get it there and show it correctly, well . . . it may be a day of casting practice.
Allison, I'm in the Seattle area, and if you ever want to practice some casting, let me know, and we can meet at the Green Lake casting pier. It doesn't take much coaxing or any reason to get me out to toss a cast or two . . .
I admire and respect your interest in improving your casting, and maybe I could give you a pointer or two (or vice versa!). :thumb: