This cast means different things to different people, to some people the parachute cast is the same as the pile cast. However I give this title to a completely different cast. Either way it doesn't matter, this is the technique to which I subscribe the name:

• A fish rises, say, some two yards in front of us (yes this does happen!)

• We want to cover this fish (obviously) but a traditional overhead cast is not going to work, since our rod is three yards long

• So what we do is perform an overhead cast with a short line but instead of following through after the forward stop, we keep the rod in the stopped position and the line straightens and gently 'parachutes' to the water, leaving some 5 yrds of line in the air between the rod tip and the water.

A couple of points: we can take more line out of the cast by extending our rod arm after the stop and whether or not the fish takes our next movement is a roll cast.

Although the example described above is at first sight primarily a boat fishing encounter, I frequently use this cast while fishing the lake margins in the early hours, or when stalking lake trout in New Zealand (fish which can cruise notoriously close to the edges), and also on rivers; it's a really useful cast for casting over shrubbery, or downstream where it leaves you some slack line with which you can play around.

But there again it is my philosophy to get as close to the fish as possible: if I can creep up to the fish and dangle my fly in front of their noses without casting any line, then that's what I'll do, because you can't get any better presentation than that.

And here's another little rule I've picked up: never cast across a current when you can solve the problem by wading across it.