Parachute casts is usually a slackline presentation downstream. The rod is kept high after the cast so that the fly line and fly descend upon the water, like a parachute. There will be a belly of line between the rod tip and the fly. The rod tip is gradually lowered and kept in line with the drifting fly as the fly proceeds through the trout’s feeding lane. Parachute Casts and Pile Casts are both slack line presentations. The casts differ with the Parachute cast keeping the rod tip high and lowering the tip gradually as the fly drifts downstream. The Pile cast requires that the rod tip drop immediately to the water surface so that the line ends up in a pile. The line then drifts downstream. The Pile cast may work better on longer downstream presentations.

The parachute cast are very useful for very close presentations that would be too close for a normal overhead cast. This situation can occur along streambanks and lake edges. You can also employ this technique by casting over bankside shrubbery and dropping the fly close to the bank. Another situation is on a close downstream presentation providing some slack line for the drift.

Procedure

Using a standard overhead cast, stop the cast high on the forward stroke. Allow the line to straighten and bring the rod back to nearly a vertical position in front of your nose. As the fly line settles to the water surface, the rod tip should be nearly straight up. Now bring the rod tip down until it points to the fly. Adjust any slack in the line as necessary. If the fly moves past the fish with no strike, bring the fly line away from the fish by adjusting the rod tip prior to pickup.