Quick on the Draw

The moment is upon you. You’ve pictured this situation countless times. You’ve finally made it to the salt, you’re in the capable care of an experienced guide and working together, you’ve located fish. Now a big one is tracking your way. You’ve thought about this exact scenario for so long, imagined your hero shot, an exciting hook up and the ensuing battle. Here you are, in the moment, with a quality fish within casting range. Your guide has called it out…so why do you still have the fly in your hand?

Sight-casting to ocean-dwelling predators is exhilarating. When you’re finally in position to take a shot at your target— be it a tarpon, permit, redfish, bonefish or any other of the powerful saltwater species fly fishers have on their bucket list—you want to be prepared, practiced and ready to execute.

Visually acquiring a target, stalking the fish and delivering a precise presentation as efficiently as possible isn’t something that comes easy—particularly if you’re used to swinging streamers, working riffles with a nymph rig or chucking clunky casts to patient panfish or tolerant trout.

The key to not mangling the moment is getting the fly from its starting point in your hand, to the fish, with as few false casts as possible. The technique for releasing the fly, making three (or less) casts and putting the fly on target has been devised, practiced and refined by many talented salt anglers over the years. We call it: the Saltwater Quick Cast.

Step right up

Once you put yourself in position to cast—be it on the bow of a flatstrungs boat or simply wading off the beach—you will need to peel out a length of line to facilitate the fly reaching your target. The amount of line you strip off your reel should correlate to either the distance between you and the target when you can obtain a visual or the length of your most accurate cast—whichever is shorter. When you first pull line off the reel and pile it onto the boat deck or stripping basket, it will be “upsidedown,” that is, the part of the line that will shoot out of the guides first will be on the bottom of the pile. To correct this, cast the line out and, as you strip it back in, organize the line so that it will be ready to shoot with no tangles. Ensure it’s not under your feet or going to blow off the boat (a stripping bucket or even a wet towel on the deck can help with this aim). Now, with a rod’s-length of line left to strip in, raise the rod tip, face into the wind and grab the end of the fly line with your line hand.

Prepare to unleash

The length of fly line that is strung out of the rod tip during the hunt is called “the leash.” The length of the leash is determined by how far your cast will likely need to be. If water visibility is limited, or if you are in tight quarters such as when fishing a mangrove creek, then the leash needn’t be long, perhaps only three to five feet (one third to one half of the length of a nine-foot rod). To facilitate a longer cast, however, you’ll need to start with a longer leash. Hold the fly line in your line hand and pull it through the rod guides until your line hand touches your stomach. At the same time, push the rod out away from you until your rod arm is straight. This will lengthen your leash to approximately 10 feet. That extra bit of leash might not seem adequate to help make a long cast but with a 10 foot leash and a 10 foot long leader you can easily make a 30 foot cast without even shooting line (10 foot leader plus 10 foot leash plus 9 foot rod plus your casting arm length).

Hold fast

That said, the Saltwater Quick Cast involves shooting line. To make that possible, you’ll first need to bring the fly to hand and be comfortable with one of two hold methods. The first, more traditional technique, is to hold the fly in the line hand and the line in the rod hand, under the stripping finger. This method is great for short shots but can cause confusion; many anglers struggle with it on longer casts because it requires the line be transferred between hands at some point, an awkward motion that nearly always results in additional false casts.

My preference is to hold the fly and the line in the line hand. Once you get used to this method, it’s much more efficient and because the line is already in your line hand, ready to shoot and/ or haul, it’s a quicker, simpler way to send out a longer cast. To accomplish this, fold the tip of the leader across your middle finger so the fly is on the outside of your hand. As you normally would, pinch the leash between your line hand’s thumb and index finger. Once the fly and line are in hand, your job is to stay ready to cast. Pay attention to the leash and leader—do not let either get trapped under the bow of the boat or snagged on grass, coral or other implements.

Three strokes and you’re out

You’re in position, you’re ready to cast, now it’s time to perform. Set a goal to deliver the fly, on target, on the third forward cast—that gives you six strokes to make up the distance (three back casts and three forward). The fish may be close enough that you will not need all six, but when your target is further away you will be happy for each one. The goal is to make each stroke count. Assuming the subject is a right-handed caster holding the fly and line in their line hand; and assuming a 10 foot leash, narrow loops, no hauling and that the angler is targeting a fish on the left side of the boat, practice the following routine:

Stroke #1: the first backhand stroke is typically Belgian style (aka the Oval Cast) to get the line in motion and to release the fly from your hand. Pitch the fly away from you so that it does not hit the water, the boat, or yourself. This is the shortest length of line you will cast in the series, so it is the shortest stroke.

Stroke #2 is the first forehand cast: the line is already in your line hand so you can shoot some line.

Stroke #3 is the second backhand stroke: build rod load and line speed with a crisp stroke-and-stop, and the correct pause length. Do not rush it!

Stroke #4 is the second forehand stroke: shoot more line.

Stroke #5 is the third/final backhand stroke: again, build rod load and line speed, and use correct pause timing.

Stroke #6 is the final forehand stroke: shoot to the target!

Shoot first, haul later

Your goal is to hit the target at any distance, without presenting slack. Using good casting fundamentals which create narrow, fast loops, and with good shooting skills, you will be able to achieve casting distances of 50, 60 and 70 feet without utilizing hauling techniques. Once your fundamentals are solid, adding hauling techniques will create additional line speed and the opportunity to efficiently shoot line on your backhand strokes. Practice this process until you can accomplish it with little thought or effort. Then, when the moment arrives, just like you pictured so many times in your mind, you will be ready to make that hero shot, hook up and hold on!

Captain Stacy Lynn is a FFI Certified Instructor and Saltwater Guide. Visit wowflyfishing.com to learn more.