Fly Fishing Insider Podcast
The skill that transfers across every water type in fly fishing is line management. Whether the cast is four feet or sixty, the angler who knows where the line, leader and fly are - and keeps only what is needed off the reel - gets better drifts, cleaner hook sets and fewer tangles than the angler with a prettier cast.
Adam Omernick is a certified casting instructor with roughly 20 years in the fly fishing industry, a former guide, and the founder of a rod company he later sold.
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Is a short rod or a long rod better on small creeks?
A longer rod beats a short rod on most small creeks, even though anglers instinctively reach for something short to get under brush. The reason is line management: a longer rod holds line off the water, which matters most on a dry or a dry-dropper where the take usually comes on the first moment the fly lands. A standard small-creek setup here is a seven-and-a-half-foot 4X leader with about two feet of tippet - measured shoulder-width apart off the spool so the length is the same every time - and an eight-foot 3-weight overlined by one line size to load easily in tight quarters.
What is the railroad-track rule for the roll cast?
The railroad-track rule keeps a roll cast from tangling: the fly sits on one side of the track and the rod on the other, and the two never cross. If the fly is on the angler's right, the cast can go anywhere to the left, but casting right will wrap the line around the rod tip and cost fishing time. Bringing the rod across the body - dragging the fly up the left side to cast right - is what lets a roll cast change direction by as much as 90 degrees.
How do you form a proper D-loop on a roll cast?
A D-loop needs a slow draw and a pause, not one continuous sweep. Drag the rod back slowly enough that the fly, leader or line stays in contact with the water as an anchor point, bring the rod tip up, and hold there - the pause can be as long as you like, because the cast is already set. Coming back too fast rips the anchor off the water and the cast collapses.
Where should the rod stop on a roll cast?
The rod on a roll cast should stop high - around one or two o'clock - so the loop unrolls above the water rather than into it. Carrying the rod all the way down to parallel with the river drives the unrolling loop straight into the surface, and dropping the tip afterward piles line at your feet, which means drag before the drift has even started. Stop high, let the line straighten, then follow the rod tip down.
What is the difference between an aerial mend and a regular mend?
An aerial mend is put into the line before it touches the water; a regular mend is made after. Reach casts, wiggle casts and curve casts are all aerial mends - a curve comes from overpowering the cast to one side - while the mend most anglers learn from indicator fishing is water-loaded. Aerial mends matter most on small creeks and across conflicting currents, where a big reach can buy a hopper three seconds of clean drift on the far bank before the line grabs the near current.
How do you practice hauling before a saltwater trip?
Break the haul apart instead of trying to do the whole cast at once: point the rod out to the side, haul as the line goes back, then let the line drop to the ground, and repeat until the timing is automatic before adding the second haul. Guides commonly tell saltwater clients to be able to cast 60 feet, but most anglers already cast 30 to 40 feet fine and simply need tighter loops. The distance comes from shooting line on the back cast as well as forward - carry 20 feet, shoot 10 or 15 back, shoot another 10 or 15 forward - which gets the fly out in two casts instead of six.
How do you learn something new every season as an angler?
Dedicating each season to one skill, and deliberately leaving the fallback gear at home, is what keeps an angler's learning curve moving. One season was entomology - carrying a book to the river and turning rocks over instead of fishing. Another was euro nymphing, which required leaving the hopper-dropper rod in the car. Another was casting: frisbees as targets in a park, casting books, a lesson on the water, and work on slack-line mends. The current one is learning to row a boat while teaching from it, which forces reading water from the oarsman's seat rather than the angler's.
Key takeaways
- Use a seven-and-a-half-foot 4X leader with about two feet of tippet on small creeks, and measure it shoulder-width off the spool so it is consistent every time.
- Keep the fly on one side of the rod and never cast across it on a roll cast - crossing the railroad track is what wraps line around the tip.
- Draw the rod back slowly on a roll cast so the anchor point stays on the water, pause with the tip up to let the D-loop form, then stop high at one or two o'clock.
- Fish an indicator the way you would fish a dry: the moment the indicator drags, the nymphs lift out of the feeding zone.
- Cast from the elbow and shoulder without breaking the wrist - a wristy stroke opens the arc and blows the loop open.
- Practice hauls by dropping the line to the ground after each one, and shoot line on the back cast to get distance in two casts instead of six.
- Practice knots as seriously as casting - anglers who can re-rig in a minute have their flies in the water far more of the day.
