Belgium Cast
This cast is so called after a Belgian distance caster of the 1930’s called Albert Godart, previously known as the Albert Godart cast. It can be used in a variety of different ways, but the two most useful uses I have encountered when fishing myself are as follows:
(a) when casting heavy or bulky flies on shorter leaders. (b) when casting a team of light flies on longer leaders.
Heavy / Bulky Flies
This is a very rounded and continuously moving cast, which enables you to keep the fly away from you, (safe) and under tension at all times until it is actually delivered, particularly useful when fishing with heavy / Bulky flies. It also prevents heavy flies from kicking down behind you as they would do in a conventional overhead cast. This is because the back cast (in a Belgium cast) accelerates from below and is therefore climbing upward as it is reaches the extremity of the back cast prior to being drawn forward again, and over the top throughout the forward delivery. Many saltwater casters will use this technique when delivering very large lures, often in conjunction with a double haul.
Teams of Flies
When fishing with a team of flies on a long leader, casting tight loops will often result in numerous tangles and therefore waste valuable fishing time, so imagine the advantage of being able to open up your loop to prevent tangles and still achieve a relatively efficient cast. This is a technique often used by Stillwater anglers, but also efficient on larger rivers.
Although this cast is designed to open up your loops on both the back cast and the forward cast a tight loop is achievable on the forward cast if required, which you may wish to do if confronted by wind. However, if this is your intention, you must have the ability to control your loops well to avoid tangles.