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Improving your casting skills is one of the best things you can do to take your fly fishing to the next level. Building a solid foundation of basic techniques is guaranteed to make you a better angler, but there will come a point when you’ll want to add more advanced techniques to your skill set. You may want to generate more power in order to cast a greater distance or cope with wind. Or maybe you’ve spotted a good trout lie on the opposite bank that’s covered by overhanging brush and requires a special technique to deliver the fly. There are special casts that will help you make a good presentation in the many different situations you’re bound to encounter while fishing. Here are a few of the most useful techniques to get you started.
Most beginner and intermediate fly anglers quickly learn the importance of mending to combat drag imparted by the current in a river. When fishing for wary trout or casting across swift currents, there are certain situations where making a mend in the line before the fly hits the water will give you a better chance at coaxing a strike from the fish. This is where the reach cast can save the day. The reach cast is essentially an aerial mend that’s made while the cast unrolls in the air, and it’s an extremely useful cast when executed properly.
The reach cast is actually pretty simple to accomplish: it just takes some practice to coordinate a cast with a mend in one movement. This cast can be used to create slack line (a mend) in either an upstream or downstream direction, depending on where the rod tip is pointed at the cast’s completion. With practice, making this cast will become automatic when you’re fishing, and you may wonder how you ever got along without it!
This cast is great for moments when you have tricky currents to deal with. There are many times when fishermen cast over swift currents to targets in pockets, seams, or eddies where the current is much slower. By making the mend before the fly touches the water, the fly is drifting and fishing for the maximum amount of time before the current drags it away. The reach cast is also wonderful for making presentations to visible fish that may be put down by excessive movement or disturbance on the water’s surface caused by mending.
When we learn how to cast a fly rod, we’re taught that a proper cast will unroll flat, horizontal to the surface of the water in both the back and forward portions of the cast. There are times when changing the casting angle or “plane” will give an angler an added advantage when presenting the fly. The Belgian cast is a perfect example of this, as the caster performs a low, sweeping back cast combined with a standard forward cast.
A true Belgian cast creates a continuous load on the rod, which makes it a great cast for when you’re using heavy flies, sinking lines, split shot, strike indicators, or other paraphernalia to get down deep beneath the surface. Because the line stays under tension throughout the backward casting stroke, your line and leader stand a lower chance of tangling during the cast.
The Belgian cast is an excellent choice for fishing with nymphs and streamers, in cases where excess weight makes a normal overhead back cast difficult or dangerous. This is also a wonderful choice for casting with wind at your back. The low back cast allows the line to effectively cut underneath the wind and load the rod for a powerful forward stroke.
The puddle cast is another change-of-plane cast involving a low back cast combined with a high forward cast and an abrupt drop of the rod tip. The goal of this cast is to allow the line and leader to fall with a series of “S” curves or slack loops in the cast. This cast is extremely effective when presenting the fly on a dead drift to trout that are downstream of the angler’s position. The slack loops created in the line and leader allow the fly to drift freely downstream to the feeding trout.
Use this cast to your advantage when you need to get upstream of wary trout and make a “fly first” presentation so that you don’t spook them with the leader and line. With some practice, it will become a very effective addition to your skill set.
The steeple cast is also a change-of-plane cast, but rather than making a low back cast and a high forward cast, the angler executes the opposite: a high back cast followed by a sharp, downward forward cast. This cast is effective in small, brushy streams where bushes, rocks, or tall grasses may limit a traditional back cast. It is also very helpful for high-sticking in pocket water situations where it’s imperative to place only the fly and not the leader or line on the swirling surface of the water.
The bow and arrow cast is a fun and simple cast that works wonders when you need to put your fly into a tight spot. Unlike as in most fly fishing casts, the load is generated by the angler holding the fly or leader and pulling the rod tip back like with a bow and arrow. This cast is best for short distances but is extremely accurate and sometimes the only option when fishing small streams where making a back cast may not be possible.
Practice this cast on the lawn, and use it whenever you get into a tight spot where you think there might be a fish.
When it comes to improving your casting and angling skills, there’s no substitute for time spent with rod in hand training your muscles and developing a feel for how the rod and line respond to different input. Get out to the park or a piece of water nearby and give these casts a try. I guarantee you’ll be pleased with the results on your next fly fishing trip!
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