The “Water Haul” Casting Technique

[The Coho King]

I guess that I do it automatically. I never pay attention on how to cast. Just like I never watch my back cast anymore. If I'm not picking up weeds from behind me, I guess that my cast is working just fine.

Agree. Probably have done this a bunch but just cast however to load my rod up enough to get my fly to a slot with least chance of tying a knot or tangling up. Always the case when short lining nymphs, but not if lots of line downstream, when you need to strip in enough to load up a regular cast...shoot the line that was stripped. Doing this water haul with lots of splits in salmon rivers would lead to disasters. Slinging is not a cast!

 

[The Coho King]

The best way to cast sink tip lines!

Yea, but when he gets better he can x the splashy roll cast and just backcast twice and shoot. Not a water haul tech

 

[O' Clarkii Lewisi]

Hey, whatever works for you, works for you. I will say, rolling your shoulder, and not keeping your shoulder, elbow and wrist on the same plane is robbing you of efficiency, and is probably necessitating the need for a "water haul". Tighten that stuff up, your casting will improve, and your shoulder will thank you. If I can't aerialize my forward false cast without dropping it into the water, I feel I have too much grain weight for the rod. A very common theme this days.

 

[kmudgn]

As a dry fly snob, the only water I haul is the canteen I bring with me

 

[Tom Butler]

OK, so I do more than I though. Out today, conehead muddler, intermediate line. At the top of each run in water that I wasn't fishing I was using the water haul to get out the line the correct distance and check sink before the first fishing cast. I found I did it a few times, but only in water I'd fished or wasn't going to fish, not near my targets.