Not to be mistaken for the similarly named Reach mend cast, the Reach cast is another cast designed to eliminate drag from your fly to make it react more naturally during it's drift, only this time when casting across a uniformed current.

Although most of these drag free casts can easily be performed on the end of a Spey cast, when explaining these casts I am going to approach them all from the Overhead cast set up so as not to cause any confusion, but bear in mind that combination casts can be of great benefit to the angler.

To perform this cast, when casting across a uniformed current, as you bring the rod tip forward to a positive stop in the forward delivery of your Overhead cast, reach your casting arm out to a position of 90 degrees upstream of your target and the fly line will land in a straight line between your rod tip and your fly. The only difference being, it will be in a straight line from a position upstream of you to your target and not in a straight line from you to your target as is usually the case.

This will then give you the opportunity to follow your fly with your rod tip from an upstream position on it's voyage downstream (at the same pace as the current) and therefore not only eliminating any potential drag, but also allowing you to stay in contact with your fly line and fly throughout the drift in the event of a take.

When using this cast, shooting line into the cast is paramount (unless a very short cast is required) as this will assist with distance and prevent your fly from being pulled away from it's intended target during the forward delivery as consideration must be given to the fact that you are reaching upstream during the delivery which will in turn shorten the amount of line available to travel out in front of you unless you shoot line into the cast during the upstream reach.

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