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← Master the Cast: fly casting in seven lessons

Lesson 2 — The pick-up-and-lay-down cast

The Pick-Up-and-

Lay-Down Cast

Lay-Down Cast

The pick-up-and-lay-down cast forms the foundation of all straight- line fly casting. Virtually all fly-casting skills are rooted in this basic stroke. If you master the pick-up-and-lay-down cast, you’ll be able to do just about anything with a fly rod. In the pick-up-and-lay-down cast you’ll lift the fly line off the wa- ter on the back cast, and then present the fly on the forward cast. Let’s first take a close look at the elements of the pick-up-and-lay- down cast, and then we’ll discuss the problems associated with it.

Begin with 12 feet of fly line outside the rod tip. With a 9-footwith the Fly

rod and a 9-foot leader, this will allow you to present the fly to a tar- get 30 feet away. This is more than adequate to fish successfully in many freshwater situations. Prepare to make the pick-up-and-lay-down cast by first using the roll cast to straighten your line out. That is, hook the fly line under the middle finger of your rod hand and roll cast the line straight to your target (see lesson 1). (Again, while fishing you wouldn’t ordinar- ily cast with your fly line trapped under your middle finger. But we’re still focusing on learning good rod-arm mechanics, and this is much easier to do at this point without involving the line hand.) FollowBecause the fly line passes directly over through with the rod tip down to the water. The fly line should beyour body, you probably run a slightly straight out in front of you with no slack, and there should be nogreater risk of getting hit with the fly slack between your rod tip and the water.when casting in the vertical plane. A Every back cast begins with your wrist in the bent-forward posi-slight error in timing can cause the fly tion. Push forward on the rod handle with your thumb as you pullline to fall, and when this happens the back with your lower fingers so that the butt of the rod is parallel withfly is more likely to hit you as it passes. the underside of your forearm. Now you’re ready to make your firstPractice will remedy this. These days I pick-up-and-lay-down cast (see photo 1).get hit about as seldom casting verti- The fly-casting stroke is a continuous acceleration that concludescally as I do casting off-vertically. So with an abrupt stop. Most fly-casting authorities describe the castingseldom, in fact, that it’s no longer a stroke as having two parts, or stages, within the overall acceleration.consideration.

The first stage of the acceleration serves to get the rod, line, leader, and fly moving as a unit and begins the bending or loading of the rod. This first stage of the acceleration is known as the loading move. The second, or final, stage of the acceleration completes the loading of the rod, and then stops the rod abruptly to unload it. Joan Wulff calls this final part of the acceleration the power snap (that’s the term used in this book). It’s also called the speed-up-and-stop, the power stroke, and several other terms by various fly-casting authorities (but see page 52 regarding the limitations of these terms). You can see the two stages of the acceleration most distinctly when making a back cast from the water. Begin the back-cast stroke by raising your upper arm and forearm to raise the rod tip to lift the fly line from the water. When lifting line off the water you must begin slowly and speed up very gradually during the lift to overcome the water’s surface tension without making a major disturbance that might spook any fish in the area. The fly line is anchored to the water by surface tension, and the line you’ve lifted is, in effect, stretched between the rod tip and the anchor point (which shortens progressively as you lift line). This anchor allows the weight of the fly line that you’ve lifted to begin to pull the rod into a bend. The more line you lift, the more of the line’s weight pulls on the rod tip, and the more you load the rod. As we’ve said, this first part of the stroke is called the loading move. The loading move continues until you’ve lifted the fly line to the line-leader connection (that is, the tip of the fly line). Once you’ve lifted the fly line to the lineleader connection, the loading move is complete. This line-leader connection is a critical visual cue to your making a good cast, and you need to pay attention to it every time you lift a fly line from the water. As you lift the fly line from the water, you should concentrate on feeling the weight and resistance (inertia) of the fly line pulling the rod tip into a bend. Indeed, you should concentrate on this feeling during every fly-casting stroke. Without question, your ability to feel the fly line pulling the rod into a bend is the most important feeling you’ll ever develop as a fly caster. Once you’ve lifted the fly line to the line-leader connection, you’re ready to execute the second part of the stroke—that is, the power snap. Your rod hand will continue through the casting stroke on its straight-line path, and your wrist will move very quickly from bent forward to straight; that is, the rod butt will jump out from the underside of your forearm at a 45-degree angle. Keep your eye on the yarn fly. Like the line-leader connection, the yarn fly is a critical visual cue for the pick-up-and-lay-down cast. The instant this fly leaves the water, the back-cast stroke ends; that is, you must stop everything abruptly: your forearm, your rod hand, the rod—everything stops dead. To help effect this positive stop, you’ll squeeze the rod handle as you end the stroke—very firmly and very

