Learning the Belgian Cast

Eventually — if we aren’t lucky enough to have an expert coach — we’ll end up reinventing the most practical techniques. That was certainly true for me when it came to throwing big flies and casting with a strong right-hand wind. Someone taught me to water haul. Then I began adding a sidearm backcast. Then I realized that if I moved the rod tip high over my left shoulder on the forward cast, I further reduced the chances of whacking myself in the back of the head with a big bug. A casting instructor, wincing at my progress, would note that I had, in fact, learned the Belgian cast.
Luckily, there are folks around who can save you from having to reinvent this very useful cast. Master instructor Macauley Lord makes it all quite clear in his lesson on “The Belgian Cast.” New on MidCurrent.