I don't know anyone who relishes blasting a line into the teeth of a strong wind.

Now I don't know about you: but wind -- or at least pesky little, presentation ruining, breezes -- seem to

follow me wherever I go. If it's the tropics then the matter can be worse, if it's the chalk streams of Merry

Olde England, then it's slightly less. But the problem nevertheless persists and you can bet, as surely eggs are eggs, that as soon as you have marked down, stalked, deduced the food form, lined up the perfect angle of delivery to cover the BIGGEST trout you have ever seen on that stream; some wind, from somewhere, will suddenly weave its way through the bank side branches and dump your best effort, fish frighteningly smack-dab, on top of Mr. Brown's head; or miles away from the target! Life is like that. As if I need tell you.

There are remedies. None are fool proof and neither do they come with written guarantees. But at least they will help. We in Britain -- or at least some -- insist that tapered leaders do not matter. Bunkum. They do matter - especially in windy conditions: and the steeper the taper the better.

Let me explain; when one makes a cast and the rod tip responds via the forward or backward casting stroke, one is creating energy. When you ultimately direct the cast toward the prize (that big old trout I mentioned earlier) you are directing energy via the rod into the line, down the leader and finally, the fly. Any break in this energy flow will detract from a precise outcome (good turnover). A single strand of nylon as a leader,even a long tippet can be ruinous to a happy outcome (our heroic brown being caught).

There are steps we can take to ensure that efficiency and energy flow is maximized.

* Use a 'tip action' orientated fly rod that has an instinct to throw tight loops.

* Use a shorter casting stroke that will deliver a high speed, tight loop. Do watch when making this type of cast that it is no too 'wristy'. Wrist 'break' will make the overhead arc wider, the loop wider and less penetrative and efficient.

* If you happen to be fishing a pond, lake or indeed saltwater, aim the final part of the cast downward and try get 'in' and 'under' the wind. There is a slight decrease of wind immediately above wave action due to the water's turbine like movement; if you can find this you will tend to get a 'clean shoot'. Remember that wonderful Lefty'ism - The line always follows the rod tip. Aim that tip low and you will find that reduced air.

* Make your leader as steep as possible; and when high wind is the case, I immediately delve about in my waistcoat (sorry, vest!) for my knotted, tapered leaders a la' Ritz (of hotel fame). You can obtain these commercially and I believe Rio, Maxima and others are available in the US of A. if you don't want the 'faff' of making your own. I urge that you use them, as those tiny, little barrel- like knots, add a hint of weight and seem to be able to puncture air resistance that would ordinarily collapse a standard leader.

* Avoid the braided type of leader (fine in many conditions, but not I would suggest, in high wind) as I have found, these do seem to hold up in windy conditions due to their lattice like, hollow configuration .

* If you do want to opt for the convenience and tactical nuance of a knotless tapered leader, do insure that it has a good stiff butt and as high a diameter as they come.

* Remember that if the wind is blowing at you it will straighten the line far quicker behind. So in effect you need to wait less before coming forward and in some instances, because the rod has loaded very quickly with energy you actually need less effort when making a forward stroke, rather than more. Try it.

These are just a few pointers, but I hope that you will find some help amongst them. Casting into the wind is an enormous subject - and problem. It is not easy and no doubt I shall return to it during the coming months but the above should help a little.

I am always reminded of a discussion I had years ago with eight times world casting champion (at that time) the late Jack Martin when I asked him how to cast into a big wind, on a big lake. His reply: Get in your car and drive round to the opposite side and cast with it at your back. Hmm? Simple really.

But let’s be clear about what blind casting is. Blind casting is presenting the fly to a fish you cannot see. It is not blindly casting. If you are not presenting the fly to a fish, you are just practicing your casting. You could have more conveniently done that in the back yard. There have to be fish that you can’t see. There is no such thing as blind casting on a shallow bonefish flat. If there are any fish in casting distance you can see them. If you can’t see them, they are not there. Our local waters are ideal for blind casting, however. There are plenty of fish, and mostly you can’t see them. Blind casting in saltwater is interesting because you never know what you might be about to hook up with. Sometimes tarpon rise up into view and take the fly. On consecutive casts I have caught a blowfish and a speckled trout. On a single cast, I have hooked onto a Spanish mackerel and a shark. Which provides even more variety: sometimes you catch a whole fish; sometimes you catch a half fish.

So the first key to blind casting is to present a fly to a fish. As suggested above, this requires doing your casting in water which contains fish. Only some areas meet this requirement. And only on some days. Within a good area, there are aids to spotting the location of fish more precisely. If you see a minnow or two jump out of the water, cast to that spot. If a patch of water looks "funny", cast to that spot. Assuming there are fish around, we have one thing working in our favor-- as soon as the fly hits the water, every fish within at least 30 or 40 feet knows it’s there. It is their business to know these things. And, with luck, some of them will come over to investigate. At least the pinfish will. And if there are any ladyfish in the area, you will catch glimpses of them darting up to your fly (but often only looking at it or just bumping it). But, of course, this is blind casting, so you won’t see most of the fish that are looking over your fly. Often you won’t even see the fly.

The fish know the fly is there. Some will come investigate. Will any of them take the fly? If they do, the strike was induced visually—your fly probably did not have a fish odor, although it was not odor-free, either. When you tied it on, it picked up an odor. Since the strike comes from visual stimulus, the characteristics of the fly are critical. I am a believer in impressionistic flies. Can anyone tell me what species of marine life a seaducer looks like? But fly design and techniques for retrieving the fly are another topic.

Blind casting requires a particular focus and concentration. You’ve got to keep the fly at the correct depth, although you can’t see the fly, and you’ve got to impart the correct action for the fly you can’t see and the fish you can’t see. See?

It helps to have practiced in waters that are clear enough and shallow enough for you to actually see what is going on. This makes it much easier to visualize the presentation under true blind casting conditions. The purist, of course, disdains this unethical advantage over the fish.

If you like to fish where you can see, you might as well admit that you are nothing more than a sight caster! Now, you are in ideal waters, the structure is right, the tide and current is right, you have caught fish here before, but today you aren’t catching any. You have run through your most killing flies and your full repertoire of retrieves. Conditions could not be more perfect, and you are convinced the fish should be hitting. With every cast, you expect a strike. But no strike comes.

This brings us to the fundamental rule of blind casting—or any other type of fishing:

Fish will win the argument every time. If you want to catch them on top water flies, but they are lying in the grass in 10 feet of water—don’t argue with the fish. Let the fish win the argument-- tie on a Clouser or a Hopping John. Or realize that you are just interested in enjoying the experience of watching your fly work across the surface. Which is okay—a true fisherman doesn’t have to be catching fish to have a good fishing trip. As the old man said to a younger man who had just passed on the "helpful" information that there were no fish in the little pond. "That’s okay. I’m just fishing."

If the water is perfect, but the fish don’t agree—don’t argue with the fish. It is time to move. Try a different spot. Many a time I have stubbornly fished too long in a "perfect" spot, then finally moved to a different place and begun catching fish.

This brings up my "12 cast rule". I give a fly twelve casts. That is the most I can do and sustain the necessary focus and concentration on proper execution of the retrieve without the positive feed back of a strike. Then I try another fly rather than arguing with the fish about the fly they should be hitting. If a few flies and retrieve variations don’t bring a strike, then I know I am arguing with the fish about the location.

So, I follow three rules:

1. Fish where there are fish.