THE ROLL CAST
The roll cast is a basic cast for the fly fisherman. It is a cast that is used a lot to project our heavy line when we have obstacles behind, to correct our line and prepare it for any other cast or to change direction the fishing line. It can also be used to cast when we have a strong wind behind us. The roll cast is a fly throw technique in which the rear throw is not necessary. Unfortunately, many fishermen do not master this very important casting technique.
The roll cast is very useful for fishing in small rivers and streams that are full of vegetation like branches of trees and undergrowth wherever we look. But there is an essential advantage in this fly rod cast. The roll throw teaches us to give the correct blow of throw with our fly rod and the correct application of the energy in the launch. This is paramount.
It is for this reason that any fisherman with fly rod must learn this launch at the same time that he learns the raising and laying, the false cast and the frontal cast. The roll cast will give us “the gesture” to give the correct blow of casting and the dose of energy necessary to internalize the good form of casting with fly rod.
It is a very appropriate technique to fish upriver with one or more nymphs, avoiding possible entanglements and nasty blows during the flight of these plumed flies, against our cane. The rolling throw perfectly projects our nymph / fly upstream. It is very precise and much faster to execute than a frontal or lateral launch, highly recommended its use in windy days, extremely useful to change the direction of our line and aim at another objective and basic to extend our line forward to do any Another launching technique.
The roll cast usually is a short throw but with the roll cast can easily reach the 20 meters and even more. The easiest way to learn it is alongside a lawn or a meadow if possible with wet grass, a parquet of a sports center or very recommendable a standing of the river in which the water does not cover us beyond the calf at the point of casting. The correct way to do it can be seen in any internet video, but to get a quick and written idea of the initial position of the roll cast, I would define it as this: the high rod slightly inclined outwards (about 30º) and with the tip of the rod pointing a little back (about 15º). In this position of the rod, the hand that holds it, should be at the level of the cheek. This is the correct position of the fly rod to start the roll cast. The line should lie mostly behind us and only a small portion of it should be in front of us.
With this we can start the rolling bid. Perhaps the most difficult part (to put it in some way) is to apply the energy with which we will move our rod during the stroke of the stroke that will end by moving the rod with a wrist stroke forward. The application of energy for the roll cast is PROGRESSIVE, it is a continuous acceleration that ends when we stop dry the forearm while the wrist lasts finalizing the launch. This from here may seem complicated, but once in the grass or in the water it is quite easier and resolute alone.
The roll cast as a long throw is tremendously useful and effective for fishing at very considerable distances with good precision and above all with great comfort. And I say the usual: the roll cast is a very fun release to play and also beautiful. It is very suitable for fishing mainly with drowned flies, such as nymphs, streamers and of course drowned flies. The drowned fly may be a perfectly wet dry fly. It’s that simple.
Very suitable for this cast are the 10-foot rod (for its great length, 3.05 m), but can be easily executed with any other 7, 8 or 9-foot cane. The roll cast retains some similarity and is in fact common in the casts Spey and Double Spey, which are the most used casts for two-handed rods and for fishing with drowned flies of the Atlantic salmon and the seatrout of the great north.
The roll cast will help you get the right way to shoot with a fly rod, to cock the rod and to prepare other shoots with fly rod while fishing. It is basic, essential, fun and very useful in all our fishing days with a heavy line rod.
~ Carles V.