A problem that some anglers face when fishing upstream is that they pull out so much line that it takes four or five misses to retrieve the line each time. But there is a better way. In this video Joe Rotter is from Red’s Fly Shop shows how you can use a roll-cast pickup (he calls it “roll-cast recovery”) to fish the water close in front of you without pulling in as much line.
As the fly approaches, lift the tip of your rod and wave it behind you to begin a roll cast. Once the D-loop has formed behind the rod, simply shoot the roll cast forward in the air as the front part of a miss and you’re ready to retrieve the fly. (Notice the little move Joe adds to increase the line speed of his roll cast.) It’s a much simpler and more effective method. And the more time your fly spends on the water, the more likely you are to take a hit.