George Roberts Casting Clinic—Cape Cod Fly Rodders
Long before he was TFFM’s managing editor, George Roberts taught fly casting around the country to fly anglers of all levels. In the late 1990s, he produced the first instructional video casting program focused on the saltwater game: Salt Water Fly Casting: 10 Steps to Distance and Power. In 2002 he published a book on how to build a fundamental casting stroke, Master the Cast: Fly Casting in Seven Lessons (McGraw-Hill). Both of these works are still available today.
These days, George’s time is at a premium. In addition to editing and writing for TFFM, George works full-time in healthcare and is enrolled in a graduate nursing program. However, he still occasionally makes time to help fly anglers with their casting stroke. On April 4th, George met with the members of the Cape Cod Fly Rodders in the gymnasium of the Chatham Community Center, where he conducted a two-hour casting clinic focused on the back cast.
“The average fly angler greatly underestimates the importance of the backcast to the entire casting sequence,” George says. “Everyone focuses on the delivery, because that’s what puts the fly in front of the fish. What they don’t understand is that the back cast and the forward cast are really two halves of the same coin. Any flaw in the backcast is going to manifest in the forward cast. If you have a troubled back cast—and the vast majority of fly anglers do have troubles in their back cast—you’ll be trying to work out those troubles in the forward cast. And you’ll never be able to work them out completely. However, if your backcast is solid, it makes your delivering a solid, consistent forward cast much more likely.
“I’ll never get the chance to prove this,” George says, “but if I could simply work with a fly angler on his back cast—get him to master it—I’m convinced that all the other parts of his cast would fall into place, and I’d never have to show him another thing about fly casting. The back cast is that important.”
After the clinic, which saw 20-plus members of the CCFR in attendance, George gave a Keynote presentation on video fly casting analysis using the Hudl Technique app.
“The Hudl Technique app is something I’ve been working with for the past couple of years,” George says. “It’s an app that lets an instructor or coach analyze video clips. It was developed for major sports—baseball, golf, etc.—but it lends itself well to fly casting. I was introduced to it by a gentleman who came to me for instruction. He had downloaded the app onto his iPad. I’m not terribly technical, but after playing with it for about 10 minutes, I was convinced this technology was going to change the way fly casting is learned and taught.”
George has written a lengthy blog post on his personal website (LINK) about how to get up and running using the Hudl Technique app. “Even if your casting instructor doesn’t understand the first thing about the technology,” George says, “you can use it to make significant improvements in your casting.”
Visit George’s website, masterthecast.com, and continue to follow the magazine for his fishing and casting articles.
