No. The reach is a direction the rod takes after the stop, and it can go upstream or downstream. It is an aerial mend: the rod reaches while the line and leader are still in the air, before they land.

The demonstration makes the point: after the stop, the rod sweeps upstream or downstream to put the controlled slack in the line where you want it. Which direction you choose follows the layout you need — where the slack has to sit for the fly to drift naturally.

That matters in an exam answer. “A reach mend is an upstream mend” sounds tidy and is wrong as a definition: a reach mend is defined by the rod reaching after the stop, not by a compass direction. The direction is a tactic.

On the water, decide from the drift. Ask where the line needs to sit so the current reaches the fly last, and reach that way. If you have already decided that upstream is what a reach mend means, you will miss the casts that need the other direction.

Source

From the Slack-line casts and reach-mend demonstration; the CI Study Guide (2025) covers the reach mend in Task 4; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions (Mends).