It isn’t flashy, but a good roll cast will catch you a lot of fish you might otherwise miss.
Roll casting is an essential skill for any angler, especially those targeting trout. Many of the mountain streams where trout live have little room for a backcast. A good roll cast opens up a lot of water that’s unfishable by any other means. It’s usually one of the first casts an angler learns, and because their understanding of fly casting is limited, anglers often learn the cast poorly. Very few go back and fix the problems they developed early on.
A few of the skills which are key to a good roll cast are:
Making a robust D loop.
Keeping the path of the rod tip flat on the casting stroke.
Smooth acceleration of the cast to an abrupt stop.
Once you have the basics of the cast down, you can add a haul and shoot line for more distance. Roll casting this way is very effective on all types of water.
Watch this video and learn to make a better roll cast.
Louis Cahill Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!
Very nice video and explanation. Thanks!
Gary Lafontaine advocated for the roll cast pick-up whenever fishing with dry flies.
The roll cast is the most important cast to learn and master in my opinion. Great roll casting will put you onto fish you’d never be able to reach otherwise. It’s so critical.