……. So, you just booked your first saltwater trip. Maybe Bonefish, Tarpon, Permit or perhaps a short local outing with a guide for Redfish. Generally speaking these trips are planned and booked months in advance. If you are a beginner, no matter how far away the trip is on your planner, the first thing you shoud do is ask yourself the following questions.

Are you able to cast an eight or nine weight rod up to 50 feet, with narrow loops that roll out just above the water within in foot of your target ?

Are you able to double haul to create line speed, and carry at least 50 feet of line to make a cast into a 20mph wind with a low angle cast and land within a foot of your target, and immediately remove any slack in your peresentation ?

Do you understand the “clock” positions from the bow of the skiff you and your guide will be on for a number of hours ?

Do you have the ability to make a backhand cast of at least 40ft to 3 o’clock from the bow of skiff?

Oh…and are you able to accomplish these casts within 5 to 7 seconds from the time the guide gives you the direction of the cast you need to make.?

Even though you are unable to execute all these casts to perfection, you will still be able to catch fish. The question is, how many.

…..I could ask a few more, but my point is, you are spending alot of your hard earned money to make this trip. If you are not able to cast “reasonably” well, it will be a long and frustrating day for both you and your guide. Your guides responsiblility is to put you on fish and provide you with the location to make the cast. It is the anglers responsibility to learn how to cast to optimize your ability to catch these fish the guides put you on. The guide wants you to catch fish …”Period”. He or she is probably more thrilled than you when you get that first fish to the boat. Valuable time is wasted when a guide has to focus on trying to teach someone how to cast.

……All that bieng said, the next thing you should do, whether the trip is scheduled 5 months out or 5 weeks out, is to go to a local fly shop, inquire about getting some lessons in order for you to be prepared when you set foot on the skiff with your guide for the day. The guide will be able to tell within minutes how well prepared you are. Several hours of casting lessons will make a huge difference in how prepared you are, how many fish you will catch, and besides that you will have the casting skills to use after the trip as well.