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[RalphH]

I have one more question that I haven't been able to find in another thread.  What is a reasonable casting distance for a beginner fly fisherman?  (i.e. What should I be striving for?  Or maybe more accurately, what's "if I can't cast farther than _____; I need to get some help")

30 feet from you feet to the end of the leader is a good initial target. You can catch fish just a few feet from where you stand and I have caught fish right at my feet and half a rod length from them. The latest "Euronymph" hardly involves a cast and virtually no fly line off the tip of the rod. If you are fishing rivers buy waders. If you are fishing lakes get some sort of watercraft like a pontoon or a small cartopper.

[clarkii]

30 feet from you feet to the end of the leader is a good initial target. You can catch fish just a few feet from where you stand and I have caught fish right at my feet and half a rod length from them. The latest "Euronymph" hardly involves a cast and virtually no fly line off the tip of the rod. If you are fishing rivers buy waders. If you are fishing lakes get some sort of watercraft like a pontoon or a small cartopper.

If you are fishing both buy waders, a pontoon, then learn how to drift rivers!

(I don't recommend drifting the Vedder during salmon season if you wish to live btw)

[Apennock]

That's a terrifying thought.  Wouldn't catch me trying it without riot gear!  It's bad enough on the bank...

[clarkii]

That's a terrifying thought.  Wouldn't catch me trying it without riot gear!  It's bad enough on the bank...

To clarify I have never and won't ever try it but you can do it on the Stave and the lower Vedder if you go looking for cutthroat in frog water during the winter or early spring.

[Apennock]

I just finished a practice session up at Cultus Lake and have a technique question, if anyone wouldn't mind fielding one of those. 

A persistent problem I was having was my fly whipping back toward me before it hit the water.  I found I could fix it by letting out a little extra line at the end of my cast but, obviously, that's a fine line without having the line to slack.  Do I just need to figure out that balance or is there something else I'm doing wrong?  I thought maybe I was dropping my rod tip too late but the rain picked up before I could test that theory (I keep telling my kids we aren't' made of sugar but I always seem to lose that battle).

[Fish Assassin]

Is the fly coming directly at your face on your back cast ?

[Apennock]

I wouldn't say so.  It's clearing my head by a good margin.