Use a roll cast to reach a nearby lie when an overhead back cast would meet branches or the bank. It is also useful for straightening a loose layout before another cast. It needs less room behind you, not none: the D-loop must hang clear of anything that would catch it.

Learn with a floating line and an uncomplicated fly on easy water. Heavy flies, sinking lines and a large change of direction make the same movements less forgiving. The Tongariro roll cast is a more developed waterborne-anchor cast; the starting point here is the ordinary roll cast.

Use your usual small-stream outfit with a floating line and a leader you can turn over. Start with a short length of line outside the tip. More line means more to lift, anchor and straighten; do not add it until the short cast behaves.

For the first practice session, a wool tag in place of a hooked fly lets you focus on the loop. Learn on water, where the line can form its anchor. A grass cast does not give the same feel.

Start with the line extended in front of you, without a large heap of slack at the rod tip. Point roughly along the direction you intend to cast.

Lift slowly and bring your hand beside your ear. Let the line hang behind the raised rod in a rounded D-loop. The lower part runs forward to the line and leader still touching the water. That contact is the anchor; it gives the stroke something to work against.

Pause long enough for the anchor to settle. Then accelerate the rod forward smoothly and stop high. Let the loop unroll above the water before lowering the tip to follow the line down. The second drawing shows that airborne unrolling: driving the rod tip at the surface collapses the cast instead of finishing it.

Watch the line, not just the rod. If the forward loop opens and straightens cleanly, repeat that short cast until you can place it beside a chosen patch of foam. Add distance gradually. For a large change of direction, first realign the line rather than twisting the stroke across your body.

Pete Kutzer’s small-stream roll-cast lesson demonstrates the pause, water contact and high stop. Those three details are worth practising separately.

The fly kicks back or the cast has no purchase. You lifted the anchor clear or rushed the change from lift to forward stroke. Slow down and let it settle.

The line rolls into the water in a pile. Keep the forward stop higher. You are sending a loop through the air, not sweeping line along the surface.

The D-loop catches the bank. You still need space behind the rod. Reduce the amount of line or choose another position.

The rig will not lift. Retrieve until the cast is manageable. A short roll cast that turns over is more useful than a long one that drags a weighted fly through the surface.

Check the space beside and behind you before practising, and use a hookless tag while learning the movement. Choose your bank position with the same care as any fishing position. NSW DPIRD’s fishing safety advice recommends checking conditions and avoiding risks to retrieve snagged tackle. Follow the current fishing rules wherever you practise with a fly.