Puddle Casts, also known as Pile Casts, create small S-curves in the fly line and leader that will alleviate drag problems in downstream presentations. Until the current straightens out the line, the s-curves allow the fly to proceed downstream in a drag-free manner. This is a great cast for swirling back eddies, or complex currents where lots of slack and not a lot of accuracy is required.

The puddle cast can also be helpful in an upstream presentation where the water flowing towards to you is moving faster, such as in a pool tail. The faster water downstream will be move the fly line with it, so that any slack line above that point will allow for a little more time of a drag-free drift.

However, creating additional slack line on the water on a downward cast can create some additional problems. If in doubt, just follow-up with a simple roll cast.

Procedure

Start with a low back cast and stop the rod high on the upward forward stroke before the line straightens out. The line will travel horizontally over the water. Drop the rod tip into the water surface, smoothly. This drop will produce a steep angle of the line from the water surface to the fly and will cause the line to drop into a number of small s-curves.

A variation to the Puddle Cast is to stop the cast with circular movements of the rod tip while the line is in mid-air.