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The "Reach Cast" is a variation of fly fishing technique, enabling you to put your fly line upstream so that the lure will be able to reach the fish before the line does. Reach casting is traditionally only done in freshwater streams and rivers where there is a water current involved -- even though oceans have currents as well, salt water fishing while standing in the water is mostly performed along shorelines where a reach cast technique would not work in the surf.
The reach cast is particularly effective to improve your scam for tricking fish to bite! When it's paired up with a crafty fly, the combination is super-effective.
As you may know, trout, bass and other game fish can be clever in their own way, and they're often savvy to going after lures which are very obviously attached to some longer thing such as your fishing line. So, the reach cast is a technique which allows you to cast your line way out and position the line upstream and away from the fish so that it will be less noticeable to them. The goal is also to enable the lure to fall into the water and float naturally with the current without any unnatural motions that could make the fish skittish.
A reach cast is performed by casting as you usually would, but as soon as your forward stroke is made and while the fishing line is still zooming and unfurling out into the air, you reach your arm and the fly rod out to one side in an upstream direction. The more distance you achieve in moving the tip of your rod upstream, the more upstream the fly line will be when it hits the water. The overall goal is to get the fly line to be a few feet upstream from the fly itself. This will allow your lure to approach the fish before the fly line does.
You will probably need to keep a little bit of loose slack in the line so that when you make the reach near the end of your cast, it won't jerk the the line back sharply.
Ideally, the reach cast allows the fly to land lightly upon the water just as a live insect would, and the line to softly drape into the water upstream of it, nearly like a natural ripple in the water. The trout or other fish that are lurking in the water below will perceive the bottom of the fly as it plops onto the surface resistance, and they'll interpret it as an insect that accidentally flew down too close to the water and fell in. For a hungry trout, this is like winning a bit of a lottery prize! For them it's free and easy eats that they don't have to leap out of the water to nab.
Most sports fishing relies heavily upon using bait or lures to persuade fish to bite, and this is the case also with the reach cast. Scam your fish with a beautiful or delicately-engineered fly lure and we guarantee you'll have no complaints!
The best season for reach cast fishing coincides with that of fly fishing itself -- typically stretching from April 1st to mid-to-late October here in the United States. However, the season varies by location, and fly fishing can be done year-round in temperate regions, such as in areas nearer the equator. The main condition necessitating the reach cast technique is to be fly fishing in moving water -- so, if it's a river that freezes in the winter months, that would definitely keep you from doing it.
The best fly rods for reach casting are typically about six feet long, and depend somewhat on the size of fish you're trying to scam onto your hook, as well as the wind and water conditions. Since the reach cast is typically used more with freshwater fish like trout, you'd use a rod with a line size #000 to #0 in most cases. Check out the selection of fly fishing gear at your nearest Bass Pro Shops or Cabela's for more detailed information and advice for a specific choice of rods.
Give the reach cast technique a try and see if it helps you to kick your fly fishing game up a notch! The method really can help you increase the subtlety of your casting, making your fly look more naturalistic and appealing to the skeptical fish lurking under the water's surface. It will take a little bit of practice and a deft hand to accomplish it properly, but once you do you will more skillfully scam the fish out of their doubtful mode and into snapping up the lure without pausing!
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