Episode Details

Episode Overview

In this Casting Angles episode of The Articulate Fly, Master Casting Instructor Mac Brown of Mac Brown Fly Fish joins host Marvin Cash for a focused deep-dive into the reach mend — one of fly fishing's most foundational presentation tools, and one Mac argues has been quietly undervalued since Doug Swisher introduced it to American fly fishing in 1971. The conversation serves as both a how-to for beginners and a useful recalibration for intermediate anglers who have been fishing without it.

Mac traces the technique to Swisher's landmark book Selective Trout, which he first read at age eight from his grandfather's copy and considers among the most significant contributions to the sport in the last hundred years. He breaks the reach mend down from first principles, distinguishing it clearly from the more complex reach cast: after the casting stroke is complete and the line is still in the air, the angler simply reaches the rod tip to the side, positioning the fly line upstream or downstream of the fly — a movement accessible to complete beginners that can transform a fleeting drift into a long, uninterrupted float with the fly line entirely out of the fish's window.

Mac covers the reach mend across multiple real-world scenarios: cross-current presentations through mixed seams, straight upstream casts where the line would otherwise land across holding fish, and long downstream drifts on technical tailwaters. The episode also covers slipping line during a reach mend to extend presentation distance, and the drag-and-drop technique — casting well upstream and beyond a riser, lifting the rod tip to position the fly laterally, then tracking the rod downstream to drop the fly cleanly into the feeding lane. Marvin adds an important tactical counterpoint: a downstream mend can also be used to intentionally accelerate a streamer across a seam to trigger a reaction strike.

Key Takeaways

• How a post-cast reach mend positions your fly line upstream and away from rising trout, turning a brief drift into a long, drag-free float that beginners can execute immediately after learning the concept
• Why the reach mend is fundamentally different from the reach cast — and why mastering the mend first removes the biggest barrier to consistent presentation for anglers at any level
• When to slip line during a reach mend to extend presentation distance, without sacrificing accuracy or drag control
• How to execute the drag-and-drop technique — casting upstream and beyond a riser, lifting into position, then tracking the rod downstream — to drop a fly into a feeding lane without lining the fish or precision accuracy
• Why a downstream mend can intentionally induce drag to accelerate a streamer across a current seam when you want to trigger a reaction strike rather than a drag-free drift

Techniques & Gear Covered

The episode is devoted entirely to the reach mend and its related techniques, with Mac Brown providing a conceptual framework grounded in Swisher's Selective Trout and decades of guide school instruction. The core technique is the post-cast reach mend: after stopping the cast, and while the line is still unrolling, the angler reaches the rod tip to the upstream side to buy a drag-free window of time before the current grabs the fly line. This applies across presentation types — cross-stream casts through mixed currents, straight upstream casts where the line would otherwise fall on the fish, and long downstream presentations where only the fly should appear in the fish's window. Mac also covers the drag-and-drop approach, in which the angler lifts the fly line into position from an upstream-and-beyond cast, then tracks the rod downstream to lower