[digitalbiker]

Do any of you have any tips for getting line out in a small stream with lots of vegetation on the banks?

Generally where I have been fishing lately there is too much brush to do a full cast so I have been using a roll cast. However I have been having trouble getting line out in advance to make a decent roll cast.

I either tangle it in some of the brush, or it drops in the stream and gets carried swiftly downstream making my roll cast a little more difficult.

I still can manage a 20+ ft roll cast upstream but it comes back pretty fast in the swift current. I was just wondering if this is part of the joy of fishing small streams or if I am doing something wrong.

[OregonStreams]

Originally Posted by digitalbiker

Do any of you have any tips for getting line out in a small stream with lots of vegetation on the banks?

It helps if you become an expert in the sidearm cast. One trick, is to let the line go downstream and straighten out, while pointing the rod downstream. Then lift the line out of the water and cast the fly upstream in a smooth motion.

[Frank Whiton]

Hi digitalbiker,

It sounds like you are doing alright. You say that the stream has brush on the banks. Is there limbs overhead or is it clear over the stream? Can you wade into the stream and cast up or down stream?

[jdgrubbjr]

Good advice from OregonStreams. Some other things to consider are rod length, leader length, and stealth. Unorthodox casting techniques are the rule rather than the exception on several of the creeks that I fish. In the past, I have gone as far as fishing "half" of a two-piece rod to be able to fish where low overhead canopies and brushy banks existed. I now use a 6'-6" three weight for my small streams (and I mean small) that are "choked" with brush, and I normally use a 7-1/2' leader. Sometimes fishing from the knees is required, more for the stealth aspect than the casting, although both sometimes apply. Don't worry as much about casting distance in "choked" small stream fishing situations. Concentrate on accuracy and stealth. And as OregonStreams said, become proficient at sidearm casting.

[Jackster]

First post and I'm already offering suggestions!

As someone who fished small streams a lot I find the roll cast is the cast used a large majority of the time up in the mountains.
We sometimes wade all day never using a proper back cast. Add a few spey casting tricks lets you roll cast on any side of the stream
If you know how to overhand cast you already know how to roll cast... just add water! It is next to impossible to practice the roll cast without the resistance of water or without using special leaders with long tags to catch on the grass.