A Bit More Distance

In this article I want to tell you how to get a bit more distance. But please keep in your mind that casting is not only about distance. To see some anglers on our rivers standing on a high bank or wading in like a hippopotamus doing false cast after false cast you’d think that distance was all that mattered. By the time their fly is in or on the water the fish will be long gone—yes even in the dark. Indeed the value of long casts is very overrated. Most trout and sea trout are caught within 10 yards. Good presentation is what really counts, believe me.

However, up to now we’ve gone through the basics of the overhead cast but the basics will only enable you to cast moderate distances. There will be occasions when you will need to cast that bit farther and the way to do this is to learn the technique of shooting the line. This is what I want to cover in this episode.

Lets assume that you have just made a basic overhead cast as outlined in previous episodes and you want your next cast to go a little bit farther. Before you perform the back cast pull about 10ft of line from the reel with the left hand and let it hang down. The forefinger of the right hand will continue to trap the line against the rod handle. Now make the cast as previous and when the rod stops (at about 9.00 o’clock) on the forward push simply release the line from the right forefinger. The 10ft of line will now shoot! Then you lower the rod to follow the line down.

As you fish out the cast you can draw this line back in with the left hand, let it hang down as before and do the same again. You will find that you will not need any false casts, by all means try a few if you wish but you will probably find that they do nothing for distance or presentation.

If you want the fly to go even farther you can pull an additional 20ft off the reel with the left hand and let it fall to the ground or on to the water if wading. This time instead of trapping the line against the rod handle with the right fore finger it is taken in the left hand where it is held firmly. Again there must be no slack between the holding hand (left) and the fly. Whatever you do, if on the bank, keep your feet still or you will stand on the line and damage it. Again, cast as before but this time aim the fly about 4ft above its target area. As soon as the rod stops at the end of the forward push, release the line from the left hand, and then lower the rod. The momentum of the cast will pick up the line from the ground or off the water and it will fly out through the rod rings. What you’ve actually done is use the energy for a 40ft cast to make a 60ft (or so) cast. As previously stated, it is vital that all casts are started without any slack and that the line is held firmly throughout the cast, if the line slips from your left hand it will take the power out of either the back cast or the forward cast. Equally it is important that you completely release the line from your left hand when the rod stops to allow it to be freely lifted from the ground or off the water. If you let it slide through your hand you will only add friction, which will restrict some of the shoot.

As soon as the fly lands, reach forward with the left hand, take up the line and hook it back over the forefinger of the right hand. Whether fishing wet fly down and across or upstream dry fly the line can be drawn towards you as necessary inboard of the forefinger. This finger is very sensitive so is ideal for detecting wet fly bites. Once you have drawn in enough line to fish out the cast and are ready to cast again, with the left hand remove the line from under the right forefinger and do the same cast again. I don’t think you’ll need any false casts, go straight back into a nice high back cast and deliver and shoot. If you find it’s going well you can try another 10-15ft or so. One thing I must stress, it’s important that you do not release the line from the left hand until the rod stops. If you let go too soon the line will wrap around the rod between the handle and the (first) stripping ring. I personally was really troubled with this fault, so much so that I even added an extra ring to my rod just above the handle, until I’d worked out the problem. So I’ll repeat, on the forward push, let the line go the instant the rod stops.

Obviously, as you get more line out you will find that a longer pause is needed on the back cast, don’t worry too much about this just give the line a higher trajectory. You will be surprised to find that it will all go, I promise you.

There will be times when you will be troubled with wind in your face. On certain sections of our river it can be a problem. Most anglers simply try to put more effort into the forward cast. They find that the line will go out but the leader will blow back and the fly will end up close to the end of the fly line. As he puts in more and more effort on the forward cast all that happens is that wind knots develop in the leader. This again can be a problem for the night time angler as wind knots reduce the strength of the leader by about 50%. To be honest I can offer no real answer to the problem of wind but can tell you how to make a drastic improvement. It is simply this—put in an even higher back cast up there behind you. Then on the forward cast the line will run down hill at an even steeper angle and deliver to a lower target area. In theory, the line and leader will land as soon as they are straight and should not have time to blow back. Some distance will be lost but I don’t think much can be done about it.

This (even) higher back cast I refer to is done by, again smoothly sliding the line off the water by raising the rod but this time only until it points to 9.00 o’clock (instead of 10.00 o’clock) and without stopping, power flick to about 11.00 o’clock or 11.30. (Instead of 12.00 o’clock). In effect the power flick is started and finished earlier.
I hope it works for you!

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