[BL] The Curses of the Long Cast

Joe Rotter, Chief Blogger for Red's Fly Shop, talks about the curse of the long cast -- the ability to cast all the way across the river without catching fish.   The point he makes is the caster must know when and where to throw big bombs.  No doubt the big cast will reach the fish if they are on the other side but if the fish are a few feet from an angler's boots few will be caught in the flow on the other side of the river.

Cattle Guard at Pyramid Lake

Before talking about another Curse of the Long Cast, it is worth noting Rotter's curse applies to stillwater fishing as well.  Pyramid Lake is a few miles across and nobody will be casting across it anytime soon but casting there is about reaching the seams from the banks.  While fishing Cattle Guard we were bombing casts as far as we could as the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout (LCT) had moved to deeper water, as the water was clear and the lake glass flat with no wind.

Dusk began to fall and a light breeze came up and we kept bombing, despite the fact we had only a couple of grabs all day.  In desperation, as it was nearly dark, I started casting short and in a few casts caught a 27" LCT.   Were they tighter to the bank than we were fishing?  Don't know.  Could be.  Or they could have moved in as it became dark.  For sure I would not have caught that fish if I kept bombing casts.

What about the other curse?  Making long, smooth, two-handed casts is satisfying and encourages anglers to cast further.  The far bank on a river may limit a Spey caster's desire to cast longer by the practicality such a cast is in a tree or shrub on the far side.  With lakes that are miles wide, there is no limit on the length of the cast.  Absent discipline, anglers will suffer the curse of trying to cast further than their ability to do it.

Little will destroy a Spey caster's form and timing more quickly than trying to cast too far.  When fishing is slow, don't give in to the temptation of filling time by seeing how far you can cast.  Rather, work at the consistency of your casting and distance will follow.  Another blog will cover this topic.