Pick-Up-and-Lay-Down Cast 1

Pick-Up-and-Lay-Down Cast 2

Pick-Up-and-Lay-Down Cast 3 1. Every back cast begins with your wrist in the bent-forward position with the rod tip at the water and with all the slack removed from the fly line. 2. When you lift fly line from the water, the weight of the fly line stretched between the rod tip and the anchor point begins to bend or load the rod. 3. Once you’ve lifted the fly line to the line-leader connection (out of view), the loading move is complete.

During the power-snap portion of the stroke, your rod hand continues along its straight-line path. Your wrist moves very quickly from bent- forward to straight. The instant you see the fly leave the water, you stop# everything abruptly.

Pick-Up-and-Lay-Down Cast 4

This positive stop triggers the spring- flex action of the rod and causes it to# unload on the back cast.

Pick-Up-and-Lay-Down Cast 5

quickly. This abrupt stop triggers the spring-flex action of the rod and causes it to unload on the back cast. As soon as the rod unloads you can relax your grip on the rod handle once more. When your rod hand stops on the back cast and the rod unloads, the fly line will begin unrolling behind you in an open-ended loop. The instant the fly line straightens on the back cast, you’ll begin your forward stroke. From a closed stance, with your shoulders square to the target, you’re not going to be able to watch your back cast unroll, so you’re going to have to time this by feel. As your back cast unrolls, you’ll feel the weight of the fly line against the rod tip, increasing gradually until the line straightens

completely, which you’ll feel as a slight tug on the rod tip. The feel- ing of the weight of the fly line against the rod tip is subtle. It be- comes more noticeable as your casting stroke improves, but it’s always fairly subtle. If you’re having trouble feeling the fly line as it straight- ens behind you, here’s another way to time your forward stroke: When your rod unloads on the back cast, there’ll be a shock in the rod. When this shock dissipates, begin your forward stroke. On the forward cast you don’t have the water’s surface tension to overcome. So the first part of the stroke, the loading move, is going When the rod unloads, the fly line #will begin unrolling behind you in an Pick-Up-and-Lay-Down Cast 6 open-ended loop.

The instant the fly line straightens on #the back cast, you’ll begin your for- Pick-Up-and-Lay-Down Cast 7 ward stroke.

The loading move on the forward stroke is relatively short, perhapsPick-Up-and-Lay-Down Cast 8 only a few inches.

During the forward stroke, your rod hand moves straight along the hand- target line.

to be relatively short, perhaps only a few inches. During the loading move your wrist will remain in the straight position. Envision the forward stroke as a pulling motion: you’re pulling line from behind you, pulling the rod into a bend. Remember that on the forward stroke, just as with the roll cast, there’s a straight line between your rod hand and the target. During the forward stroke, your rod hand is going to move straight along this hand-target line. When you’ve moved your rod hand far enough through the forward stroke that the pad of your thumb (and the shaft of the rod just above the cork) is about 90 degrees from your target, you can execute the second part of the stroke, the power snap. During the power-snap portion of the stroke, your rod hand continues forward along the hand-target line. You’ll push forward with

When the pad of your thumb and the shaft of the rod are about 90 degrees from your target, you’ll begin the power snap.

On the power snap, you’ll push for- ward with your thumb as you pull back with your lower fingers. You’ll squeeze the rod handle very firmly and very quickly, and you’ll stop the rod abruptly. When you stop the rod, the imaginary line coming off the pad #of your thumb will be pointed at the Pick-Up-and-Lay-Down Cast 9 target. your thumb as you pull back with your lower fingers. As you do this, you’ll squeeze the rod handle very firmly and very quickly, and you’ll stop the rod abruptly. When you stop the rod, the imaginary line coming off the pad of your thumb will be pointed at the target. What helped me to best understand the mechanics of the power snap is Joan Wulff’s analogy of the screen-door handle. To open a screen door you push forward on the button with your thumb as you pull back on the handle with your lower fingers. At the conclusion of the power snap, the structure of your hand and wrist cause the rod to stop abruptly, with the rod butt parallel to the underside of your forearm. When the rod stops abruptly, the rod will unload just beneath the path of following fly line. A loop will form, and the line, leader, and

