When Fly Fishing, Do You Cast Upstream or Downstream?

Trout are often unwilling to eat dry flies or indicator nymphs when they drift in front of them, creating problems. A downstream presentation, commonly known as reach casting, may help overcome this obstacle. We make a quartering downward cast to begin our swing, and we soon find ourselves with an array of fast and slow water to work with. Now, it is up to him to mend both his leader and line to keep the fly within its current plane of travel.
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Most anglers prefer to present dry flies with a downstream presentation, whether that means using any variety of dry flies or even a nymph. The goal is to place your fly and some leader ahead of the current so that its drift matches up with its flow—this technique is known as quartering upstream.

This technique is simple to execute and works well with various flies. Simply place your fly downstream of a fish with their blind spot directly behind it, then make a short reach cast upstream over their head to put the fly within their visual field.
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Trout are creatures that naturally like to see their food come from one direction. When feeding fish actively on fins, they tend to move in that direction with their mouths open, ready to take a bite of a tasty morsel. Throwing your fly to one side could confuse and possibly scare away a trout fish! When fishing upstream with a full sinking line and buoyant dry or nymph fly, the tension on your rig causes it to be pulled in different levels within the current, which may result in drag. One way of mitigating this problem is shortening the distance between the fly and the leader to force both your flies to ride at roughly equal levels within it.
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You have to cast downstream for trout in different conditions. Casting downstream allows the line and fly to move directly with the current, which can be very effective when downstream fishing dry flies or indicator nymphs in slow to moderately-flowing waters. This decreases the chances of spooking fish while keeping your fly looking natural for an extended period (depending on cast distance, size of fly, and amount of line let out).

This technique works best with smaller dries, wet flies, and nymphs; however, heavier streamers can also be fished downstream if the current is quick enough - an ideal strategy, if the river is too heavy to wade across and casting upstream, is impossible.

Reach casts and stack mends are essential when fishing downstream presentations to manage line tension and reduce drag. Without these techniques, achieving drag-free drift with direct downstream approaches can be extremely difficult.

To ensure an effortless drift, make your reach cast so that its contents float together within one current seam. This requires a combination of casting angle adjustment and multiple mends on the fly, so master this method, and it could become one of the most potent techniques in your arsenal!

Fishing on the bottom of a river or stream often presents challenges due to changing current speeds, often necessitating mends to help direct your line as it drifts through these conditions.
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Imagine you are casting a wet fly or suspension/strike indicator nymph rig in a run featuring fast water downstream and slower water closer to you. As soon as you make your quartering downstream cast, your end of the line quickly moves toward faster waters; consequently, your fly becomes pulled toward them before even reaching its target fish and starts dragging.
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You must use several techniques to delay the moment that his line begins pulling downstream, including throwing a fish upstream to mend the fly and prevent faster water from overtaking it and pulling it downriver.

An upstream mend can be done simply by lifting your rod tip high and tossing out some line upstream of your fly. This effectively counteracts the effect of faster water currents, allowing your fly to drift naturally down toward fish. When making an upstream mend, remember only to move small amounts of line at a time; otherwise, too much movement might scare away fish or draw them toward your fly!

When casting directly across a stream to trout, currents can pull at the line between you and them, creating what is known as drag. Upstream reach mend or curve cast can help minimize drag; however, sometimes, that alone won't do.
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Imagine fishing a seam where two distinct currents are flowing at different rates, one moving more slowly and one moving faster. When making a traditional forward cast, your line might land in the slower current, only for it to be quickly overtaken by the faster current and pulled downstream before you can untie it from its holding place and feed slack back through it. 

In such an instance, your line might go taught before dragging your fly downstream until you can feed some slack back through. For this issue, use a reach cast or basic upstream mend to postpone the moment that a fast current overtakes a slow current. 

This gives the line enough slack to drift in an independent path without being pulled by the faster current. Also, add small s-curves to your line's landing point when landing, as this can prevent a fast current from overtaking your fly immediately and creating drag.
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