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If you spend anytime on densely brush lined trout streams, this cast is an essential part of your presentation. It is fundamentally simple and with very little practice one can become proficient enough to handle the majority of situations the cast is designed for. One must have water to properly practice and develop his or her roll cast. A lawn, mat or other dry surfaces do not provide sufficient enough resistance of the fly line to effectively "load" or bend the rod during the cast. The beauty of the roll cast is that you do not require any space behind you for the line to be back cast into. It is an especially nice cast to use with the wind at your back. All the fly line remains in theory, in front of the plane of your shoulders. Before you actually take a rod to hand try imitating the cast by using this practice motion. Pretend for the moment you have a small hand axe in your casting hand. You are going to "chop" a large tree limb that is situated an arms length distant and just slightly above your waist height. You know from experience that you will not be able to cut the limb with one fell swing, but a series of blows will do the job. You bring the axe up, cocking your arm by bending your elbow slowly so as not to hit yourself or anything behind you. Your elbow stays in front of your body and well out in front of your shoulders; elevated as far as necessary to give you power to hit the tree limb. The imaginary axe may be well above your head, with your hand being about ear level. You stop the axe completely from its backward motion while at the same time aiming for the limb. The stroke of the arm is downward towards the limb, with a little break of the wrist added just as your arm becomes straight, just prior to the axe hitting the limb and stopping abruptly. Practice this in slow motion at first, increasing your power and speed when you feel comfortable. Remember to stop the arm completely just about as your hand gets to waist level. |
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Use the resistance of the water on the fly line to drag out a section of line by keeping the rod tip low to the surface and allowing slack to be pulled down the rod and onto the surface in front of you. You may need to do this several times to get enough line to cast (20 feet is good to start with). Keep your elbow in front of the plane of your shoulders and elevate your entire arm with your forearm being perpendicular to the surface of the water and the rod tip high and eventually pointing at the 1 O'clock position if you are right handed, 11 if you are left. Do this motion slowly, keeping the fly line ON the waters surface. Do not pull the line out of or off the surface. You elbow should be well out in front of your shoulders and elevating as you bend your arm bringing the rod back to the proper angle. Study the lines position in relation to your rod, it should NOT be laying alongside it and touching. If it is, slowly roll your wrist outwards to move the line away from the eventual path of the rod. You will notice a slow curve of fly line coming from the water towards the rods tip. This is the pre-formation of the loop you will eventually cast. Use the analogy of the axe to continue the casting motion, remembering to stop the rod abruptly once it has reached waist level. Do not allow the line to go back behind your head. A common mistake with roll casting is to drop the rod tip down bringing the "loop" of line lower than the height of the rod tip when cast forward. This will cause a poor cast and you may even hit yourself with the fly line or leader as it goes forward. Another common error is a "back and forth" motion of the rod when casting. Make sure you stop the rod completely before going forward. This hesitation is necessary to properly load the rod when it changes direction. The line will follow the path of the rod...ALWAYS. As you get more proficient with the cast you can even "shoot" additional line after the loop develops. Practice this cast on both sides of your body by bringing the rod over your opposite shoulder. This is called a backhand cast. Use your elbow as a "pivot" point keeping it out in front and on the same axle or line that you would use with your forehand roll cast. This is a must know cast and it will give you superior presentations when adverse conditions warrant. Be the fly...Tom Loe |
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