Up-close-and-personal fishing can be one of fly fishing’s most exciting aspects. At very close ranges, however, “normal” casting is often not possible or desirable. What to do? No problem, just break out your Bow and Arrow (cast, that is). I consider it a “must-have” technique for any angler who likes fishing at super-close ranges.

Also known as the “Catapult Cast” and “Bowspring Cast,” the Bow and Arrow Cast is begun with a length of line approximately the same length as the rod. With the rod held steadily and aimed at (or just above) the target, grasp the fly between the thumb and forefinger of your line hand. Hold onto the hook’s bend with the hook point up and outside of your fingertips. If you decide to be a rebel and go hook-point down and inside your fingertips, you may quickly understand why I wrote “hook point up and outside of your fingertips.”

Now, pull the line back toward you, causing the rod to flex rather like a bow; do not allow extra line to be pulled from the reel. Another note of caution at this point: Don’t rear back sharply and over-flex the rod’s tip-most area—you may get a multi-piece rod even if you do not want one. Try to flex the rod as if simulating the flexure from a real cast; that is, with a somewhat more natural bend. You can adjust the cast’s angle of attack by moving both your line and rod hands side-to-side as well as up-and-down. When ready to cast, let go of the fly. The spring-action of the rod will deliver the fly to the target.

The Bow and Arrow Cast has been the source of many of my fondest memories of fishing. Because of its limited range, the standard Bow and Arrow dictates that you be close to the fish to use it. That means it is primarily a sight-fishing cast. I had one day on the Vermejo Ranch property in northern New Mexico when the fish were in close—sometimes their backs were sticking out. I can envision one trout in particular that was in inches of water, leisurely poking along for snails and such. I made a Bow and Arrow Cast into the fish’s path. The trout drifted over, tipped down and scraped my fly right off the sandy bottom.

To whet your appetite for that kind of intense fishing, below is a little image sequence taken from a TV pilot that I appeared in some years ago. Not the same fish as in the story above, but pretty much the same set-up. One of the tricks to making this all work right (as below): keep low and don’t stand up until after the fish takes the fly.

The standard Bow and Arrow as discussed here has two significant drawbacks: distance and repeatability. The first issue is okay if you are within 15 to 20 feet of a target, but the second can be a problem if you are sticking your rod out through an opening in the trees. Trying to re-set a cast in such circumstances can be frustrating and even fish spooking. There are a couple of options, though. The first is to learn to make the “C” Cast, using only your wrist to make a quick little sideways semi-circle with the rod tip. Such a cast has very little movement and is often enough to put the fly back where it needs to go. Just as often, however, such a cast does not put the fly back in the right spot, so more drastic measures are called for: stripping in all of your line.

It may initially sound odd, but by stripping the line back in so that the fly hangs on the tip-top guide, you can ease the rod back (and/or move your body back), remove the fly, pull the leader out again, move forward, and be ready for another Bow and Arrow Cast. That exact scenario has played out for me more than once, and I can tell you that patience does pay off. I can also tell you that I have blown that exact scenario more than once, too. Such is fishing!

Leader design can be important when using a Bow and Arrow. The cast functions best when the leader is entirely out of the rod guides. So, on an eight-foot rod, for example, that usually means a leader somewhat shorter than eight feet.

The Bow and Arrow Cast is a truly useful technique that can help to make seemingly impossible presentations work—especially when you’re up-close-and-personal.