5 Essentials

During the casting stroke, the rod tip must travel in a straight line path.Rule #2—#5 are usedtogether to help achieveRule #1.

• The casting arc, or angle at the rod butt, must vary
• in width with the amount of line beyond the rod tip.

• The key concept here is that the longer the cast,
• the longer the casting stroke.

• There must be a STOP and a Pause at the end of each stroke.
• An abrupt deceleration of the fly rod is often referred to as the “stop”,
• after which a “loop” of fly line is formed.

• The “pause” must be long enough for the fly line to straighten in
• one direction, without losing tension or dramatically falling, before
• casting in the opposite direction.

• A key concept here is “timing ”.
• Do not actually wait for the tug on your back cast
• before starting the forward cast.
• By then, you’ve lost the constant tension of the
• fly line and added slack as back cast falls.

• The cadence (timing between the forward cast and the back cast)
• will change depending upon the wind.

• For example, if there’s a strong wind behind the caster,
• the pause on the back cast is shorter than the forward cast.

• Using the same pause time on the back cast as the forward cast in this situation
• would allow time for the wind to blow the line back at the caster.
• This creates slack in the line which must be taken up before the
• caster can begin to load the rod for the forward stroke.

• If a strong wind is at your back, it’s better to shorten the length of
• line on the back cast. It also helps to change the trajectory
• (line plane is low on back cast) and throw a wider loop size on the forward cast.

• This is consistent with Gammel’s Essential Rule #3 relating pause
• time to the timing of the unrolling of the loop.

• The application of power must
• occur in the proper amount at
• the proper place in the stroke.

• Proper power application is a
• smooth acceleration to a STOP.

• Joan Wulff describes this action as a “power snap.”
• Lefty Kreh says, “speed up and stop.”
• Mel Krieger says, “whumping the rod.”
• Macauley Lord says, “pop/stop.”
• Floyd Franke says, “tension, acceleration, and stop.”

No slack line can occur during the casting stroke.



You can’t make any cast until you have the line end moving.

You should lift all of the line from the water before making a cast.

• Do not actually wait for the tug on your back cast before starting
• the forward cast. By then, you’ve lost the constant tension of the
• fly line and added slack as back cast falls.

• It’s OK if your line hand is slightly lower than your rod hand as long
• as both hands move in unison, and an equal distance to each other,
• during the casting stroke.

• SSSPP
• Straight line path
• Stroke length
• Slack
• Power
• Pause

• #1 Straight line path of the rod tip
• #2 Stroke length (varies due to amount of line
• outside the tip)
• #5 Slack (No slack line can occur during the casting stroke)
• #4 Power (The application of power must occur in
• the proper amount in the proper place)
• #3 Pause (There must be STOP and PAUSE at the end
• of each stroke)