The roll cast is necessary when there is some thing behind you that would prevent you from doing a back cast.  The key to the roll cast is proper timing and controlled application of energy.

Step #1 - Begin with the rod tip parallel to the water’s surface.

Step #2 - Lift your arm up-and-back in a slow and smooth movement, allowing the line to come toward you across the water.

Step#3 - Tip your wrist back until the rod is in the one o’clock position and the line hangs by your side.

Step#4 - Make a karate-chop forward motion to roll the line out in front of you.  Stop high to give air to the line.  Stop low to keep it on the water.

To make a roll cast, begin with the rod tip parallel to the water’s surface. Lift your arm slowly and smoothly in a back and up direction until your hand is next to your face, with your wrist tipped back of the rod is in the one o’clock position.  It is critical that you do not put the line in the air because it must slide smoothly across the water until it hangs by your side.  To prevent the line from tangling with the rod, tip your rod arm slightly away from your body.  Once the line has stopped sliding toward you, make a karate-chop forward motion to roll the line out in front of you.   Because the line is held by water tension, extra down and forward speed is needed in contrast to the overhead cast to achieve the same distance.  Do not slap the water with the tip of the rod in an attempt to break the water tension.  Just add speed during the acceleration of the cast.  Everything else stays the same.

The roll cast is not limited to offering the fly.  It is also used when there is too much slack in the line or the sinking tip line makes a pick up hard.  A quick roll cast will straighten out the slack in the line and help lift immersed line to the surface, which allows you to make a normal pick up in the air to offer the fly, or for a second roll cast.

The roll cast is also good in situations of casting to spooky fish that won’t tolerate line spray or false casting.  This give you the opportunity to feed the line down until you have enough line to reach the fish.  Now you will make a down current roll cast, stopping high enough to put the line in the air.  When the roll is complete, before the line falls into the water, you turn and make one accurate up current cast to the fish.  This move reduces line spray over the fish, and allows for only a single cast to be made.
The roll cast is a good casting technique to have in your repertoire.  It can be used in several difficult situations.  By learning to use the many aspects of the roll cast, you will be on your way to more successful fly fishing.

Popularity: 63% [?]

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

 Email This Post  |  Print This Post  |  Subscribe to It!
This entry was posted on Sunday, March 9th, 2008 at 1:37 pm and is filed under Fly Fishing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.