Find a quiet, unobstructed place to practice. The ideal place would be a pond that contains no fish, but a lawn will do, at least for the basic forward cast. Find a place away from prying eyes. I know that my laboriously slow progress in fly casting was partly the result of neighbors snickering over a young boy with a book lying open on the lawn next to him, flailing away with a long, skinny fishing pole. For practice you’ll need a properly balanced rod, reel, and line combination, plus a leader. Leave the flies at home. Flies weigh almost nothing, so they add nothing to the cast. Besides, they’re distracting, and until you’ve practiced a bit, they tend to embed themselves in pants, shirts, and ears. But don’t forget to attach a leader to your line. I’d start with a 7½-footer, and any size tippet will do. A fly line without an air-resistant leader at the end to slow it down has a nasty tendency to bounce

Take the rod out of its case and seat the ferrules by pushing them together until they’re hand-tight. You can prevent damage to your rod by holding the rod close to the ferrules when you do this. Line up the guides by eye, or by using the little dots painted on the ferrules. When taking a rod apart, it’s best to hold the rod out in front of you with one hand above and the other below the ferrule. Shrug one shoulder back, and twist the sections away from each other with your wrists, making sure that you get a straight pull. Bending the rod while unseating a ferrule is the easiest way to damage a rod and is a common reason for careless rod breakage. Fiberglass, graphite, and boron rods should be twisted slightly, but metal ferrules on bamboo rods should never be twisted, so when you put a bamboo rod together or take it apart, just pull the ferrules straight away from each other when you unseat them.

Attach the reel securely to the rod, making sure that the handle is on the correct side and that the line guard, if there is one, is facing forward. Pull off about 10 feet of fly line from the reel. While resting the butt of the rod against the ground (a great idea is to lay your hat on the ground so the reel doesn’t get dirty), string up the rod by doubling the fly line just near its junction with the leader. Doubling the fly line is easier than trying to pull the fine leader through the guides, as you invariably lose your grip on the leader just as you reach the last guide—and if the line slips out of your fingers near the last guide, it catches before it slips down the length of the rod

Set the rod down again and pull out about 25 feet of line beyond the tip of the rod. Ready to cast? I bet you’re holding that rod like you have a rattlesnake by the neck. A death grip on a fly rod doesn’t help at all—it fatigues you quicker, and it will make your motions too jerky. Most fly rods are light and don’t need much strength. Think of a bird in your hand rather than a reptile. Check behind you for obstructions. Now, get the line out in front of you any way you can. Thrash around a little bit; get the feel of the rod and forget about technique for a moment. You’re ready to start when that 25 feet of line is straight out in front of you, the rod and line are both at a 90-degree angle to your body, the rod is pointing straight out in front of you at waist level, and your feet are planted comfortably with toes pointing straight out in front of you. You may also wish to angle your body slightly to one side (to the right side if you’re righthanded), enough so that when the line goes back over your shoulder, you can watch it by just turning your head and not your entire body. At this stage, being able to see the line behind and in front of you is critical. By watching the line and rod in both directions, it will be easier to improve your timing and develop correct muscle memory.