Planes / Roll cast practice

And. . .the lower sideways and back sweep permits you to extend your elbow and arm fully behind you, which puts more line, thus weight, into the d-loop, which results in more rod load. This also allows you to throw a sidearmed tip-cast type roll if you need to cheat the wind or throw the fly beneath something.

Lefty has been teaching this for years. In wind, one can get that rod tip way back as he does by sweeping the rod tip back and very low, as you note. *

Attached my first attempt at a roll cast animation. It shows the low tip sweep. Best viewed view in Quicktime, since you can grab the slider bar and slow down or speed up the viewing.

Well done! Your computer skills are much better than mine. I attached it ... hope it comes through to all. (Lefty would use his casting method to keep his elbow "on-the-shelf" as he used a lower rod orientation.)

Two other roll cast practice suggestions:

Watering the lawn prior to lawn practice will help grab the line and provide additional resistance. Also, grass practice is made easier if the caster will step in the direction of the cast as the forward stroke is begun.

This single step helps load a roll-cast haul, too.

Good suggestion. Tom White used to lay out a roll of plastic sheeting, then turn the hose on it to try to accomplish the same thing. This way, we were able to practice roll casting on sharp Florida Keys coral pebbles without ruining our lines. G.

Thanks for all you do for us Gordy.

David Lambert

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Pick out the 'exact' spot the fly should land and not the 'ring' it lands in-get in the zone and use the SSSPP to make it happen

I think of the time I got to spend with Tom White on a lawn, and get as much line behind me, as straight as I can then use a good haul with the longer casting stroke

This gets in to more spey, switch and snake rolls than roll casts and I practice them by going around in a circle until I'm back to the start point....

5.) Keeping tight roll cast loops LOW. (As in placing tight loops below a branch no higher than 5' above the ground.)

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OK.... Let's run with the ball.

Question: Tell us your method(s) of practicing ROLL CASTS. Gordy being a Spey Caster my answers are swayed as you can see. But may make sense to some.

First defining a good Roll Cast is important: For single handed cast it should be a cast where the line is staged correctly beside and behind the caster to allow a good D loop formation. In most cases the line is stopped before starting the cast. Some will begin the cast while the line is moving once enough D loop has been acquired to make the cast. The cast should be made with the loop unrolling above the water. Upon completion of the cast the line should be suspended in the air and float to the water for the desired presentation.

1.) For loop control . I like to hold off on my rod rotation as long as possible on my roll cast. This later rotation will promote the formation of a tighter loop if timed and performed well. This will also increases your success for the cast by increasing the length of your casting stroke. By holding the translational movement of the cast as long as possible before rod rotation, you re-enforce the straight line path of the rod tip during the cast which promotes good loop formation needed for the cast.

2.) Accuracy. I like to make sure my anchor point is in good position to make good accurate roll cast. As a Spey Caster I know the anchor is critical for a good cast. If it is out of place it will hinder your ability to hit the target. Pulling line off the water due to a poor anchor placement will only reduce the efficiency and accuracy of your casting. So I work on line position in the water to achieve good accuracy.

3.) Distance.With single handed rod like any distant casting you have to increase your stroke plus increase the outlay of line to obtain more distance. One way to increase stroke for a roll cast is by moving your body. I take a step forward to increase mine. The other way is to stage more line behind you by flicking line into the air. This creates a bigger D loop or what we call giving Dynamics to the roll cast. When you add both of these to your roll cast at the same time you will definitely gain distance.

4.) Change of direction. For me a Single handed Spey Cast is the best way to do this in my opinion. Pulling line and placing an airborne or sustained water anchor in the correct position with a well staged Dynamic D loop to give you a good 180 degree Rule Spey cast is the answer.

5.) Keeping tight roll cast loops LOW. (As in placing tight loops below a branch no higher than 5' above the ground.) I start getting closer to the ground to make these casts. Leaning, crouching, kneeling, going horizontal with the cast yet maintaining good loop formation is fun stuff!

Should add one more thing for Distance and that is the late Haul of the line will help also

Thanks

All the best

Gary

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Rene & Gary: Interesting (and OK ) to see that both of you went to Spey casting on the change of direction roll cast..... a sign of the times.

Point I was looking for, is that when changing direction on a single handed standard roll cast, it is necessary to change to the direction OPPOSITE that of your casting shoulder to avoid a collision.

(Example: To change direction so that the fly goes to the left, cast over your right shoulder. To change direction so the fly goes to the right, cast over your left shoulder.)

When practicing loop control for roll casting, I found that it helps to have someone stand on your leader if doing this on grass. If alone, one can use a "roll cast tool" such as the one developed by Tony and Marilyn Vitale. (This is a metal tube on a base plate over which one can slip a leader loop... comes off as the cast is made. A variation, is a dowel or tube on a spike which can be anchored to the ground. A narrow slot in the top holds the leader.)

All these methods work fine, but the number of practice casts in a given period of time is limited by the fact that you need a new set-up for each attempt.

One way around this is to anchor the leader to the ground with an ice pick, nail, etc .... then place a pillow, rolled towel etc. next to the anchor on the leader. Back up and keep making roll cast loops at varying distances. For practice, one can make about one roll per second !

After lots of ground or grass practice, there is no substitute for lots of practice on the water. This gets to real world casting, because it provides one thing which ground, grass or gym floor casting can never do..... the actual "stick" provided by the surface of the water. Practice with different lengths of line out on the water. (I find that it is easiest with about one to one and a half rod lengths of line out there.)

To get that roll cast loop as low as possible, it helps to use a softer action rod and application of sufficient power to maintain a good bend in the rod matched by an increased casting arc.

Gordy

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