(It isn’t as tricky as you might think.)
Being able to “double haul” as you cast a fly rod is an important key to adding distance to your cast.
But there’s a lot of confusing misinformation out there that only confounds and intimidates people as they attempt to learn double hauling.
- Myth #1 is that double hauling is only for long casting in saltwater situations.
- Myth #2 is that you need an exaggerated, elongated pull of the fly line to make a double haul work.
- Myth #3 is that you sacrifice accuracy when you double haul.
Let’s set the record straight.
The double haul is a very simple trick that involves a slight pull on the fly line with your off-casting hand (the line-tending hand) as you make a casting stroke. By pulling down on the line, you add extra deceleration and a more abrupt “stop” on your back cast (which is good), so long as you can leverage that, turn the stroke and do it again as you add some extra resistance to the forward cast.
All it is, is about stopping, starting, harnessing line speed and releasing the added flex to generate more momentum as you deliver the cast. It’s mostly about timing.
- Rule #1. As you endeavor to double haul, your hands should not fly far apart. Think like you have manacles on your hands, and you’re making that flex action by gently pulling on the line, no more than 18 inches in distance from the reel. If you’re pulling that line a couple feet off the casting hand, you’re setting yourself up for failure because it’s hard to collect and control the line. It’s like playing an accordion and leaving your hands far apart.
- Rule #2. You must learn to give and take. Pull, hold, feel the rod flex and then give as you turn the cast. If you’re constantly grabbing without giving, you negate the effect of the double haul. Practice this “flex and feed” with false casts in the backyard. Even at short distances, with practice, you start to feel your hands working together.
- Rule #3. Know when to let go. You’ve made your false casts and have added some extra “oomph” by flexing the rod by adding extra resistance as you load and unfurl. When it’s right… let go! Clinging to that line zaps all the energy out of what you want to do.
If you’re lined up right and are looking through your thumbnail as you deliver the cast, you will be accurate.
Double hauling is now part of my regular casting routine, whether I’m fishing a 3-weight bamboo rod for trout or on the saltwater flats trying to bomb long shots into the wind.
In either situation, you’ll never see my hands fly more than a couple feet apart. Sure, when I’m “micro-hauling” on a tiny brook trout stream, that might be a matter of inches, and when I’m tossing a baitfish pattern at tarpon 60 feet away, that gap will be wider and more exaggerated.
But the fundamental flex dynamic is exactly the same. And I never let the air out of the balloon by losing control of the line.
It’s 100% about feel and not power. Feel beats everything. Build the feel of double-hauling, and you can literally take your cast anywhere in the world.