Presentation Casting 2

Dry fly fishing can be a huge advantage once you learn how to land a fly gently and achieve drag-free drifts over the fishing zone. In some cases you can achieve this result by straight line casting and mending. But in the majority of cases some kind of air mend or presentation cast will produce a better result.

You can make curved casts be easily made by moving the rod while your line is being shot. This is a very useful technique whenever there is a strong central current and you need slack line in the middle of the cast to give drag free drift at the far side of the stream.

The hook cast (sometimes known as the shepherd’s crook) is made by moving the rod horizontally, as with a side cast, and stopping it short. What you’ll get as a result is an overthrow of line that ends up at right angles to the main body of the fly line. It is possible in this way to cast around obstacles. It’s also extremely useful when you are trying to reach difficult fish or when you are trying to stay out of sight.

Typically, you would use a slack line casts to reach fish lying downstream. With a bit of practise you can put slack anywhere in the fly line – or indeed all the way along it – simply by timing the horizontal wiggles you give the rod.

Please check our the other fly fishing tutorials in the blog – we’ve grouped them in styles, but the order in which you practice them is up to you.