But before I lengthen my casts I'll try to gradually work the little dry fly in tight to the bank just in case there is a fish that I can't see under the shady willows. Getting a fly under low-hanging willows or any other kind of brush can be almost impossible from my standing position. And it's a good way to lose a lot of flies. I'm not one who can execute all the fancy "on-my-knees sidearm casts" that I've seen the experts demonstrate to shoot a fly for fifteen feet a few inches above the water.

Once in a while, when I'm really on, I can get a fly to skip under the low, overhanging brush by overpowering a low sidearm cast. It takes a little practice to make a skip cast work because you have to aim the fly to hit the water immediately under the overhanging branch with enough sidearm force to cause it to skip back under the brush. The fly actually hits the water behind a short loop of line and leader, which picks up the fly and throws it back under the brush. To make this work, the casting loop must be in a near horizontal position with the fly trailing lower than the loop.

If the angle isn't just right, you'll drive the fly into the water with a hell of a splash of leader and line and scare the fish. It's a little like skipping a flat pebble with a string attached. I'm always afraid the splash the fly makes as it skips back into the dark spaces will spook whatever is in there.

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