Practice makes perfect.

That is a great sentiment. But when you’re dealing with wind, big flies, and overhanging trees there is no such thing as perfect. However, with enough practice and on-stream experience you can get much, much better.

And while river hours are nice because they translate into fish, the fish are a great reason to only do what is immediately necessary. If you want to hone skills that aren’t right in front of you or work on something for that trip coming up later this year, you probably need to spend time on the grass.

But how?

Here are three simple “casting drills” that will work on techniques that every fly caster needs to know. And if you know them, you can probably improve on them:

Accuracy

Pick targets at two or three distances that reflect your most common cast lengths. Depending on where you fish and what you fish for, normal casts could be as short as 20′ and as long at 80′. If you fish for trout on medium-sized rivers, a set of targets at 20, 35, and 50 feet would cover all your bases. If you are on bigger rivers or in the salt, make sure there are targets out much farther.

Dollar-store hula hoops make great targets. At closer distances you can pay attention to how close you are to the center; with longer casts anything “in” is a win. At competitions, you just need to hit the target. If you’re practicing for fishing, a well-presented fly is more important than getting a fly in the circle.

Distance

Casting for distance is sometimes seen as something that is “just for show.” The reality is that distance casting  (over 75 feet or so) is a great way to diagnose deficiencies with your mechanics. Contemporary graphite rods are very forgiving and will move line for you even with some flaws in your stroke. With over 50′ of line in the air, every aspect of your cast is exponentially applied to the airborne line. As you improve, you’ll also develop technique that will apply to shorter casts.

The best way to do this is to strip off line, double haul as much as you can, and then measure. You want to look for a straight cast and a rolled-out leader. (Running out a rope or extending a tape measure creates a good guideline.) A pretty 70′ cast is superior to a piled-up cast with all the line out of the tip of your rod. Work on incremental mastery; make good 70′ casts routinely before shooting for 10 or 15 more feet.

Line Manipulation

Aerial mends are techniques that cause the tip or body of your fly line to move in an altered manner on the forward cast. Why would you do this? Causing the tip and leader to dogleg left allows you to drop a fly behind a boulder. Finishing your cast with a vertical orientation creates a “pile” of leader and an extended drift. A midair wiggle pushes the belly of the line upstream, delaying the moment when the current causes drag. Each of these casts (and more) can be achieved by moving your rod tip or changing when/how much power is applied on the cast.

Move your hula hoop behind a tree to practice getting your fly to drop to the left or right. Place it directly in front of you, make a straight cast, but mend in such a way that the belly of the line doesn’t touch the hoop. Get creative. Remember that fish aren’t going to be where you need them to be.

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But how?

If you’ve been fishing for even just a few seasons, there is a good chance that you’ll be able to do a lot of what I mentioned above with some level of adequacy. On-stream experience trumps classroom time in virtually all circumstances. Tapping into the muscle memory used to get a fly where it needs to be, often without too much conscious thought, is totally legitimate.

But what if your double haul collapses on your back cast at  60′? What if “aerial mends” are a new concept? What should you do if your fly always lands in a puddle of tippet?

This is where studying becomes necessary. Check out a book (Lefty Kreh’s is a classic). Watch some quality YouTube videos (Pete Kutzer’s catalog on Orvis’ site are great). Or, really go the extra mile and get some professional instruction (ask your local shop or a guide).

You’ll never be perfect at fly casting. But practice makes much, much better.