To cast or stay home?

The Casting Connection

Featured photo by Polly Dean.

March 2024

By Capt. Scott Swartz

Scott Swartz founded the Atlanta Fly Fishing School, which began in 1999. It is the largest such operation in the Southeast and the only Trout Unlimited “Gold Endorsed” school in the United States. His Florida Fly Fishing Schools started in 2008, helping anglers
learn to successfully fly fish in saltwater.

Q. I have trouble fly casting when it is windy. Normally I cast OK, but on windy days I would rather stay home. Can you help?

A. Yes, stay home…(just kidding)

Wind presents difficult casting conditions for everyone and with spring coming there will be plenty of breezy days ahead. There is a saying “Good captains are made in deep seas and rough waters.” Likewise, good fly casters are made in the wind. You do, however, need a plan to meet the challenge, and, if you practice your casting, you should be practicing on windy days too.

Here are some tools, tips and techniques to help casting on windy days.

First: You can change the pace or speed at which you cast. Many fly casters have a built-in rhythm, rarely changing the cadence of their casts. If your forward and back casting rhythm can be counted like one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand, try picking up the pace and follow a rhythm of one-thousand, two-thousand, three-thousand.

Learning to cast at different tempos takes a little practice. The hardest part is still accelerating the rod smoothly while doing it faster. If you can cast your fly line 10 miles per hour faster, then, you just overcame a 10-mile-per-hour wind! Fifteen miles per hour faster, anyone? Increased speed not only overcomes wind, but can also add distance to your casts. Faster lines like to travel farther before they run out of steam.

Second: Cast as tight of loop as possible or use the Belgian Cast. A cast with a narrow loop will have less wind resistance than a cast with a wide loop. Casting a 2-foot-tall loop into a head-wind will have a fraction of the wind resistance that a 6- or 8-foot loop will have.

Unsure how to make your loops tighter? Just bring your forward and backward stopping points in a little closer and keep your rod tip moving in a straightline overhead. Practice making your loops as tight as your leader set-up allows.

With a single fly rig there are no excuses for wide loops, but a multiple fly rig with split shot weight demands a wider loop to avoid a “bird nest” tangled leader. In this case a Belgian Wind Cast, also known as a Continuous Tension Cast, can save the day.

To cast in the wind with a leader full of flies and weights make a side arm back cast and an overhead forward cast, but do not stop the rod or pause for the line to unroll. Instead, continuously pull the line around the oblong oval path.

Third: Change your overhead cast to side-arm. Wind meets resistance near the ground and water’s surface so the wind speed can be a little less there than it is 15 feet in the air. A 6-foot tall person with a 9-foot rod and 3-foot tall loops can easily be casting flies 15 feet above the water.

An added benefit is side-arm casts will keep the fly farther from you. If the wind is blowing the fly back, trying to hook you, then use that long fly rod and your arm reach to keep your flies farther away. If the wind is coming too strong from your casting side, then cast reaching across your body to the downwind side or even turn around and drop your back cast to your target. Both of these casts will have the wind blowing the fly away from you.

These alternative casts can be quickly learned with a little practice and can keep you on the water on windy days this spring.

Have a casting question? You can send it to Scott@AtlantaFlyFishingSchool.com