Pick-Up-and-Lay-Down Cast 10

Pick-Up-and-Lay-Down Cast 11 10. When the rod stops abruptly, thefly will begin to unroll toward the target. As the loop is unrolling, rod will unload just beneath the path of following fly line. A loop will form, and the line, leader, and fly will begin to unroll toward the target. 11. As theto fish (because you’re automatically tight to the fly) and also puts loop is unrolling, you’ll follow throughyou in good position to make another cast. with the rod tip down to the water.

you’ll follow through with the rod tip down to the water. Finishing the cast with your rod tip down at the water puts you in good position

When you first begin to fly cast, there’s a tremendous amount of information you have to keep in your head. Try not to let it overwhelm you, and don’t let it discourage you. Spend some time working with the rod, and fly casting will become every bit as easy as good casters make it look.

Common Mistakes

We’ve just gone through our ideal pick-up-and-lay-down cast. However, chances are that you’re not going to get it perfect the first time, so let’s review some of the most common mistakes. The first problems any fly-fisher is likely to encounter with the pick-up-and-lay-down cast will involve lifting the fly line from the water. Many casters tend to begin their back-cast stroke with their rod tip several feet above the water. In fact, this is perhaps the most common mistake throughout all of fly casting, and it should be addressed

as soon as possible in the fly-fisher’s education. Beginning the back- cast stroke with the rod tip above the water is extremely inefficient; for if you begin the back cast with the rod tip, say, 3 feet above the wa- ter’s surface, what you’ve actually done, in effect, is insert 3 feet of slack into your cast and eliminate 3 feet from your casting arc. With a short line, you’ll still be able to make the cast. But if you have any appreciable amount of fly line outside the rod tip, you won’t be able to make a good back cast. In fly casting—and in distance fly casting in particular—you cannot overestimate the importance of the back cast: if you’ve got no back cast, then you’ve got no cast. Begin every pick-up- and-lay-down cast with the rod tip touching the water and every inch of slack removed from the fly line (see photo 1). Most fly-fishers, when they first attempt to learn the pick-up-and- lay-down cast, try to lift the fly line off the water with too much speed or force, which will rip the line off the water. You’ll actually hear the line rip, and you’ll see the line of white spray it creates (the British call this the white mouse). When you’re trout fishing, ripping the fly line off the water will likely spook any fish in the area. Conversely, if you lift the line too slowly during the first part of the acceleration, the fly line will slide toward you and sag, and you’ll create slack between your rod tip and the water. Keep in mind that the fly-casting stroke is a continuous accelera- tion. Although you must begin to lift the fly line slowly from the water, you must lift it continually faster throughout the stroke. If you don’t, the rod will not load, and you’ll have no hope of getting the fly line to straighten behind you on the back cast. The “trick” to lifting a fly line off the water is to lift slowly enough that you do not rip the line, but increasingly fast enough so that the line does not have time to slide toward you and sag. You can only develop this over time with practice. Once you begin to lift the fly line from the water during the load- ing move, you must commit to the stroke, and you must continue to accelerate throughout. That is, you cannot hesitate. If you hesitate at any point in the lift, however briefly, any load that you’ve put on the rod will dissipate, and the cast will be compromised. Also, there can be no hesitation between the loading move and the power snap. Although we can describe the cast as having two stages of accelera- tion, these stages must flow together seamlessly: the rod must move through the casting arc in one fluid motion. Although you may get away with a brief hesitation when lifting a short line, you’ll never get away with this when you’re lifting a long line from the water. The tendency of many would-be fly-fishers who have spin-fishing experience is to simply wind up and put all of their effort into the for- ward stroke—as they would do with a spinning rod. They’re not used to having to cast backward. Keep in mind that in terms of fly-rod me- chanics, the forward cast and back cast are identical casts delivered

