The main use for a curved cast is to present the fly to the fish without lining him. There are other uses for us gallant flyfishers such as casting around bushes and other interesting obstructions, or perhaps to set us up for a curved retrieve (I have used curved casts on stillwaters in order to bring my skated sedge around it's own little corner...)

The curved cast puts a small curve into the leader and if we are a little more forceful: the tip of the flyline. It should go without saying that if you are going to make effective curved casts you need a well designed leader construction - if you're not already using knotless tapered leaders you jolly well should be to have read this far...

For this cast I want you to imagine a loop travelling in the horizontal plane. If we overpower the loop it kicks over at the end. If we underpower the loop it fails to straighten properly. So lets use this:

To curve the fly to the left of the flyline either:

• side cast off the right hand side over-powering the stroke, or side cast off the left hand side under-powering the stroke

To curve the fly to the right of the flyline either:

• side cast off the right-hand side under-powering the stroke, or side cast off the left hand side over-powering the stroke

It is important not to shoot the line during the overpowering stroke as this reduces the effectiveness of the kick.

To overpower the stroke you can do one of several things: stop harder, give a little haul as the line is straightening or flick the rod tip back on itself as you make the stop (but change the plane slightly so that the line and rod don't clash together).

With practice curved casts are not restricted to side casts, it is quite possible to send a horizontal loop of the top of the rod in an overhead cast: just draw a horizontal U or V-shape with the tip of the rod at the end of the forward stroke.