Teach the haul as a start-and-finish pair tied to the stroke: the haul begins when the casting stroke begins and finishes when the stroke finishes, with the hauling hand mirroring the rod hand. The line hand then returns toward the rod hand during the pause, which is what makes the next one a double haul.

• Give the cue in stroke terms. Students can already feel the start of the stroke and the stop, so tie the haul to those events rather than to a count.
• Make them watch it. Look at the hauling hand while casting; video helps you see when the haul starts and how long it is.
• Build the feel. Overload the fly rod to help with the feel of the double haul, and use the Horizontal Casting Drill, which the guide lists for practising and teaching the double haul.
• Keep it smooth, not forceful, and haul on every casting stroke, including the pick-up.
• Teach one stroke first. A single haul is a haul during either the forward or the back stroke, so starting with one stroke follows from the definition.

Source

From Task 14 and the learning-styles section of the CI Study Guide (2025) (PDF); terms from the FFI Fly Casting Definitions (Hauling, Casting Stroke). See also Task 14, double haul.