in opposite directions. You need to use as much force on your back cast as you do on your forward cast. On your back-cast stroke, you must start slowly, accelerate continuously, and stop abruptly. To execute a proper forward cast, you must first get the fly line straight behind you. Some fly-fishers try to lift the line off the water using wrist movement alone. If you do this, you’re sure to move the rod tip through a curved path. Keep in mind that the loop of line will assume any shape that the path of the rod tip has traveled. If you lift line from the water by opening your wrist, you’ll rip your loop open. Keep in mind that the fly-casting stroke is a full-arm movement that uses your upper arm and forearm as well as your wrist. Your back cast should begin with your wrist in the bent-forward position, with the butt of the rod parallel with the underside of your forearm, and it should stay in this position until the end of the loading move (see photo 3). The wrist doesn’t come into play until the second part of the stroke: the power-snap portion of the cast. A number of fly-fishers have a tendency to begin their back-cast strokes with their wrists not fully in the bent-forward position. That is, the back cast begins with the butt of the rod less than parallel with the underside of the forearm. The problem with this is that if you begin the back cast with your wrist not fully bent forward, you’re much more likely to open it beyond the straight position during the stroke, opening your loop wide. Each time you prepare to make your pick-up-and-lay-down cast, make sure the rod butt is parallel with the underside of your forearm. This is one of a number of fine points that you should check each and every time you prepare to make any cast until it becomes as natural to you as breathing. All this might seem like slavish attention to detail, but it is such attention that enables a handful of fly casters to rise above the rest. An effortless fly cast is beautiful to watch, yet the efforts that go into building that cast are fairly tedious. When you watch a masterful caster unroll a fly line to the opposite bank with about as much difficulty as you would have licking an ice-cream cone, understand that you’re witnessing the fruits of devoted practice and effort. Countless hours spent on fishless ponds and grassy fields, checking the position of the wrist at the beginning of the stroke, the direction the thumb is pointed at the conclusion of the stroke, studying the shape of the loop when you stop the rod here . . . and here . . . and here—the myriad details that the vast majority of fly-fishers dismiss as trivial. Occasionally I’ll see a fly-fisher who has developed the bad habit of twisting her wrist to turn her rod hand outward during the back-cast stroke. Although this habit is much more prevalent among fly-fishers casting from the open stance, keep in mind that whatever your rod hand does during the stroke is going to be reflected in, and magnified at, the rod tip. Lefty Kreh has stated that the thumb of your rod

hand functions as a sort of “rudder” for your cast. That’s an excel- lent analogy. If your rod hand turns outward during the casting stroke—that is, if you turn the rudder during the stroke—you’ll put a decided hook into your cast. Before we discuss the problems inherent in the back cast’s second stage of acceleration, I’d like to say a few words about the efficiency of your rod-arm mechanics. Many fly-fishers tend to cast with their rod hand significantly out- side their shoulder—actually, I’ve seen many more fly-fishers cast this way than not (including a number of fly-fishers of note). Although you may be able to cast sufficiently to catch fish this way, it’s a less efficient set of mechanics than the one I’ve detailed here. The farther your rod hand gets from your body, the less strength you have. To cast with your rod hand significantly outside your body is the equivalent of trying to do pushups with your hands outstretched to your sides, or trying to curl a dumbbell held at nearly arm’s length. Casting with your rod hand held well outside your body will fatigue you much more quickly, particularly with heavier fly tackle. Also, this set of me- chanics uses shoulder muscles to do the primary work of the casting stroke (rather than the biceps and triceps)—a critical consideration for anyone who has a shoulder condition, or anyone hoping to avoid Casting with your rod hand outside

one. With your rod hand held far away from your body, there’s ayour shoulder (above) requires more much greater chance that it will move your hand through a curvedstrength, and is less accurate, than keeping your forearm and upper arm path, opening your loops wide. Finally, keep in mind that the greater in alignment (below). the distance between your rod hand and your eye, the less accurate your casts will tend to be. Casting vertically from a closed stance requires you to keep your forearm and upper arm aligned throughout the casting sequence. This is extremely efficient because it makes full use of your natural strength, allocating the primary work on the back cast to the biceps and the primary work on the forward cast to the triceps. Your under- standing of efficiency and your ability to make efficient casts are pre- requisite to your becoming a good distance caster. This set of mechanics may strike you as narrow or rigid—as if you’re being forced to cast inside a box. However, I assure you this is the best, fastest way to learn the fundamentals. Casting vertically from a closed stance minimizes the number of mistakes it’s possible to make and goes a long way toward forcing good fly-casting form upon the student. And that is not such a bad thing. The vertical plane is the most accurate plane in which to cast, as this is the plane in which your rod hand is closest to your eye. Al- though you may be fairly accurate casting off-vertical or even sidearm (which we explore in lessons 5 and 7), you’ll never be as accurate, consistently, as you will in the vertical plane (though in actual fish- ing situations you certainly will have to be able to cast in all planes). We now come to the second stage of the acceleration, the power-

