Are You Casting a Dry Fly Correctly? // Upstream vs. Downstream Casting Strategies

Most of the time you will fish "upstream" with the fly floating back to you. When you do this, stop with your rod tip low for control. Inversely, when working downstream stop with your rod tip high in order to give the fly enough slack line to drift naturally.

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[dgracia]

Nicely done! A couple of other tips. When fishing upstream, the bigger the angle you have between your casting position and the fly drift line you want to achieve, the harder it is to get that dead-drift. The angle that Joe shows here is not bad, but try to avoid any more acute angle than demonstrated. To get the the best and easiest dead drift with a dry fly, you want to get as much of your line as possible in the same current lane as your dry fly. If you can't get close enough to get a good portion of your line in the current lane the fly is in, then your next cast should be a reach cast placing as much of the line as possible in the same current lane as the fly.

After you stop the rod on the front cast, simply lay your rod down at about a 45° angle to the current line you want most of your line in. If you have a 8½, 9, or 10-ft. rod, that's a big reach advantage over a 7 or 8-ft rod. You still get most of your line in that current line and you can strip line in at the same rate it's coming towards the tip of the rod. Avoid a downstream U shape in the fly line or your dead drift will quickly turn into a dragging drift. Don't be afraid to raise your rod up as you are stripping to keep your line under control and avoid that downstream U.

In fact when you raise that rod up, you will get to a point where you only have the leader on the water. Keeping your rod up, let the fly and leader drift below your casting position and drop your rod and line at the same rate the fly is drifting below your position. You just finished your upstream dead drift with a short-line downstream drift. Short line fishing in pocket water is very similar although you can't make a long upstream cast in those conditions.

Once your line starts to drag, feed out some more line and use water-loading to initiate the forward cast back upstream. You will need to do some more false casts after using this water-loading a few times because your fly will get wet and you'll want to dry it. If it really gets soaked, don't put any gel or paste floatant on it as you will just be sealing in the water. Rather use some powder floatant to coat the fly and then blow that desiccant powder off to get your fly floating high again.

When false casting upstream, be sure you cast to the side of your target and not directly over your target to get your range again. Then present the fly to your target on your last cast. If you false cast over your target to get your range, odds are you will spook the trout as virtually all his predators strike from above and quick movements in and out of his window of vision will put him down.

[ianatkins]

Thanks from down under in Australia. Your tips are always helpful and easy to understand. Regards

[utubulatortwo]

Thanks Joe I actually learn a thing or two from your videos

[awaken]

I quite often cast downstream, especially when strong wind ruins upstream casts. Start with short cast and slack line, then feed the line to the stream, so it drifts behind the fly

[nickhammer]

That downstream cast I call a pile cast or s cast. Mending is always key. But you are right many ways to extend drifts on the surface.

[fmcfish]

Basic concept presented well explaining the difference between upstream and downstream approaches. Thanks

[Troutguy]

Great video, always learn things from you! 👊🏽

[PaulTenenbaum]

Cool, thank you!! How about the downstream wiggle cast? It looks good when demonstrated in videos or in writing but is much harder to do when on the stream.

[deanpitre]

Excellent tips. You were not to far from a reach cast when you were explaining the down stream cast.

[ecomed-davidhagan]

Assume tip. Will try it next time in the river. From the snowy mountains in Australia.

[cyguy]

Great video … embarrassed to say I have been doing my downstream casting all wrong …

[theoutdoordad]

Nice tutorial what’s your favorite midpriced 4or or 5 weight for trout?

[dxprt]

Thanks Red!
Sorry Joe, I had to jump on the bandwagon…😊

[georgebanker]

Noticing you bent forward when making the upstream casts. Does this give you a sore back by the end of the day?

[vreth]

Can u plz rekomend a fly rod for me plz? I am after a dry fly rod. Now....i dont like to fast rods and medium/fast ar a bit to slow for me in my opinion. Hahahaa, i know, it mayby sonds strange but it feels that way. So maybe a rod wich is medium/fast but more on faster side or a fast rod wich is not that fast? Btw, great videos guys!!!

[jeanclaudegoddamme]

Thanks, but the cameraman angles are something to be desired.