Defeating the Wind // Patagonia or Belgian Style Casting

I use to struggle horribly with a tail wind. Sounds easy.. but its not. When you backcast a stiff tailwind creates major slack in your line and the result isn't often pretty. You'll snag your rod tip, your hat, back, ear, and you'll have knots. Wind knots.

The Belgian or Constant Pressure style cast is also called a Patagonia Roll Cast, although we don't really use the water to load the rod in the traditional "roll cast" way. We do take a longer path with the rod tip to keep the line tight at all times, which gives the wind NO opportunity to sabotage our line. The other key is that the rod tip is always in motion. Don't stop. The split second you do....  the wind defeats you.

Watch this video for a complete understanding of the cast, but I also wanted to hammer home the few key principles. Practice these with a pen at your desk. I do.

• Rod tip comes back wide away from your body off to the side. Elbow stays close
• Don't stop moving. Constant pressure!
• Finish strong. If the rod is loaded you can finish with tons of power! If the line is slack. Duck haha. 
• Consider position. Sometimes you can stalk or move so that the side wind is favorable. Left to right is best for a right hander, opposite for southpaws.

Rod: Sage R8 Core 590-4

Line: RIO Elite Gold WF5F

Reel: Lamson Speedster S 5+