snap portion of the back-cast stroke. I don’t particularly like the terms power snap, power stroke, or speed-up-and-stop to denote the second part of the acceleration. More precisely, I don’t like the words power or speed associated with this part of the stroke. It’s not that I feel I can come up with a better term; frankly, I don’t think any twoor several-word term can accurately describe the action. The problem I have with attaching the words power or speed to that part of the stroke is that the tendency of many fly-fishers, both beginners as well as experienced anglers, is to use a lot of power, a lot of speed, to yank the fly out of the water. Remember that the leader and fly weigh almost nothing—you literally could lift them with the muscles in a single eyelid—and they have virtually no surface tension. Once you lift the fly line to the line-leader connection on the loading move, you’ve broken all the surface tension of the fly line; at this point, it’s extremely easy to pick the leader and fly out of the water. If you’ve loaded the rod properly during the loading move, you’ve already done nine-tenths the work. Keep in mind that it’s the springflex action of the rod, and not the movement of your rod arm, that propels the back cast. It’s also important to bear in mind that the “power snap” has only two functions: the first function is to complete the loading of the rod; the second function is to stop the rod abruptly to unload it. When you begin the power-snap portion of the cast, the rod is already loaded significantly (see photo 3). When your wrist moves from the bent-forward position, through the 45-degree arc to reach the straight position, the loading of the rod is complete, and the rod has stopped abruptly to unload. Your rod arm does not need to move another fraction of an inch. When I’m holding the rod handle with the key grip, my index finger is directly opposite my thumb on the cork. During the second part of the back-cast stroke I pull back slightly on the cork with my index finger as my wrist snaps from bent-forward to straight. I actually have the sensation that I’m picking the fly out of the water with my index finger. It’s that subtle, and it’s that effortless. Picking the fly out 90ºof the water doesn’t require any force. To yank the fly out of the water with power is not only unnecessary, it will destroy your back cast. Some anglers open their wrists on the power snap so that the rod butt is at a 90-degree angle to their forearm, or nearly so. This is often—but not always—related to using too much force during the sec-

Breaking your wrist on the back castond stage of acceleration. If you break your wrist on the back cast, will cause you to dump your cast intoyou’re going to dump your cast into the ground or water behind you. the ground or water behind you.On the back-cast power snap, your rod butt should come out from Keep in mind that wherever the line coming off your thumbnail is pointed when you stop the rod on the backThis ensures that your loop will remain tight, and that your cast will cast, that’s where the cast will unroll.unroll upward rather than downward.

the underside of your forearm at no more than a 45-degree angle.

