By Rod Hamilton

"I HAVE SEEN MORE THAN ONE FFF CERTIFIED CASTING INSTRUCTOR BROUGHT TO TEARS AFTER HIS TENTH BLOWN SHOT AT UNDER FORTY FEET"

Whether you are wading in eighteen inches of water, weaving through the mangroves or doing the Flamingo Slide over a mucky flat, there is no such thing as a seventy-foot cast. For DIY fisherman, it's all about the Short Game.

Leave your driver, fairway woods and long irons in the bag. DIY success is about accuracy with your wedges and putter. It calls for short precise shots, minimal false casting and one chance to make a pinpoint presentation. There are no Gimmies at thirty feet.

I have had the good fortune to fish with some great anglers and casters this year. I'm still awestruck by the elegance of them laying out an eighty-foot line. But I've come to realize that the skills required to be successful from the front of a skiff don't necessarily translate to being successful in the "hand to hand" combat experienced by the DIY guy.

I'm talking about soft presentations at 20 - 40 feet in 25 m.p.h. winds with one false cast. Then dropping the fly not in a Hula Hoop, but on a Frisbee.

Let me tell you I have seen more than one FFF Certified Casting Instructor brought to tears after his tenth blown shot at under forty feet. It's the difference between being a great driver of a golf ball and a great putter, both are wonderful skills to posses, but different.

Setting the stage for a DIY day; you just got out of your car or off your bicycle. The fish you will be encountering have seen a "Charlie" before; in fact they probably bolted from one yesterday. And the direction you walk has more to do with "where can I go" then the sun, wind and tide.

And, 90% of your casts will be forty feet or less.

SKILLS REQUIRED FOR THE SHORT GAME:

The post DIY Bonefishing – It’s All About The Short Game first appeared on Fly Fishing | Gink and Gasoline | How to Fly Fish | Trout Fishing | Fly Tying | Fly Fishing Blog.