Learning The Roll Cast

While fishing at Bennett Springs State Park two weeks ago, one of my goals was to practice a roll cast.  I hadn't yet done a successful roll cast on the water simply because I didn't know how.  Last August when I went fly fishing for the first time my brother had attempted to show me the roll cast, but whether from his not explaining very well or my not listening very well, I just didn't  get it.  More than likely it was my YBS (Younger Brother Syndrome) that caused my mental disconnect.


When I took the Orvis Fly Fishing 101 class a month ago I made a point to ask about roll casting.  I knew that it would be crowded at Bennett Springs and didn't want to have to remove my fly from another fisherman's vest, hat or ear because I wasn't paying enough attention to what or who was behind me. Ryan from Feather-Craft explained it to me pretty well.  Well enough that I thought that I had the general idea down and would be able to roll cast at Bennett.



A Roll Cast is nearly identical to a normal false cast.  Your back cast is where most of the difference is from a "normal" false caste.  Slowly lift your rod off the water and slowly bring it up behind you.  You should be moving slow enough that rather than pull your line off the water into the air it will glide back toward you on the water.  Pull your rod back to around 2:00 and then back forward to about 1:00.  You should have enough line draped behind you that you, your rod and your line should similar to a letter "D."  Start casting forward with quick acceleration and a sudden stop.  The tension of your line on the water will load the rod with enough energy to take the D loop of line behind you and roll it forward along the rest of the line.  Simple.  Right?  Right???


Yes, it is that simple in theory.  And on a perfectly still pond or lake with no one else around you should be able to quickly put this description into practice and roll cast your line without any problem.  But on moving water with other fisherman to your left and right it becomes a bit more difficult.


I started out false casting at Bennett.  But after losing the jig I was fishing with to a fisherman who was a little upset with our lines crossing I decided to make the change to roll casting.  I put a cicada lure on my line and started false casting just enough to get my line to the length I wanted and let it settle on the water.  Then I started the roll casting.  And I actually did fairly well.  On my first or second cast a trout rose to take the lure, but I tried to set the hook too early and missed it.  It wasn't very pretty, but I was putting the lure pretty close to where I wanted it.  Occasionally the line would get fouled up and I would have to start over.  But for the most part I was doing pretty well that morning.


The afternoon was a little bit different.  We fished a different section of the stream in the afternoon and it was even more packed.  When I did attempt roll casting my line got fouled up every time.  So after a couple of hours I started walking downstream to find some empty stream.  I found an empty area where the stream changed from deep slow moving water to wide shallows tumbling quickly over the rocks.  So I started casting.  And nothing seemed to work.  With every cast as soon as I had my line in a good D Loop the current pulled it away.  I gave up and went back upstream.


So here are a few pointers from my novice perspective.  You have to be patient with almost every move involved.  Pull your rod up and back slowly.  Stop at the point just before your forward cast and make sure you have a good D Loop.  The forward cast is where your patience begins to end.  Start your forward cast slowly, then accelerate your rod quickly and stop suddenly.  In order for your line to rip from the water properly the forward cast needs to have more forward force than a normal cast and an almost violent stop.


If you're practicing in moving water, first and foremost keep away from fast moving water.  The current will pull your line away from you before you have chance to get your D Loop set up properly.  I tried casting with the current, against the current and across the current.  As soon as I had my line in a good D Loop the current pulled it away.  Take it from me:  Don't practice roll casting in fast water.


Second, position yourself so that your casting arm is downstream.  If you pull your rod straight back to create your D Loop as your line is drifting toward your non-casting arm you will get tangled up as it crosses your body.  You can adjust your back cast to compensate for your line drifting across your body, but to start off I would do as much as I could to keep my casting motion as consistent as possible.


While I hope my description is helpful, I'm pretty sure there are better descriptions out there.  And in that vein here are a couple of links and a video that should help a little bit more.


Fly Fishing Network - Quick summary with pictures
Let's Fly Fish - A little more detailed.  Has a nice animation.


On the Fly - excerpt from "Casts that Catch Fish"