Since the double haul can be performed in countless situations, it’s important that you and I imagine the same set of circumstances to minimize controversy and confusion. Our discussion will center on a front cast under 60 feet with a level or downward trajectory – not a distance cast with an upward trajectory. The caster is false casting a fly line (not a shooting head) with a tight loop with high line-tension. And finally, there is no wind.
To simplify the discussion, I will adopt Joan Wulff’s three stages of a front cast: a loading move, a power snap, and a drift.
The loading move is the initial part of the cast during which I try to “… get the bend out of the rod.” The first time that Chris used this phrase, my reaction was, Huh? I had never heard it before. I wondered whether he wanted me to keep the rod as straight as possible during the cast. Chris must have noticed the look of bewilderment because I didn’t have to ask what he meant.
We get the bend out of the rod by rotating it and making the rod bend so that it can’t bend more, Chris explained. And if a caster fully bends or loads the rod, acceleration during the subsequent power snap can be aggressive without fear of forming a tailing loop because the rod can’t flex more.
How quickly a fly rod bends during the loading phase depends, in part, on the amount of translation versus rotation.
Imagine a soft fly rod that is held parallel to the water with the butt pointing towards the direction of the front cast. An initial translational movement doesn’t increase the bend in the rod. However, an initial rotation of the rod increases the bend in the rod due to the rod’s mass, the mass of the line in the guides, air resistance, and the tension on the rod tip trying to move the mass of the fly line outside the rod.
The above scenario is a little extreme, but the principle holds true even when the rod is held at an angle relative to the ground. A fly rod can be bent more with rotation than with translation.
How much a given rod bends due to rotation depends on the distance between the rod and the joints or joint used to rotate the rod. Let me explain this statement with another scenario.
Imagine a caster starting to rotate a rod (angled backwards) for a front cast using only his or her shoulder. When the caster’s arm is fully extended, the rod will be much harder to bend compared to when a caster’s arm is fully retracted by folding the elbow (resulting in the rod hand positioned close to the shoulder).
This is why I think that one of the most efficient ways to “get the bend out of a rod” is a compact stroke where the shoulder – a powerful joint – initially rotates the rod.
After the loading move, the power snap starts accelerating the rod until it is abruptly stopped. The power snap should end when the handle of the rod rotates to a position where it is close to perpendicular to the desired trajectory.
The final stage of a fly cast is the drift. As I have written before, this part of the cast includes dampening the counter-flex after the power snap and instantly repositioning the rod in preparation for the next stroke. As the loop unrolls, the rod tip is still.
Now that we have set the scenario and outlined the stages of a fly cast, let’s discuss when I start and end the haul during a front cast.
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