We hope that many fly fishers are making good use of time at home to teach a youngster to cast. One sure way to discourage a young would-be fly caster, though, is to get bogged down in discussions of rod action, loading and unloading, and the importance of straight-line acceleration.

Here—in the latest in a series of quick-and-dirty fly-casting videos I made with Pete Kutzer of the Orvis Fly Fishing Schools—Pete demonstrates a very simple method for teaching that first short cast. A basic three-count will help the novice angler cast a good 20 to 30 feet of line, which is plenty for catching panfish or even bass on your local pond. False-casting, double-hauling, and the snap-T can all come later. For now, just teach them enough to catch that first fish.