I know, I know, it is late in the season to be asking this, but...

People have tried to teach me fly fishing on several occasions. The ONLY thing I've ever caught is my hat and a couple frogs just dangling the fly in front of them in disgust. So... is there a good book, or video, showing how to get the cast right? I'm not much of a fisherman, I only go out a few times a year as a social thing, but a food source is a food source.

I figure I can practice standing in a snow bank this winter, and watching a dry fly bounce on the top of the snow.

Most people learning to cast get into trouble by working it too hard and by letting the rod tip come back too far behind them. (over the shoulder)

Casting a fly is more like snapping a whip.
Casting bait is more like throwing a rock.
They are not the same type of action.

With a fly line the weight of the fly is nothing and you are really just casting the line. The fly actually slows the line down as you cast. Flies have a lot of wind resistance and no weight.
You can even practice casting with no fly at all, but it is hard to see where you are casting then and the line by itself travels farther than it does when it is dragging the fly through the air.
I used to tie a piece of yarn on my line for practicing. You don't get the hook sticking into things then or lose nice flies when you manage to pop them off

If you think of a vertical clock face your rod tip should move from about ten or 11 o'clock to about 1 o'clock.
Use your elbow to move it instead of your wrist. The rod and your forearm should stay in a straight line as you move them.

After that it is just a bit of timing. You need to pause just long enough between the forward and back motions to let the line mostly straighten out
If you don't pause long enough on the back cast the line does not get out flat enough behind you to cast well.
You also start popping the flies off the leader because you are snapping the line like a whip. Sometimes you even hear them. You don't want the fly to snap like the popper on a bullwhip.
If you wait too long on the back cast it starts to sink. You will get flies snagging the grass and you get a weak and loopy forward cast. when you have a big vertical loop rolling forward on your cast you are waiting to long between you back cast and forward cast.

It really helps to have somebody watch you from the side when you practice. They might even have to hold your arm at the right position because most of us are really bad at telling how far back over our shoulder and down we are letting the rod tip drop.

I wish I knew a good book or video to tell you.
I don't know one though.
I was taught to cast by an old fellow years ago and the biggest things he kept on about was not moving the rod tip to far forward or back and to try for accuracy instead of distance at first.

If there is a sportsman's show near you they often have casting clinics for beginning fly fishermen. They can be a great help to get you started. Maybe if you have the wife or kids in tow they can be shown the form of a cast to watch for and can help you practice by telling you if you are moving the tip too far back.

Go down to the Orvis School in Manchester (your home state) for some lessons.

Standard Disclaimer

"...in my youth..." Izzy you're kidding right???

Bill

+1 on using a small piece of yarn, instead of a fly--and moving the rod between 10 and 1. Wait for the line to extend behind you: if you push the rod forward too early, you'll "crack the whip" and snap the fly off the line. Watch the videos on Youtube, and if you have a digital camera, set it down on movie mode, and record yourself, so you can see what you're doing, and how it varies from the posted videos.
One thing I've noticed around here(northwest Connecticut), is that some flyfishermen hold their noses very high in the air--don't know if this helps their casting...;-)

edited for clarity

Doesn't Orvis have a fly fishing school in VT? I know that LL Bean is doing clinics/starter classes but thats Maine if ya wanna take a ride...

Learning fly fishing from a video or a book is really hard as it does not tell you about your mistakes. I recommend finding a competent instructor. As casting a fly is something that gets automated I would also recommend to wait for the next spring to allow your muscles to forget some of the wrong motions.
I used to instruct newbies in our club and there are some common mistakes learned from casting lures.
To improve your technique you could try some of the following:

• use about 30 feet of line at first - much more is more difficult much less will lure you into moving too fast
• keep your line tight with your left hand, slack line will rob speed
• attempt to stop the backwards movement at 12 - that is plenty for most cases - 11 to 1 is for playing to entire 30 yards
• a tight line will tell you when the backwards movement is finished, learn to feel it by watching it
• waiting too long will make the line a little slower, not waiting long enough makes your line drop before your feet, better wait a little too long until you get the timing right

Generally people who cast fly badly, move the rod to much and with an excessive frequency. I didn´t meet a single one who was too slow. Most of them also allow the line to go slack between the hand and first ring

Pretty good advice, except for the nose in the air thing!

There should be a local fly fishing club near you. Most clubs delight in teaching a newbie. Insist one just one instructor and make sure he or she is really good at walking the walk as well as talking the talk.

Lefty Kreh is my fly fishing guru. His books and tapes always made the most sense.

Find a quiet place to practice by yourself.

Have fun!

Some of our local and state parks have started doing lessons, the state parks will have license free days at the same time so you can go without needing to pay anything. I;m going to take the kids when they get older and hopefully learn myself.

Second thoughts:

Great learning experience is to stand right behind a good fly caster and put your casting hand lightly on theirs, close your eyes and feel the rhythm of their casting.

Work with short casts. Most of your typical stream or river fly fishing involves short casts anyway.

Like most fishing, success comes from learning where the fish are more than becoming a world champion caster. Positioning before casting by proper, unobtrusive, walking or wading is worth far more than being able to cast further than the next person.

Learn by observing where the fish are likely feeding, on top, down on the bottom, or in mid-water. If you cannot tell than as a beginner - move to a place where you can. This will tell you what kind of fly and what kind of fishing technique is most likely to be successful.

Do not conclude that what you see others doing is correct; figure out what makes sense to you and experiment until you start having success. There is a reason 10% of those fishing catch 90% of the fish.