Translation to English Fiorenzo Mussi and Malik Mazbouri

Fosco Torrini, born in Florence in 1945, approached sport fishing at an early age and made his own path by maturing a progressive and growing interest in artificial lures and spinning.

In the 70s, Florence was becoming one of the most important development poles of national fly fishing, Fosco felt a strong fascination for this discipline and made friendly relationships with some of the most successful fishermen of the time, Roberto Pragliola, Paolo Venturi, Piero Lumini, Franco Alinei, Alberto Del Buono, Roberto Daveri and Massimo Gigli.

Fosco, having learned the technical fundamentals from his mentors, immediately demonstrates an excellent predisposition for casting, and developed a visceral passion for fly casting which will lead him, within a few years, to be unanimously recognized as one of the most competent technicians of the sector in Italy. He fishes in almost all the waters of the globe and faces situations that are almost impossible, thanks also to the preparation received during the military service in the paratroopers.

In the 80s he began to divide his life between private work and activities closely linked to the world of fishing, in an unstoppable growth of dedication, commitment and notoriety.

He assumed the position of President of the CIPM (Italian Fly Fishermen Club) for five years, also operating in the cast teaching at Italian clubs in the area, later joining the company of Roberto Pragliola, becoming responsible for the educational activities related to the cast and providing technical advice on materials (the first Snake rods and the Centauro Super date back to this period, followed by the Arrow series consisting of rods ranging from 7'6" to 9' for various line powers).

Thanks to Fosco the "scabrous" cast topic is for the first time dealt in Italy with an authentic informative spirit. Detailed explanations of the dynamics, insights into the fishing applications of the different casts, analysis of the characteristics and actions of the gear, finally become public knowledge. 

Between the 80s and 90s he lends his face to popular films that contribute exponentially to the spread of the fly angling in Italy. Fosco, forerunner of the times, understanding the importance of the filmed image as an educational vehicle, realizing some services for the Italian state television (RAI) and some episodes of "Fish Eye Obiettivo Pesca", then produces VHS dedicated to the Technique of Dry Fly and casts for rough waters.

He collaborates with various magazines in the sector (Mosca and Spinning, Pesca In, Speciali Mosca), for which he signs numerous articles, favoring the subject of the casting technique that he dissects with a wealth of details and great exhaustiveness.

In 2010 he was one of the founders of the S.L.M. (Scuola Lancio Mosca), of which he has always held the positions of Technical Director and President with great commitment and constant presence, making his 40 years of experience available to the instructors, both in terms of technical expertise and teaching methodology.

In 2020, from an idea developed within the S.L.M., he decides to publish the book “Passione del lancio. Amore per la pesca", a ponderous collection of his articles, written over the years of which he has been a collaborator with the magazine Mosca e Spinning, which today represents the most complete technical compendium on casting ever written in Italy and which shows, in addition to technical value, Fosco's great passion for dissemination and his innate ability to transmit and teach.

Fosco, through his editorial work and by running the school, has demonstrated and continues to demonstrate the possibility of divulging technical aspects that are notoriously not 'intuitive' with simple words accessible to all.

1. Choice of equipment Rods, reels, fly lines, fly floatants, clothes, glasses and other useful items.

My fishing is 90% dry, and my preference is for a 7 foot / 7 and a half # 3 rod, often made of bamboo. For the line I prefer a DT that is soft enough with a traditional profile (nowadays everyone makes their own profile). The reel must have two main characteristics: a large arbor to hold the line with fewer turns, and an internal spool so that when holding the hand "low" it does not block the flow of the spool. 

To treat my flies I use silicone products in paste form, because sprays leave a halo around the fly.

Clothing is as comfortable as possible, and for me indispensable accessories are the service pin and the nipper.

2. Leader material, build up, length and knots.

My final is a tapered nylon to which (without cutting it) I add about 5 blood knots at studied distances. Its length varies from 4 and a half to 5 and a half meters with a tip of about 120 cm. With this trick I obtain both the taper due to the tapered leader itself, and the superior power given by the knots. My leaders have all the same composition up to the pre-tip ending with a perfection loop to which I add the tip of the desired thickness and length. With this system I don't have ten leaders for all situations, but just one.

3. Approach and stealth.

Clearly the approach must be made very carefully, in order not to be seen nor heard; my approach is to scan the water near me without immediately casting where it seems most beautiful. If you cast upstream and catch a fish, you would spoil the whole pool (I'm talking about a torrent). Unfortunately, many tend to cast immediately in the most beautiful place of the pool, the eventual catch and the fight would frighten everything between you and the fish. I tend to exploit these points normally underestimated by most.

