A partly dissenting opinion from a mediocre caster...
Example Case (swinging wets or wakers, not nymphing):
A great lie, along a shelf or some boulders, on the far side of the river.
Options:
(1) The "bad" 100 foot cast with a bunch of slack near the fly. Mend sharply upstream (without moving the fly) to compensate for the relatively fast midstream current. Once tension is on the fly, follow with the rod tip to keep the fly swimming more down than across.
(2) The 80 foot cast with a tight line to the same location as option 1.
(3) Move upstream 60 feet, make a 100 foot cast angled downstream to the same location, with a tight line.
Which is the best fishing cast? In all cases, one can, nce tension is on the fly, follow with the rod tip to keep the fly swimming more down than across.
I often can't do #3, which may be the best option, so I'll settle for #1. In all cases, one can, once tension is on the fly, follow with the rod tip to keep the fly swimming more down than across, but this is most easily accomplished in case 1.
Note that the fly will move from the mend if the cast is made with a tight line.
Comments?
--Bill