Roll Casting

64-67 IA Fly Caster

25/4/05

4:01 pm

Page 1

Game Fishing

Fly Caster Andrew Ryan tells you how to roll cast. It’s a very easy cast to learn, but is unused by most anglers.

Fact File Name: Andrew Ryan Qualifications: Approved Professional Game Angling Instructor (APGAI) and US Federation of Fly Fishing (FFF) Master Instructor Courses: Andrew runs fly fishing courses at his fly fishing school, Clonanav Fly Fishing Contact: For more details on courses and one-to-one instruction, you can call him on 00 353 (0) 52 36765 Web: www.flyfishingireland. com

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64-67 IA Fly Caster

25/4/05

4:01 pm

Page 2

oll casting is one of the most elegant casts that an angler can perform. Mostly, the roll cast is used where an obstacle is behind the caster. However, it can be used for much more than this and rates as one of my preferred casts because of its ease and versatility.

The roll cast is simple to perform and is one of the easiest casts for a beginner to perfect. It is easier than an overhead cast and many instructors teach the roll cast first, as it gives the student a basic understanding of the mechanics of a fly rod and line.

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Performing The Basic Roll Cast

Firstly, you will need some line out. I suggest practising with about 30 feet of line outside the tip ring. In my previous article I suggested you mark your weight-forward fly line at 40 feet using a permanent marker. If you followed my advice, position this 40ft marker close to the rod handle.

Begin with the rod tip low to the water and use a fairly taut line, holding the line between your finger and the rod handle. Note the comfortable stance in the pictures!

Next, lift the rod tip slowly to the 10 o’clock position, gently, using very little power. Slowly sweep the rod around to the right-hand side,

How To Perform The Basic Roll Cast

Step One

Step Two

Step Three

Begin with the rod tip low to the water. Your line should be taut.

Hold the line between your finger and the rod handle. Make sure you are standing in a comfortable stance.

Lift the rod tip slowly to the 10 o’clock position using very little power. You shouldn’t have too many problems with the cast at this stage. Just do as I demonstrate in the pictures!

Slowly sweep the rod around to the right-hand side, keeping the rod tip at the same height as the 10 o’clock position for the moment. This is important – don’t raise the rod tip yet!

Step Four

Step Five

Step Six

Continue the sweep, taking the tip to 2 o’clock at this stage.

The line should form a ‘Dshaped’ loop. Pause, allowing the line to ‘anchor’ on the water.

Use a forward ‘tap’ to propel the line. Stop the rod abruptly at 10 o’clock. The rod tip should travel in a straight plane downwards. The abrupt stop propels the fly line.

If you time everything correctly, the line will unfurl like this and lay itself gently down in a straight line across the water.

Job done – time to retrieve and hopefully catch a fish!

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64-67 IA Fly Caster

25/4/05

4:01 pm

Page 3

Game Fishing keeping the rod tip at the same height as in the 10 o’clock position.

Continue the sweep until the rod tip is back between the 1 o’clock and 2 o’clock position. At this point, the line forms what we call a ‘D-shaped’ loop.

Once the D loop has formed, pause. This allows the line to ‘anchor’ on the water. It is important that a large D loop is formed, not a small one.

The next stage involves what we call the ‘power stroke’. It is the only power you’ll put into the roll cast. A forward stroke is required to project the line out in front of you. This involves a short, sharp ‘tap’, stopping the rod abruptly at the 10 o’clock position.

The rod tip should travel in a straight plane in a downward direction. The abrupt stop forces the rod to transfer power and propel the fly line out in front of the angler.

The rod tip, at the stop of the rod, is approximately at the eye level of the caster. The line then rolls out in front of the caster.

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Other Uses For Roll Casts

In everyday fishing situations, the roll cast is a versatile and effective cast, making life much easier for the angler. Many anglers assume that roll casting is only needed if there is little space behind you, but I carry out much of my fishing by exclusively roll casting.

The traditional way of getting enough line through the rings, to make a cast, is by false casting.

This is a continuous waving of the rod back and forth, lengthening the line little by little. This is not very efficient as it takes a lot of effort and frightens fish off as they see the line whizzing back and forth over their heads.

At my fly fishing schools I like to demonstrate that the false-casting method looks ridiculous compared to this next system, which is much better.

First of all, pull the length of line you are going to cast with from the reel. Again, the ideal length for most weight-forward lines is 40 feet. Now pull 10 feet to 12 feet of this line outside the tip ring.

Big Mistakes!

1 The Right Loop

2 Avoiding Slap-Down

It is important that a large D loop is formed during this cast, not a small D loop as shown here. Do not start your roll cast with a small D like this one!

Practise your casting continuously so that your line doesn’t slap the water when it lands – this ‘slap’ can spook fish. Cast so your line gently touches down.

The roll cast is perfect for those swims where you have trees and bushes right behind you.

Roll To The Left

STEP One

STEP Two

You can roll cast over your left shoulder if you’re right-handed.

Simply lift the rod to the left, forming the D loop you’d make in a standard roll cast.

Conduct the forward hit in the same way you’d make a normal roll cast. With any luck, the line should fly out once again and propel your fly a good distance in front of you.

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The next step is to flick the line onto the water.

Wiggle the rod tip left and right a few times until all the line has been transferred to the water. Sweep the rod around to the side and back to the 2 o’clock position, forming a D loop in the line behind you.

The power stroke will now project the line forward, so give a short, sharp ‘tap’, the same as when executing a normal roll cast. After the forward tap, the line will roll out and unfold in front of you.

This is a very simple way of getting started when you get to the water, as opposed to doing lots of unnecessary false casting.

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Eliminating Slack Line

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Roll Casting Over The Left Shoulder

If you do a sloppy cast, or you have a lot of slack line in front of you, the roll cast is ideal. Picking up slack line with an overhead cast is very dangerous, as the line can hit you in the face or body when the back cast is being executed.

So if you have slack or loose line in front of you, for instance when casting upstream, it is best to roll cast first to straighten the line. Once the line has straightened, you can revert to the overhead cast with a safe, taut line.

The roll cast can also be performed over the left shoulder, while holding the rod in your right hand. Casting over the left shoulder is a very simple way of changing direction or coping with wind blowing over your right shoulder. The movements are basically the same, but the D loop is formed on your left-hand side. This will allow you to change the direction of your roll cast, as you can switch between your right and left shoulder, while still holding the rod in the right hand.

It is essential that you form a large D loop on your left-hand side as well as your right. I hope that all this will help with your roll casting. Next month I will tell you, in simple easy-to-follow steps, how to extend the length of the line you cast.

64-67 IA Fly Caster

25/4/05

4:01 pm

Page 4

Getting Line Out Without False Casting STEP One To avoid false casting, pull the length of line you are going to cast with from the reel.

Let it rest on the ground. Pull 10 feet to 12 feet of this line outside the tip ring.

STEP Two The next step is to flick the line onto the water.

Do this by flicking the rod tip quickly from side to side.

The pictures demonstrate how to do this, as you can see.

STEP Three Keep wiggling the rod tip left and right until the line lying at your feet has been transferred from the ground to the water. No false casting is required!

STEP Four Sweep the rod to the side and back to the 2 o’clock position to form a D loop behind you. It’s time to roll cast in the same way as we’ve already shown.

STEP Five Give a short, sharp ‘tap’, the same as when executing a normal roll cast.

The line will roll out and unfold in front of you, without the need for false casting.

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