FLY CASTING BASICS #3 - The First Back-cast

FLY CASTING BASICS #3

The First Back-Cast

Having adopted the correct stance and grip the angler is then faced with getting the line in motion. Good presentation-casts are based first on better back-casts and anglers who take the time to refine their back-casts ultimately produce more satisfying results.

There are three phases to creating a good back-cast, The Startup, Tip Acceleration and The Stop.

The Startup: Ideally the rod tip should start the back-cast from a point equal to or slightly above the angler’s ‘eye-height’. By using the correct grip (Fly Casting Basics #1) this will automatically happen if the relative position of the casting hand is slightly higher than the elbow. This also tends to cock the wrist slightly forward.

The first motion of the rod is a slow, gradual drawing back of the tip on a slight upwards angle, for a distance of 25-30 cms, slightly tilting the upper surface of the casting hand but without breaking the wrist.

This initial movement requires very little hand movement and will have the effect of briefly bending the rod tip forward away from the spine of the rod (known as ‘loading’).

Avoid trying to start the line into the air with ‘dramatic force’. It is unnecessary and counterproductive.

Tip Acceleration:

Having started the rod’s movement the angler now needs to impart serious acceleration to the line via the rod-tip. Without stopping the initial ‘startup’ of the rod tip, this acceleration is achieved by rapidly un-cocking the wrist and driving the casting hand to a position adjacent to the head at around eye-height. At this point the casting hand comes to an instant stop.

The acceleration of the rod tip will start smoothly at about 1030 in front of the angler and will finish instantly around 0100 slightly behind the head. Throughout the process the elbow remains free to move and the casting hand always stays slightly forward of it. The days of locking a book under the casting elbow are gone! During the back-cast the rod tip should travel in a relatively straight line between the low (start) and high (finish) point. It is acceptable and helpful if it also travels slightly outside the plane of the rod-hand.

The Stop: The ‘instant stop’ at the high point of the back-cast is essential to the development of any subsequent forward-cast and needs to be achieved in the correct position. As an angler develops their casting technique, they should learn to check the position of their casting hand at the top of the back-cast.

In ‘the stop position’ check that the hand is beside the head, that the thumb is roughly vertical (which places the rod tip at 0100) and that the rod tip and line are laid slightly outside the plane of the casting hand. If any of these three features are not right then adjust the casting hand to the correct position, before tossing the line forward and trying again.

This exercise is all about developing a good initial back-cast. Don't worry about trying to make a good front-cast at this stage ... just flop it forward, reset your hand in the correct starting position, check your grip and stance and repeat the 'first back-cast exercise' until you are happy that you can repeat it properly a minimum of five times in a row.

Tip: Make sure you check that the rod tip is in the correct starting position before commencing the back-cast again ... starting with a too-low rod tip quickly becomes a bad habit.