Here's
the scenario: true right bank, line's on the
dangle, upstream wind, we want to roll cast
up to 90 degrees across the current. The rule
is: keep the fly
downwind - but
you knew that right?
You
have two options: cast with the left hand or
cast with the right and suffer a slightly
awkward stroke (remember to rotate the wrist
so that the back of the hand is on top).
This is
the procedure:
move
the feet so they are pointing in the
final casting direction
make
the lift
switch
the fly upstream, by sweeping the rod
tip through a rising crescent motion.
Make sure the fly lands upstream of
our final casting direction -
otherwise roll the line back
downstream and start again.
hit
the roll cast
lower
the rod tip
If you
are casting off the wrong shoulder (ie using
you right hand) you can choose to start the
forward stroke with the thumb in front of
your nose, or, with the thumb besides the
left ear, or stick the right elbow out and
level with the shoulder and angle the tip
over the left hand side.
Casting
further with the single-spey:
As with
any roll cast we can cast further by getting
more line in the D-loop and/or hauling:
To
get more line in the D-loop you could
start with more line downstream -
haven't got enough there? Lift the
rod upstream feeding some line out
through the tip, and roll cast
downstream (this is the quick way,
the slow way is to shake some line
out of the tip and wait for the
current to straighten it - but don't
try this with leaded flies!).
When
it comes to getting greater lengths
of line in the D-loop it becomes
important to finish the upstream
sweep with a small flick - this will
also give you a pointed D-loop. As
more line is used you will find
yourself having to lift the hand in
order to sweep the line into a large
D-loop. At the most extreme you can
end up with you rod-arm fully
extended, pointing at about 45
degrees behind you. You cannot start
an effective roll cast from this
position - you must drop the elbow to
put the thumb between the ear and the
shoulder - it's the drift reappearing
wearing a new disguise.
It
is possible, although timing is more
crucial, to shoot line into the
D-loop after the upwards sweep.
Practice this with the more
straightforward jump roll to get this
timing.
As
before it is possible to put little
hauls into all the components of this
cast. Pay particular attention to the
forward stroke.
Sunk
lines, leaded flies and the spey-cast:
Under
these circumstances the spey cast will have
to be proceeded by a downstream roll cast in
order to lift our sunk line or leaded fly to
the surface.
