The Casting Arc - The MYTH of 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock

Rick Beare - 2026-07

Here is a link from a New Zealander named Carl McNeil that outlines the five essentials developed by Bill Gammels. 

Fly Fishing - The 5 Essentials of Good Fly Casting

While we have mentioned the casting arc, note we have not discussed the casting arc in terms of 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock as taught in numerous casting articles.

While the concept is valid to illustrate the point where the back cast ends and the forward cast end. A casting stroke from 10 to 2 o'clock is actually 120 degrees far too wide for a short distance cast.  The only reason this 10 to 2 is used is illustrate a straight-line path of the two ends of the casting stroke where the abrupt stop occurs for both the back cast and forward casting stroke. 

A casting arc of 120 degrees wide is used to make longer cast and the casting plane is totally on a horizontal plane.  When you consider the height of the angler the length of the rod the casting plane is now over fifteen feet in the air not towards the water below, nowhere near the fish we seek. 

A horizontal plane is ideal to dry out the fly or perhaps make a slack line presentation to produce "S's" in your leader to extend a drag free float on a stream. This horizontal casting plane is ideal for casting in a plunge pool to the run just above where you are positioned. The "Horizontal" casting plane places your fly line high in the air allowing the wind to alter the direction speed of your cast. 

A flat horizontal casting arc allows the wind to blow your line and fly in all directions before reaching your intended target. It is not the desired casting plane most casters need for a more precise and accurate fly presentation. This is the "Myth of the 10 to 2 o'clock casting arc.

In reality the casting arc could be illustrated with any combination of numbers on the face of the clock like 10 to 1 or 11 to 12 o'clock. For the beginner the shorter narrower casting stroke is all that is needed to cast a fly line a distance of 30 to 50 feet. The narrower angle also allows for more control of the loop and the gradual application of power from the beginning point of the back cast to ending point of the back cast.  Remember it is the application of acceleration to the abrupt stop that forms the loop. 

Exercise one; practice a shorter casting arc paying special attention to the application of power, accelerating to the ending point of each arc. Focus on making a sudden stop at the end of the arc to allow the fly line to un-roll to form the loop in the back cast. Once the line has straightened behind you (turn your head to watch it to see the line straighten behind you). When the line straightens begin the forward application of power accelerating to the point on the clock to make the abrupt stop to allow the line to form a tight casting loop. Only after the abrupt stop does the rod tip follow through downward towards the target.

A more efficient casting arc is narrow for shorter distances done with minimal power in a narrow casting arc on the correct casting plane. A narrower casting arc will help the fly angler to become a more efficient caster with accuracy learning the fundamental skills to begin to cast longer distances without the use of single or double hauls. 

Mastering these fundamentals will help you to learn the basics. Practicng short distances with precision technique will make the transition into the longer distances, bigger flies with sound casting technique instead of muscle power easier. 

Good fly-casting technique should look effortless and in control, allowing the lever of the fly rod to do the work instead of your brute strength which typically introduces casting flaws into your casting style causing frustration as you attempt greater distances. 

Begin with a wide casting arc to practice the acceleration stop to form the loop and attempt to slow the stroke down and narrow the casting arc to 90 degrees then 60 degrees and then 30 degrees. 

Next apply the casting plane to be higher on the back cast and lower on the forward cast. In this exercise let's start our back cast stopping point at 1 o'clock and the forward cast at 10 o'clock, This casting arc is now 90 degrees wide but note the back cast is directed to the sky and the forward cast is pointing towards the water. What a concept, a forward cast directed at the water at your target. 

As you progress you will learn that you can narrow the casting arc smaller say 10:30 to 12:30 now your casting arc is only 70 degrees wide. The point of these exercises is to make your casting stroke as small as you can while making a gradual acceleration to the stopping point with the casting plane going in opposite directions always in a straight line and the forward casting angle pointing towards your intended target or just above the water to make a nice delicate accurate presentation. The ultimate result is nicely formed loop that transfers the energy all the way to the end of the tippet and fly. 

The "myth" of the 10 to 2 o'clock casting arc is simply an illustration of the points the angler needs to stop the back cast and the forward cast to form the loop. In fly casting to catch fish we are actually casting in angles upwards on the back cast and downwards on the forward cast to have more loop control in the wind for greater accuracy in the presentation. 

Another exercise to see this angle in practice place tape measure in front of you with the wind to the side about 90 degrees from the direction of your cast. in this way the wind will only affect your cast from the side not directly in front or behind your casting stroke. 

Now place a target at a distance of 25 feet and 10 feet to the left of your measuring tape and place another target at 35 feet and 10 feet to the left of the measuring tape and a target at 40 feet on the measuring tape. Begin a casting plane higher in the back and low on the forward cast towards the 25 foot target. Do not let the yard indicator on the end of your tippet to touch the target or ground while false casting before making your presentation cast. 

Once mastered then begin to practice your casting stroke on the non-dominate side of your body and do the exact same thing now at 11 o'clock then 10 o'clock and finally at 9 o'clock to do a forward cast on your non dominate side. 

You can continue the pursuit of this by then starting all over again this time making the cast as a back hand casting stroke in all positions. Yeah, these casting strokes will take some disciplined practice at home at a short distance before we should venture into attempting to make these more advanced casting strokes on the water and with loop control to achieve distance and accuracy. 

Keep your stroke as slow as possible so you can see the loop form and the yarn indicator approach the target. One you have mastered this distance with the fewest false casts make a presentation cast to see how close you come to your target. Practice this at each distance and target to do it with the fewest number of false casts as smoothly and effortlessly as possible. Focus on the 5 essentials. 

As you practice these casting stroke alter the speed of the casting stroke which alters the timing as you change the size of the casting loop. Make these changes at each distance with small loops and larger loops see how the speed acceleration and timing are different. These exercises are the building blocks necessary to improve as a caster to achieve longer effortless casting distance without a single or double haul. 

For accuracy aim small hit small. Focus your aim not on the total target rather the smallest part of the target. Pick the smallest point of your target not the entire target.  More on accuracy in future editions of the casting corner. 

Ideally the fly line will travel in a straight line 180 degrees in the opposite direction from the back cast to the forward cast in the straightest of line-paths with no waves or curves in the fly line when the presentation cast is finally made. Keep in mind that in order to catch fish we need to master the back cast and forward cast minimizing the number of false casts. You cannot catch a fish easily when your fly is spending more time in the air than in the water. This is why practicing at home on the grass helps the fly-casting angler to catch more fish.  

The exercises above are taken from some of the FFI Casting skills awards program to help fly anglers become more effective casters and successful fly anglers.   

In the next casting corner, we will examine "Tracking" in the casting stroke and the role it plays in the casting stroke to achieve straight line path effects on the casting loop, slack line and distance. 

Remember fly fishing is done at your own pace and only you can determine the level of proficiency you want or need. Our purpose of casting corner is to expose you to some insights, exercises to help those fly anglers looking to explore at their own pace exercises as they choose. 

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If you have questions or suggestions for future topics, please let me know what you would like to see more of to help you improve your fly-casting skills.  Contact me at; rbeare4492@aol.com