Always keep in mind that your thumb functions as an aiming de- vice in fly casting—on the back cast as well as the forward cast. Imag- ine a line going through your thumb almost perpendicular to it. Wherever this line is pointed when you stop the rod, that’s where your cast is going to go. If you break your wrist on the back cast, the line coming off your thumbnail will be pointed down at the ground or water behind you— and that’s exactly where your cast will unroll. On a good pick-up- and-lay-down cast, your rod hand stops on the back-cast stroke so that the line coming off your thumbnail is pointed up at an angle behind you—and that’s where your cast will unroll as well. Rather than thinking of “opening” your wrist during the power- A good back-cast stroke concludes snap portion of the back cast, it may help you to think of simply with the line coming off your thumb- “cracking” your wrist as you squeeze the rod to stop it dead. This nail pointed up at an angle behind mental distinction helped me to gain command of my own stroke,you. and if you’re repeatedly breaking your wrist on the back cast, it may help you as well. Your ability to feel the fly line straighten behind you on the back cast is critical to your timing of the forward stroke. The rod will not begin to load on the forward stroke until the fly line is in a straight line behind you. If you begin your forward stroke before the back cast has finished unrolling, you’ll steal some power from the forward cast. If your line is not laying out completely on the delivery, but landing in a pile, this could very well be the problem. If you begin the forward stroke well before the back cast has straightened, you’ll kill the forward cast completely. If you’re having trouble feeling the fly line straighten on the back cast, try accentuating the stop at the end of the back-cast stroke. That is, focus on stopping the rod dead in its tracks. Remember that the more abruptly you stop the rod, the more power there’ll be in the cast. If your back cast unrolls with a little more power, you’re more likely to feel the line straighten. You need to begin the forward stroke the instant the back cast straightens. When the back cast straightens, the fly line will be taut, as if someone were pulling it from behind you to stretch it. If you wait a fraction of a second longer, the line will lose its tautness and begin to fall. Although you may still be able to deliver the cast, it will not be nearly as efficient. And if you wait too long between the time the fly line straightens and the time you begin the forward stroke, the fly will hit the ground or water behind you. A good fly caster begins her forward stroke while the fly line is still taut. This requires precise tim- ing, and you may not get it right the first time you cast—nor the first hundred times—but this is the precision to which you must aspire. The tendency of many beginners, and too many experienced fly- fishers, is to lock their upper arms in place during the pick-up-and- lay-down cast and execute the cast using only their forearm and wrist.

1. A straight-line path of yourYou’ll probably get away with this with a very short line, but never rod hand produces a tight loop. 2. A curved path of your rod hand produces a wide loop or nonloop.

with a line of even moderate length. Again, during the casting stroke, your rod hand must travel along a straight-line path, both on the back cast and the forward cast. The only way to accommodate that straight line is to use a full-arm movement: upper arm, forearm, and wrist. Imagine standing sideways to a chalkboard, the chalkboard next to your shoulder. Imagine also that you have a piece of chalk under your thumb, lying perpendicular to your thumb, and one end of the piece of chalk is touching the board. If you were asked to draw a straight line on the board that slopes downward at about 45 degrees—this roughly would be the path of your forward stroke—the only way you could accomplish this would be with a full-arm movement. If you were to attempt to draw this line by locking your upper arm in place, you would be able to draw only a curved line. On a good pick-up-and-laydown cast, the elbow raises on the back-cast stroke to lift the line off the water, and then lowers again on the forward stroke. This full-arm movement is the only way to maintain a straight-line path of the rod hand, and hence a straight-line path of the rod tip. Remember that your cast will assume any shape that the path of your rod hand (and rod tip) has traveled. A straight-line path of your rod hand produces a tight loop; a curved path produces a wide loop or nonloop. Once again, it’s critical for you to remember that the thumb of your rod hand functions as an aiming device, on the forward cast as well as the back cast. On a good forward stroke, your thumb moves

The clock-face analogy may help you tighten your loop and aim your cast. Determine where on the clock face the shaft of the rod is stopping when you form an open loop, and then try to stop the rod higher. along the hand-target line and stops along this line. This produces a tight loop and aims your cast wherever the line coming off the pad of your thumb is pointed. If, however, your thumb veers off this straight-line path, you’ll rip your loop open. If you end the forward stroke with the line coming off the pad of your thumb pointed down at the water at your feet, that’s where your cast will go. If you’re having trouble forming a tight loop on your forward cast, it may help you to imagine that you’re standing against a clock face. Twelve o’clock is directly overhead, and 9 o’clock is directly in front of you. Determine where on the clock face the shaft of your rod is pointed when you stop the rod to form an open loop, and then sim- ply stop it higher on the clock face. That is, if the shaft of the rod is stopping at 9:30 for your poor loop, stop it instead at 10 o’clock. This clock-face analogy is simply another convention, another way to think about the cast, and is far from being a fly-casting cure-all. However, it may help you to understand the relationship between your rod hand and your target, and in particular, the role of your thumb as an aiming device. Some fly-fishers destroy their forward cast by running the cast and follow-through together, ripping their loop open. Remember that the forward stroke and follow-through are two separate parts of the cast. Follow-through is outside the casting stroke itself and is done with- out force. You must first stop the rod on the forward stroke and allow the loop to form. After the loop has formed, and the line has begun un- rolling toward your target, then you can follow through with the rod tip down to the water. If you’re having trouble with this, you could try making the cast without following through to the water. That is, keep the rod positioned where you stop it at the end of the forward stroke and let the cast unroll completely. When you’re fishing, you’ll have

