"Stop The Rod To Make It Go"

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Stop the backcast

In our schools, without a doubt one of the prevalent early problems for beginning casters is a condition we call, "waving."  In their enthusiastic first efforts to flycast, most students naturally try to employ other casting methods they've used before.  Some attempt to hurl the line with a big, roundhouse motion that covers an arc of 180 degrees.  These early tactics, despite their intensity, fail to perform the essential matter in flycasting: loading the rod.

Unlike other casting methods, in flycasting, the only way to get a nearly-weightless fly to where the fish are is by using the weight of the fly line to energize the rod.  The fly line is activated by the rod in a manner that creates pressure against the rod tip.  This forces the rod to bend, thus “loading” it.  But this bending and loading, which creates energy in the rod, must be released back into the fly line in order to “push” it.  This will not occur unless and until the rod is stopped.  Stopping transmits the energy built up in the rod into the fly line and propels it in the direction of the rod tip.  The diminutive fly trails obediently along behind.

Stopping the rod momentarily on the backcast essentially creates “unloading” and “reloading”.  It allows the weight of the line to pull against the rod tip as it is held stationery by the caster above his/her head.  Without the stopping part of the back & forth movement of the rod, there is no weight pulling against the rod.  There is no loading, unloading or energy built up in the rod.  Hence, we are just "waving" the rod.

This stopping action takes place twice on every casting cycle:

1. at the top-most/rear of the back cast ("10-11 o'clock")
2. and at the completion of the forward cast ("1-2 o'clock"). 

     Words such as “accelerating”, “speeding up”, "punching", "flicking", "hammering", "snapping" the rod to a stop are often used to describe the action of the forearm/wrist/rod in working the rod at these 2 stops.

So, "stop the rod to make it go."

Stop the forward cast

Previous / Next, review the critical "casting loop"