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The Wulff School of Fly Fishing:
Opinion of One
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The Background -
Class: The Wulff
School of Fly Fishing, Techniques of Fly
Casting
Attended: May
20-22, 2005
Cost: $475
Instructors:
Dave Brandt, Floyd Franke, Robert DeAngelis,
Sheila Hassan, Dusty Wissmath and Joan Wulff
(active in a majority of the classes)
Number of
students: 20
Instructor-to-student ratio: 1-to-4
Take home items
- "Joan Wulff's Fly Casting Techniques"
book, Fish & Fly magazine, half a sponge and
a dotted thumb sleeve (the last two items
are used in teaching techniques). Additional
items such as flies, lines, hats, shirts,
books, videos and more are available for
purchase in their gift shop.
School
Information:
The Wulff School
of Fly Fishing
P.O. Box 948,
Livingston Manor, NY 12758
Phone: (845)
439-5020
www.royalwulff.com
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Summary - A
total of 20 students attended with 5 to 6
instructors present at any one time. Students from across the country and Canada
attended. Student skills ranged from novice
to experienced with most falling in the
middle or more towards novice. The staff was
professional and worked well together. In my
opinion this class will benefit beginners to
experienced casters with beginners learning
more. The class is structured and teaches a
mechanical and proven casting technique.
Instruction is explained in a classroom
setting then demonstrated and practiced on
one of three ponds. Beginners will benefit
from a formatted teaching style which begins
with "the basics" and progressively
increases in difficulty. Experienced anglers
will appreciate the technical terms used to
describe each aspect of their cast. Additionally, experienced casters will enjoy
double hauling, air mending, oval casting,
casting around objects and gaining insight
into the FFF's (Federation of Fly Fishers )
casting certification program.
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Wulff's Casting
Technique - Detailed instructions into
Joan's techniques can be picked-up by
attending her classes or reading "Joan Wulff's Fly Casting Techniques". The
information provided below is a general
overview only.
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Joan's technique
is not unique as many have been casting this
way for years, however, her class is very
well designed and breaks down the complete
cast into understandable and digestible
increments. Her technique focuses on body
mechanics and maximizes the appropriate use
of your muscles, i.e. shoulder, elbow, arm,
wrist and thumb (also stance and waist, but
to a lesser degree). Her instruction
incorporates these body parts in a
straight-line approach to the target with
the elbow close to one's side and leading
the direction of the cast.
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My Casting
Technique - In my humble opinion, there's a
difference between fishing and casting. You
can be the best fisherman in the world with
a cast that's not always pretty nor correct
by others' standards. Conversely, casting in
a preferred style that produces consistent
beautiful tight loops doesn't mean you'll be
successful on the stream. I think most
anglers fall somewhere in-between with most
striving first to be successful catching
followed by trying to achieve good casting
form.
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When I taught
myself to cast many years ago I did so
without formal training. I read books and
became familiar with the basic mechanics of
"the loop". I made a decision to learn to
cast in a way that was both natural and
comfortable for my body. Over time my
technique became refined and less text book
like. My stance opened to visualize both the
forward and back cast and to add comfort in
double hauling. My grip became more
hand-shake like and closer to the reel than
"thumb on top". My elbow drifted away from
my body to aid in drift on long casts and
became more elevated to aid in carrying more
line on long casts, i.e. similar to using
longer rods. This all helped me throw 80-90'
consistently, although not always pretty.
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And so I come
full circle after attending Joan's class. I
realize much of my casting could be
summed-up in one word, "compensation". A lot
of my casts do exactly what I want them to
do, but only because I compensate for poor
form. On the bright side, I know what I'm
capable of and I know the beautiful and
consistent form Joan teaches. My next hurdle
is to fuse the two.
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Technical
Critique - Some items I found to be
different included the "thumb on top" rod
grip. I feel this aids in accuracy but to me
it feels unnatural with the thumb on top and
the wrist cocked down. Interestingly enough
Joan's book states Lee used his forefinger
on top for most light rods but transitioned
his grip to a hand-shake grip for fitting
larger fish. Another item I found
interesting was the stance. A majority of
the class was dedicated to teaching with the
pupil squared-up to the target, effectively
eliminating any chance to visualize the backcast. This stance opened once double
hauling was demonstrated. These items are
things easier accepted as a beginner.
Fisherman familiar with some modification of
the above will find themselves retraining
their muscles to accommodate Joan's style. Lastly, although you're provided a copy of
Joan's book, for maximum results I suggest
reading it prior to attending her class.
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Final Class
Thoughts - With the above said, I won't
argue a time tested technique. Joan, her
staff and the class they teach is above the
bar in all aspects. If you can't make her
class buy her book, "Joan Wulff's Fly
Casting Techniques" published by Lyons
Press.
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Area
Recommendations -
It's worth
staying at the Beaverkill Valley Inn. Rooms
$100 or more/night. Fishing licenses are
available at the front desk. It's worth
visiting the Catskill Fly Fishing Center &
Museum in Livingston Manor, NY and Mary
Dette's Fly shop in Roscoe, NY.
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