Bass fly fishers are often casting heavy or wind-resistant flies. It’s nothing like the trout angler’s presentation of a nearly weightless puff of feathers that lights on the surface without disturbance. If we’re not careful our weighted offering can enter the water with the subtlety of a hand grenade. To prevent this we recommend what we’ve come to call the “half-roll, open-loop” cast. It’s an easy cast to learn. Start by making a roll cast but instead of aiming it at the water’s surface, aim at eye level. With the line extended before you, execute a normal backcast. When the line has straightened behind you bring your arm forward with slowed arm speed. This creates an open loop as opposed to the normally desired tight loop and enables the weighted fly to alight on the surface with much less splashdown. A little practice will quickly add this to your fly casting bag of tricks and give you a much better chance of catching that braggin’ size bass.
The Winds Of March Are Coming! Here’s Help.
