ADDING DISTANCE TO THE ROLL CAST

Many anglers neglect the roll cast, thinking that it is very limited in application. It is the foundation to all fly casting and very useful in many aspects of fishing. Once you develop the basic roll cast and are able to modify the loop with the drop chop method and you are able to roll cast to about 35 to 40 feet or more consistently, you are ready to add distance to your roll cast.

To add another five feet of distance to your roll cast, pull five additional feet off the reel, extend the rod tip all the way back behind you as far as you can reach, do not move your feet, then bring the rod back into the correct roll cast position and chop forward. This will work only if you can lay the line on the ground, not the water. This technique adds more weight behind you making for an easier roll cast. It's called the extended or reach roll cast. It works well to about 45 feet with a weight forward line.

After this point, a double tapered line will really help because it's the same thickness from the front taper to the rear taper. Most weight forward lines do not have enough mass in the running line part of the line to drive the thick part of the line. Some types of weight forward lines, such as a steelhead taper or long belly line, might get you a little beyond 50 feet.

But, now we want to go beyond 45 or 50 feet. Pull off another 5 feet of line. Walk backwards two or three feet and then move forward to your original position, laying the extended line on the ground. You will have added a little more line behind you. Add a little more power and make the same roll cast. This is modifying the extended or reach roll cast.

You can walk five to ten feet behind you or more pulling off more line as you go and keep adding distance until you fail to turn over the leader and the fly. You can even run forward and stop and throw the line and gain another five feet. At some point you will scare the fish, fall in the river or fail.

This is assuming that you are on a lake bank or river bank and have no possibility for a conventional back cast because of trees, and you have 10 to 20 feet of snag free grass or ground behind you. If you are in sage brush, pickle weed or a thistle patch, this may not work unless you lay a tarp down. You can move back as far as you have space behind you, and your casting ability allows.

At the point where the extended reach cast fails for you, it will be time to add the single haul to your forward stroke. Remember, in a good 'haul', the rod must move first, loading the rod a little, the haul with the line hand is done about half way through the cast, loading the rod a little more. As you accelerate forward, the haul ends when the rod stops. As the rod is stopped, the line hand lets go immediately so the line can shoot. This is called the shooting roll cast or the Turbo Spey. If you hold on to the line too long, the shooting roll cast will not shoot very well.

To attain greater distance you will need to add a 'haul' in the back cast as well as the forward cast, a 'double haul'. By doing a double haul, you will add line speed to both the back and forward cast. Remember, the loop and the majority of the fly line cannot touch the water or ground.

Say you've got 50 to 60 feet of line on the water. As you accelerate the rod into the back cast stop position, instead of stopping the rod completely, you move your line hand forward with a little haul, adding line speed...at the same time you kick the rod back a little, putting a little more energy into the back cast forming a wedge shaped and rising loop in the back cast. At this point the leader and a small portion of the fly line will touch down on the water and anchor, (as in a Spey cast). Allow the back cast loop to pull your hauling hand back up into position for the forward stroke. As in a Spey cast or shooting roll cast, the loop should never touch the water or ground.

As you start the forward stroke, moving the right hand forward. The back cast loop should be alive and moving. This is more of a pause, not a real stop. You just change from a back cast to a forward cast while the line, (loop) is in the air. The line hand will lead the right hand forward about halfway into the forward stroke, you increase acceleration with both hands. The rod and line hand will start to separate halfway through the forward stroke, this is the start of the haul.

Release the line as the haul finishes and you stop the rod. The stopping of the rod and the finishing of the haul and the releasing of the line from the left hand all happen at the same time. This will allow the line to form a loop and the double haul roll cast to shoot forward into the air. Remember, if you are on the water, you must flip the line back with a rising loop. Do not let the loop touch the water or ground, only the forward end of the line, leader and fly.

As in Spey Casting, timing of the anchor point and the forward stroke is crucial. In a shooting roll cast the same is true AND you add the haul to it. If you do not accelerate smoothly with both rod and line hands and if you shock or jerk that stroke or haul, you will cause a tailing or sagging loop and you will greatly diminish the efficiency of the shooting roll cast.

It is possible to achieve 100 feet or an even greater distance with this modified roll cast. Remember, where you stop the forward stroke will determine the height of the reach roll cast. If you stop too low the line will hit too soon and not go as far. The shooting roll cast, (with a single or double haul) will perform best if you stop a little higher and aerialize the whole line for maximum distance.

The REACH ROLL CAST will perform at it's best if cast more as a conventional roll cast. It should hit the water and roll out on the water.

The SHOOTING ROLL CAST will perform best as an aerialized cast, (into the air) and land like a dry fly cast. It's more Spey Cast than roll cast. The fish won't even know your there!

Next month, the pick up and lay down/wet fly cast. Practicing the pick up and lay down develops timing and loop control.

As always please feel free to email me or see me at the GGACC ponds.

Tight Loops!
Floyd Dean