to use follow-through (to keep the slack out of the fly line and to put yourself in good position to make another back cast), but at this stage, omitting follow-through may help you learn to form a good loop. A great many casters use too much speed or power on the delivery. If your fly line straightens on the forward cast, and then bounces back at you and lands on the water with a lot of slack, you’re using too much force on your forward stroke. As I’ve said, I don’t particularly like to associate the words speed or power with the second part of the stroke, for these terms seem to imply that the purpose of the second part of the stroke is to impart a forward “thrust” to your cast. This, I believe, is one of the most prevalent misconceptions in fly casting. The pushing-pulling motion you execute with your rod hand during the second stage of the stroke (power snap, power stroke, speed-up-and-stop, or whatever you want to call it) has only two functions, and they bear repeating: the first function is to complete the loading of the rod; the second function is to stop the rod abruptly to unload it. Stopping the rod abruptly triggers the rod’s spring-flex action to fire the fly line forward. It’s the positive stop of the rod, and not how quickly you move the rod through the stroke or how much force you use, that makes the line unroll. For any given cast, use only as much force as you need to get the line and leader to turn over crisply and land on the water delicately. Keep in mind the analogy of an automobile hitting a brick wall at 50 mph: the automobile will stop abruptly, but so would one traveling only 5 mph. To deliver a fly only 30 feet, the so-called power snap is relatively soft. For a very short cast, as I might use when fishing a small stream,

A tailing loop forms when the rod un- loads such that the rod tip is above, rather than below, the path of the following fly line. The legs of the loop are crossed rather than open-ended. For a short cast, a tailing loop is most often caused by a very short, jerky casting stroke.

The back cast and forward cast should unroll 180 degrees from each other. it’s as if my wrist simply “clicks” into the bent-forward position. Virtually all fly-fishers have trouble, from time to time, with knots tied in their leaders. We call these wind knots (see page 14), al- though they have nothing to do with wind. These so-called wind knots are caused by tailing loops. Many casters have a tendency to unroll their cast high above the target. If you unroll your cast 6 feet above the target, the slightest breeze can sweep the fly off course as it settles. On the pick-up-and- lay-down cast, unroll your cast very close to the target. Unrolling your leader just above the target allows you to be more accurate. On the pick-up-and-lay-down cast, the back cast and forward cast unroll 180 degrees from each other. The shorter the line, the steeper the cast. A very short line produces a very high back cast (see top left photo next page). For a longer line, the angle will be less steep (see top right photo). For your longest pick-up-and-lay-down cast, the back cast will unroll only slightly above the horizontal—the horizon- tal being an imaginary line that comes off your rod tip and runs par- allel with the ground or water (see bottom photo). The longer the line you must lift from the water, the longer your back-cast stroke must be. To lift a very short line from the water, you need only a very short back-cast stroke. For a longer line, you’ll need

The shorter the line, the steeper the cast. AFor a longer line, the angle will be less steep. very short line produces a very high back cast. On your longest pick-up-and-lay-down cast, the back cast will unroll only slightly above the horizontal.

a longer back-cast stroke. For your longest back-cast stroke—with as much as 40 feet of fly line outside the rod tip, depending on your height—your stroke will end with your forearm crashing into your bi- ceps. This is a literal crash. When your forearm hits your biceps, your rod hand is going to stop abruptly, and this positive stop is going to transfer all the power from the loaded rod into your back cast. This is called a body block, and I want you to pay a lot of attention to this, because this concept is critical to your becoming a good distance caster. Remember that the more abruptly you can stop the rod, the more power you can put into the cast. Utilizing this body block allows you to make a long, powerful back cast with very little effort. If you didn’t use this body block, you’d have to use strength to stop the rod. And which would stop a moving car more abruptly: applying brakes or hitting a brick wall? The body block gives your rod hand a wall to hit. Remember, however, that you’ll use the body block only For your longest back-cast stroke on your longest back-cast stroke.(about 40 feet of fly line outside the rod tip, depending on your height), your stroke will end with your fore- arm crashing into your biceps. This Lawn Casting literal crash is the body block for the

