Kalyn Hoggard | Monday, 29 December 2025
I am back from my road trip to Arkansas for the holidays and have had several hours to sit and ponder. Please put your tray tables in the upright position and prepare for launch!
While there’s nothing particularly groundbreaking happening, I have been reflecting on whether there's more ground to break in the fly-casting world or if my ignorance is inspiring creativity that leads me to ideas that, while different, may not be good enough to win, let alone break any ground. On the other hand, I would hate to educate the creativity out of myself. More often than not, when I think, “Why hasn’t anyone figured this out?” I usually discover that I failed to account for some variable or another that others have identified during their experimentation. They ruled their ideas out long ago, and I am just now fumbling my way through those same trials. “Everyone else has tried that, and it isn’t going to work.”
However, I believe my dad created a brilliant casting platform. As I tell him often, “Does it really matter if someone else came up with that idea before you? If I hadn’t known that something had been invented and came up with the idea out of ignorance, then didn’t I essentially invent it too?”
For those interested in building casting platforms, my dad and I made a sturdy wooden construction. The platform measures approximately 4’ x 3’ x 2’. The legs collapse into the top of the platform, making it almost light enough to justify taking it everywhere. I’ll need to work out quite a bit to make that statement completely true, but it works great. Dad had a stroke of genius that inspired his fancy design, and I had a need for a good platform. Add in the fact that they are expanding their cabin and have a lot of excess lumber lying around, and we got to play with power tools! Of course, I was under close supervision the entire time. Someone should have been watching me more closely while I was wet sawing pretty rocks later in the week, but I digress…
Continuing the journey of achieving accuracy with a fly rod has led to an interesting fork in the road that fuels my tendency to second-guess myself. Generally speaking, different leaders perform better or worse depending on the conditions, type of cast, and possibly the casting style. Depending on how you measure and deliver for accuracy, you may or may not prefer a particular leader, for example. Without a robust understanding of the dynamics of the situation, I asked everyone I could find who possessed the necessary knowledge about accuracy leaders that would match well with the 5wt MED line. Fortunately, everyone I talked to agreed on what we want from an accuracy leader, what the best materials are, the perfect recipe to the centimeter, and that issue has been resolved.
Or… like everything else regarding the limits of fly casting…
Experimentation is necessary under these circumstances, and thus I experimented. I took suggestions from the best competition accuracy casters I could find who were willing to discuss the details with me, and I also consulted the boss, who made the line, after all. I constructed as many leaders within their parameters as I could, and I cast. And I cast. I’m still experimenting, but I can’t help but wonder if my casting style aligns closely enough with theirs to achieve the same results with their accuracy leaders. I’m uncertain if it does. I’m also unsure if different casting styles for accuracy impact leader construction at all, but I believe they do. I have found two leaders that I like: one that is similar yet different from what the competition casters prefer, and one that resembles but differs from the one suggested by the boss. At this point, it’s a numbers game for me; whichever leader scores higher consistently will be the one I use in practice and competition. End of story, right? Well, not really. It could be the case that my casting imperfections are leading me to favor an inferior leader. “If I could just cast right!”
Unfortunately, this entire situation reminds me of where I stand with my 5wt distance cast. Similar to my accuracy cast, my distance cast is different from those of the people I cast with or observe casting. I discussed this idea with several individuals, repeatedly stating, “I think I found something.” More specifically, I think I’ve identified an aspect of the 5wt distance cast that is new to me—something I didn’t know about before, if it exists already. Since I don’t talk to many people about my distance cast, it’s surprising that two different individuals have commented, “I am wary of someone saying they found something.” “You’d have to be pretty arrogant to think that you’ve come up with something new about distance casting after all these years of great casters.” “You don’t think anyone else has tried that?” These are all valid points, albeit potentially ego-damaging. Is my education beginning? Should I just cast like the most successful caster at each event, use their leaders, follow their workouts, adopt their view of mechanics, and wear their underwear? Maybe that’s the right move. Maybe it’s not.
This recent statement from a mentor and my interpretation of it may clarify what I’ve been trying to convey:
“Yeah, but you are still learning.”
I suppose this implies that the quoted individual is no longer learning. Does this suggest there is a definitive way to play this game and cast a fly? At least one person seems to believe so, and I hold profound respect for their opinion. Was that statement merely a convenient way to deflect the barrage of questions I’m known to ask? Maybe.
Is the experimental part of fly casting just a phase during which people become skilled enough to recognize that the experiment has already been conducted? The perfect leader is this, the perfect launch angle is that, “your hover has to be this high above the target,” and so on?
Quite possibly, but I guess I am arrogant enough to ignore that writing on the subway walls.