4. Reading the water.

On the river or on a stream, especially with the presence of obstacles both emerging (rocks) and submerged (floating vegetation), we must try to identify the rhythm with which these obstacles create an "eye" of a few seconds where the water blow over.

Referring to streams, depending on their size and structure, the rocks influence the downstream turns. Referring to chalk streams, where the water have a flatter course, the vegetation below with its sinuous movement right-left and up-down influence noticeably a possible drag of the artificial. In this situation, it is very difficult to predict the movement of the current, making a pocket cast placing the leader close to the fly can often partially solve the problem.

5. Casting ability which casts are essential.

The most important casts for upstream fishing in fast moving waters are undoubtedly all those that tend to avoid drags. For this reason in these environments tense casts are never suitable. A "slack" presentation which put the fly and the leader all together, we obtain excellent results. I believe that the fish does not connect the fly with the leader, otherwise we will never catch something because the fish always sees the leader very well. In the wide river, double haul is important to perform a greater distance. Mastering a 20/22 meters cast while fishing is not an end in itself, but allows you to be perfect at shorter distances, in which you can also play with other presentation than the straight one of pure distance.

6. Entomology, what should we know.

As far as entomology is concerned, we must at least be able to recognize the main species of insects, mayfly, stonefly, diptera. Of course, going into detail can be fascinating. I personally could define myself as a mediocre connoisseur of insects, but I make up for it with observation and rules that I have developed with experience. This very simplistic table can give indications on how to behave on rises : SILHOUETTE / SIZE / COLOR in this order. Example: imitation of mayfly does not get results, (silhouette not right) I put a sedge, fish goes up and refuses (probably right silhouette) then I switch to the different size, if also in this case it refuses I can change the color and so on.

7 . Rise forms; can they tell us something?

The shape of the rise gives us important indications. The first is that it must make us understand if fish are eating afloat or slightly below: a violent rise tells us that the fish is certainly eating afloat, probably on stonefly, while other times you can mistake a slight "hump", which indicates that the fish is feeding below, for a real rise that indicates that it is feeding afloat. 

Never underestimate the small rises that on closer observation are delicate sucks. Usually large fish do this, especially in slower waters.

8. Fly selection, size, shape, materials, which flies are essential.

For me, as a minimalist and exclusive dry fisherman, the selection of lures is not as complicated as you might think. A small selection of imitations combined with personal experience allows us to reduce the number of models to a minimum (of course experience is critical). As a casting lover, I often rely more on presentation, especially in environments where the fish must decide quickly. Especially in streams or chalk streams, some terrestrial, grasshoppers, ants, wasps, etc., should not be missing among your artificials. The presence of trees and meadows typical of these environments makes it very possible for them to fall into the water.

9. Presentation and drifts.

As the ideal presentation is the one that does not allow the leader to pass over the fish, we must use those anti-drag casts. Even in these situations if the environment is faced sideways, everything will be easier. An adequate presentation will help us to solve even negative problems like the drag.

Often, we have to mend the line and the leader upstream (Ribaltato cast), which will greatly help to extend the absence of drag. We must keep in mind that in every cast with a curved to avoid drag, we will have to modify our strike taking into account that we have a lot more line than necessary in the water.

10. Upstream or downstream ?

Dry fishing downstream or upstream for me is indifferent because of the difficulties that each system entails. Certainly, downstream can be deadly as the fly will arrive before the leader, but it takes a little practice. As we know the fly will soon start to drag, so we must cast taking a reserve of line to prevent fly from going immediately under tension.

Fishing downstream we can, indeed we must, carry out fast casts compared to fishing upstream. This fishing system allows us to let the fly make long run without drag. We must be careful going down the river because the fish will see us easily.

11 . Fighting fish.

A long time ago, the fight with the fish was the most beautiful phase of the action, concluding the fishing action, so I was inclined to make the fight last longer. Then you mature and the most beautiful phase becomes the moment you see a rise, those moments that precede the rise of the fish and the catch of your imitation. Today I try to stress the fish as little as possible and I no longer use tip below 0/14 for this reason (once we arrived at 0/10 even 0/8 !)

It has often happened to me to stay behind a fish for a long time going away from the point to return later. Once caught I would ask myself a question: "and now what do I do?". This is to say that the moments before the capture are more beautiful than the capture itself.