The main problem with learning to cast vertically from the closedback-cast stroke. stance is that you cannot watch your back cast. Casting horizontally on the lawn will allow you to see your entire cast, its individual parts,To begin the horizontal lawn casting and how they work. It will also allow you to see your mistakes andexercise, lay your rod on the ground with about 12 feet of fly line outside help you figure out how to correct them. This exercise is the single the rod tip. Then lay out the fly line most beneficial practice routine that any fly-fisher can perform.90 degrees off each side of the rod Begin by laying your rod on the ground with about 12 feet of flytip and place a target at each end. line outside the rod tip. Next, lay out the fly line 90 degrees off each side of the rod tip and place a target at each end. I like to use plastic bread baskets, but you can 12 feet of fly line use books, stones, or whatever. Line up with your shoulders square to the line of the targets, and with the face of your reel and the palm of your rod hand facing upward. The object of this exer- cise is to use a horizontal casting stroke to lay both the back cast 20 feet 20 feet and forward cast out directly intarget target line with the targets in a tight loop. (See art next page.) Make a cast, let the loop fall to the ground completely, and ana- lyze it. You can see that if you move your hand in a curved path on your

Line up with your shoulders square to the line of the targets, and with the face of your reel and the palm of your rod hand facing upwards.

Use a horizontal casting stroke to lay both the back cast and forward cast out directly in line with the targets in a tight loop.

forward stroke (as you might do if you run the cast together with follow-through), you’ll get a wide loop. And if you break your wrist on your back cast, you’ll widen the loop also. To form a tight loop and make the line lay out straight in line with the targets, you need to move your rod hand in a straight line, parallel with the line of the targets. Casting horizontally on the lawn, you’ll clearly see that the path of your rod hand determines the path of your rod tip. Remember that a straight-line path of the rod tip forms a tight loop. Watch the rod tip as it moves through the casting arc. It must follow along the straight line that exists between your two targets. Many fly-fishers have trouble when first attempting this exercise because they allow their elbows to escape their sides during the stroke. Holding your elbow away from your side during the stroke en-

sures that you will move your rod hand, and hence the rod tip, in a1. If you move your hand in a curved path on your forward stroke, you’ll curved path, producing a wide loop (see photo next page). get a wide loop. 2. If you break your You can unroll a very short line with virtually no loading move, us- wrist on your back cast, you’ll widen ing just the power snap (see art next page). A longer line is going to re-the loop also. 3. To form a tight quire a loading move; that is, you’re going to have to get everythingloop, you need to move your rod hand in a straight line, parallel with moving before you form the loop and make the cast. With a longer line the line of the targets. you’ll have to follow through a bit after you stop the rod at the end of each power snap to give yourself room to make a loading move (see art page 63). Follow-through is a continuation of the straight-line path begun by the casting stroke. Follow-through after the back cast is called drift. (Notice that drift and follow-through occupy the same space within the casting stroke or arc as does the loading move.) We’ll learn more about drift in lesson 6. To get the line to unroll crisply, you must start slowly, accelerate gradually, and stop abruptly, on both the back cast and the forward cast. The casting stroke must be smooth. A jerky stroke will destroy the cast. This exercise is not about making lots of casts. Rather, it’s about learning something from every cast you make. Watch your loop of line on each cast. Your loop of line is your single best piece of data for self- analysis, for your loop of line tells you exactly what your rod hand and

Holding your elbow away from your side during the stroke ensures that you will move your rod hand, and hence the rod tip, in a curved path, producing a wide loop.

rod tip did during the casting stroke. Let each cast fall to the ground and take the time to analyze what happened. Each cast has something to teach you. This exercise is deceptive in its simplicity—so much so that most fly-casting students forget about it immediately after learning it, and they never work with it again. I can’t emphasize enough that this ex-

A very short line you can cast with virtually no loading move, using just the power snap.

A longer line requires a loading move to get everything in motion before you make the cast. With a longer line you’ll have to follow through after each power snap to give yourself room to make a loading move on the next stroke. Follow-through after the back-cast stroke is called drift. ercise is the single best tool you have for building a solid basic stroke. This horizontal lawn casting exercise is your actual fly cast, only laid on its side and frozen in time. Ironing out your problems horizontally on the lawn will help you immeasurably when you bring the cast back up to the vertical plane. Learn this simple exercise and you’ll have gone a long way toward mastering your cast.