How to Roll Cast – Fly Fishing Video Tips
Roll casting is fantastic in tight spots when you can’t back-cast, for repositioning your line, and as the basis for spey casting. We’ve screened hours of videos to bring you the succinct best tips on how to roll cast, with a summary of each so you can quickly watch what’s most useful to you.
Our Motto: Get You To Better Fishing! TM
Note: we are reader supported, through small commissions on affiliate link purchases at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!
If you want to know how to roll cast in fly fishing, consider these tips from the pros to make your casting more effective.
BEGINNER ROLL CASTING
Basic Roll Casting
From MCI Fly Casting, this clip was filmed in slow-mo plus set to music (without verbal instruction), this under 2:00 minute video gives a great visual overview of the basic roll cast, with different camera angles to illustrate a quality cast. The steps are clearly illustrated:
- Loading the rod
- Stop and drift
- Create D-loop
- Start forward cast (and shooting line)
Roll Casting Techniques
From Fishhound, this clip under 6 minutes covers:
- Comparison to spey casting
- Anchor point on water
- Good illustration of body mechanics and position
- Overhead drone shots
- Common problems / mistakes and how to avoid
- Snap-T to reposition line
- Illustration of roll cast while fishing with a trout landed at the end
INTERMEDIATE ROLL CASTING
Accurate Roll Casting
Yet another quality video by the Orvis fly fishing school, in less than 4 minutes:
- Body position for accurate casting
- Practice pause before casting
- Stop rod tip at eye level, don’t push into water
- Illustration of each step
- How to practice, key tips
Mastering Roll Casting
From Bumcast in association with OnTheFly Productions, this video on Mastering the Roll Cast has a bunch of great clips that cover not only the basic roll cast, but how to extend it:
- Best description of why roll casts are important of any film we’ve seen – many many reasons
- Single vs. double handed roll
- Practice on grass before water
- D-loop transition to forward cast (like standard roll cast)
- Start slow, finish fast
- Pointers and tips, such as bigger D-loop fir more line
- Larger D-loop with a haul on backcast
Roll Cast And Its Variations
From Mad River Outfitters, a mid-western fly fishing outfit, this video is about 15 minutes long, covering not only the basic cast in more detail than most videos, but also variations:
- Basic roll casting, similar to previous videos above
- Break wrist to handle larger flies or line under water
- Variation for high stick heavy nymph rig / Euro nymphing
- Cast from downstream to upstream position
- Technique for streamers same as Euro nymphing
- Emphasis on how correct technique makes cast easy
- Variation: Roll Casting Pick Up – strip line in from pile, shoot
- Illustration applied to Bonefish in Bahamas, double haul
- Winter how to clear guides of ice
ADVANCED ROLL CASTING
How To Distance Roll Cast
Another video by well known The New Fly Fisher, this less than 2 minute video shows you how to push the limits of power and distance with roll casting:
- More active line
- Allow line to plant
The Snake Roll Cast
Also by the Orvis fly fishing school, the snake roll cast helps you change direction from downstream to shooting it out in front of you:
- Uses a spey rod to help set up for steelheading
- Lower case “e” (swirl) formation with rod and line
- Accelerate through casting process
Next Article: 22 Kayak Modifications For Fly Fishing
Watch Video: You May Be A Fly Fishing Nut If….