Smoky Mountains · Bryson City, North Carolina · Since 1987
Fly Casting School & Private Instruction
Smoky Mountains · Bryson City, North Carolina
Mac Brown has been teaching fly casting in Bryson City, North Carolina since 1987. He is the only FFI Master Casting Instructor in North Carolina — the highest casting credential available — and has been a certified casting examiner for decades, testing and certifying instructors from across the country. He has presented at The Fly Fishing Show every year since 1994 and is the author of Casting Angles. The reason beginners click with his teaching faster than they expect is simple: he explains fly casting in plain, everyday language using comparisons that connect instantly — no confusing terms, no rigid rules you cannot feel. Complete beginners, self-taught anglers, and experienced casters who have hit a wall are all welcome. No experience required. Classes are taught by our team of credentialed instructors, which includes 2026 Women's World Fly Casting Champion Whitney Gould. Instructors vary by session.
You do not need to know anything to start. You just need to show up.
Everyone Starts Somewhere. Most People Start Wrong.
Here is something nobody tells you before your first fly casting lesson: the sport looks complicated because the explanations are usually terrible. When someone describes casting as "a ten-to-two clock motion" and starts drawing diagrams in the dirt, your brain shuts off — and that is not your fault. That is a teaching problem.
Mac Brown has been solving that problem since 1987. What he figured out over nearly four decades of coaching is that beginners do not need more information — they need the right comparison at the right moment. The one that makes the rod suddenly feel alive in your hand. The one that turns a confusing movement into something your body just gets. New students are regularly surprised by how fast something clicks that they had been struggling with for months on their own.
The most common thing first-timers say at the end of a session: "Why didn't anyone explain it like that the first time?"
If you have never held a fly rod, that is a perfect place to start. If you have been fishing for years and something still feels off, that is fixable too. Either way, the answer is the same: get in front of someone who can actually see what is happening and explain it in a way that makes sense.
"The cast is everything. Every other skill in fly fishing — reading water, selecting patterns, managing the drift — depends entirely on your ability to put the fly where you intend. That starts here."
Choose Your Path
Fork in the River
Two distinct tracks — same expert coaching. Pick the one that matches where you are right now.
Path A
Beginner & Recreational Skills Improvement
Perfect for first-timers, novice casters, and self-taught anglers who want to eliminate tangles, fix basic timing, and build real confidence on the water. If you have never held a fly rod — or if you have, but something has never quite clicked — this is where it starts to make sense. All gear is provided. No prior knowledge assumed. Just show up ready to learn.
- Complete beginners — zero experience required
- Self-taught anglers with persistent bad habits
- Vacation or recreational anglers wanting more fish
- Anyone who has watched YouTube and still feels lost
Path B
The Two-Day Casting School
Two full days of structured instruction — curriculum handouts, a personal student assessment, and a clear plan mapped out specifically for where you want your fly fishing to go. Whether you are brand new or have been fishing for years, you leave knowing exactly what to work on and why. This is the most complete picture of your casting you can get in a single weekend.
- Two full days of hands-on instruction with Mac
- Written curriculum handouts you keep and take home
- A personal student assessment tailored to your casting
- A clear path forward — so you know exactly what to work on next
What You Will Learn
What We Work On — And Why It Matters
Every skill you learn here pays off directly on the water. Nothing taught for the sake of teaching it.
How Mac Teaches — Feel First, Explanation Second
Fly casting is not a math problem. Barking rules and angles at someone standing in a river does not work, because you cannot feel a rule. What you can feel is whether the rod is working with you or against you. Whether the line is rolling out clean or collapsing. Whether something just clicked or something is still off.
Mac builds every lesson around that feeling — finding the exact moment where your cast starts to go wrong, then giving you a simple, repeatable fix that your body can actually remember. No single rigid stance is forced on anyone. People are built differently and move differently. The teaching adjusts to you, not the other way around.
Most students see real, noticeable improvement within the first hour. That is not a sales promise — it is a pattern that has repeated across four decades of teaching everyone from five-year-olds in the backyard to fishing guides preparing to teach others.
- Mac finds what is wrong before telling you how to fix it — so you understand why, not just what
- Every correction comes with a simple drill you can practice on your own
- The teaching adjusts to your body, your goals, and your pace
- Honest feedback — including what you are already doing right
On Our Instructor Team
Whitney Gould — 2026 Women's World Fly Casting Champion. Overall women's world champion at the 2026 World Flycasting Championships in Vinadio, Italy (four gold medals) and eight-time Spey-O-Rama women's world Spey casting champion.
Instructors vary by session.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Location & What's Included
All instruction takes place in and around Bryson City, North Carolina — in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains. Sessions are conducted on the Tuckasegee River and in yard/field settings depending on skill level and goals.
All premium tackle is fully provided. That means rods, reels, lines, and leaders — everything you need to cast and fish effectively is on hand. You are welcome to bring your own setup if you want instruction specific to your equipment.
Ready to Book or Just Have a Question?
No commitment required to reach out. If you are not sure which track is right for you, a quick message is all it takes. Mac personally responds to every inquiry.
Bryson City, NC · All skill levels · Since 1987