Do you practise your casting ?

[ShaunF]

not all flyline are of equal lenth. cortland444 is probably the longest at 34.. airflo lines are 27m.i'm not sure on the rest and i speak under correction but the cheaper lines are generally short around 25-26m lenth. i know my combo lines are 25m, saving costs during production.

IMHO,
its very rare for anyone to be able to cast much beyond 25m with a 6wt.i have been doing some interesting reading on casting and distance casting in particular. it seems the common census overseas that using a floating or intermediate line the expert casters get about 27m.it seems that you cannot hold that amout of line in the air before gravity eats your speed. however using a specially constructed sinking shooting head they can get up to 50m.
to get those distances they are standing on special platforms and using superfast rods.
i have yet to see one individual throw a complete 40+ line floating or intemediate.it's 41m, the closest i have seen was the Airflo sales director throwing downwind and he still had 2 m left.Using the sinker it flew 44m.

Using a heavier line and a rod that generates a faster line speed.say a 9wt then 35-40m with an intermediate are possible


the brand name has nothing to do with the ability of the rod to generate distance. Its the stiffness of the rod and i agree with Scythe, the tfo's are in general on the faster side.
my opinion Therefore not a beginner's rod.the faster the rod the more difficult it is to get a feel of the loading spot and with most beginners waving a stick in the air there is no way to get that feel.
as always there is a proviso. lighter models2/3/4wts will be softer in action as thery are aimed at river work.
i would be willing to bet that most can equal distance regardless of rod names based on our ability. if you can cast effectivly then any rod will get you there.
fast rods will just get you there 2 false casts earlier.

guys i'm just stirring. truth be told i'm a casting junkie myself.there is something sweet seeing a line peeling off to the horizon.
i'm after that mythical 35m with an18' leader and 3 flies on a 6wt cast. i'm constantly reading and practicing various things.
so keep trying for the distance, its brilliant stuff. In england they have a 40Yd club. i'm keen on getting there.
i am just making the point that distance is not the bee all of flyfishing. we need accuraccy far more. those who can cast far and accuratly will get the fish.
the difference is john daley and tiger woods.
put away the popcorn its not worth the movie!!!!

Hey Guys,

These posts by Gary got me thinking about something I've been wanting to post about for a while. Do any of you guys ever practice your casting, be you a beginner or someone who has been fishing for a long time? If so, how often do you practice and how ?

The reason I ask, is that I've been fly fishing for about 17 years now, and had always thought of myself as an ok caster. Not great, but when push came to shove, I could get a decent long cast out to that big rainbow rising to a hatch, a fair distance off the bank. That said though, it took considerable effort and I was inconsistent. I'd also often suffer things like tailing loops etc, especially trying to force that really long cast.

About 8 months ago, I got hold of Joan Wulf's casting DVD, and after watching it, it inspired me to get out there and do a bit of practising, more to make my casting more effortless than to gain any sort of extra distance.

For practise, I use one of my Xplorer Guide Series rods, a 9'0 5wt and I'm casting an old Cortland 444 floating line, with a 9'0 straight 15kg leader and a bit of yarn on the end of it. As Gary said about, this is a long line at 34m.

Straight off the bat, I could consistently cast about 26m, with all the bad habits I'd picked up over the years, and more than the occassional trailing loop which used to irritate the daylights out of me.

Not happy with what I was doing, I decided I would go back to basics, and break down my cast, working on correcting each part of the cast, and not worry about distance at all, only getting the cast right, and concentrating on minimising the amount of effort it takes to get the line out. Effectively I've retaught myself to cast over the last few months, with some astounding results.

After a couple of weeks of say 1 or 2 30-60min sessions out on my favourite piece of lawn, I was casting the full 34m line on at least 3 out of 5 casts, but it was still taking more effort than I thought it actually required, since I learnt how to properly load a rod and let it do the work. Anyhow, I've continued to practice a couple of times a week, or on the weekend sometime, and I'm very pleased with the results. I can now cast that full 34m line on every cast and with minimal effort. On Sunday afternoon, I also cast what I think was the longest cast I've ever made on a 5wt at 37m.

Even fishing low down, like on a float tube isn't a problem for me anymore. I don't hit the water behind me, even fishing my shorter rods, and I can pretty much cast all my lines completely even from this seated position.

What I'm trying to say, is that if you were like me and never bothered doing a bit of practice in between your fishing, you should give it a go, especially if you don't get out fishing every weekend. Someone also rightly pointed out that when you're fishing you want to be thinking about fishing, not casting. Hence if you never practice when you're not fishing, do you ever actually think about the way you cast ?

These days I spend about an hour at a time, first warming up my arm with a few medium distance casts, just to get my timing in. I then move onto long distance casts and finally moving back to medium distance casts, but focussing on accuracy and trying to hit specific targets at different distances which I place on the lawn. I also sometimes practise casting sitting down, and this has helped immensely when casting off a float tube.

I could well be stating the obvious here by saying that a little practice has made the world of difference to my casting and that I'd recommend that everybody give it a try if you're serious about becoming a really good caster, and one that doesn't suffer from a sore shoulder or arm after a couple of days hard fishing.

[Chris Shelton]

Quite right Shaun. Time spent on the water fishing is never the right time to be practicing casting. But like all things, practice makes perfect. I think most of us are guilty of not practicing our casting enough. It is something that I used to do a lot as a youngster, because I was that keen and couldn't wait for the next weekend to arrive so that I could go fishing with the old man again. Every day I practiced on the lawn for at least an hour, and I didn't even see it as practice, I just loved casting. These days I never do it anymore and I have found many bad habits kreeping in. Keep it up boet, because there will come a day when it will count in your favour, that your ability to shoot out your entire line and a few metres of backing is going to make the difference and put you into a memorable fish. The 98cm leerie that I saw cruising and subsequently caught last year was one of those kinds of occassions, and I will never forget it!

[MaXiMuM]

Hey Guys,

These posts by Gary got me thinking about something I've been wanting to post about for a while. Do any of you guys ever practice your casting, be you a beginner or someone who has been fishing for a long time? If so, how often do you practice and how ?

Interesting question...

I practice at least twice a month, if not more... and I specifically practice on the river or stream...

But, I don’t just practice distance, that’s like going to the golf driving range and just hitting the drive, I practice all the short stuff, difficult stuff and "trick" stuff...

The best thing I could have done for my fishing was learning how to make a full ine cast, not just a cast that shoots line, but being able to airilize 50% of the line with control, then being able to punch out the additional length...

Also, being able to control presentation at distance, practice slack lining, open looping and left and right hinge, at 10m... then 15m... then 20m… and so on…

Lastly, if you can, your garden is big enough, or you get a heavy dew at your local sports field, practice on wet grass, it adds a little water tension and thus allows you to load better on initial pick up...

[MyWorld]

I do practice about once a week for an hour or more, but that could be because of three reasons:

1) I come from a papgooi background and loading the rod to it's max is the difference between getting into the fish and blanking. If you were to be successful the minimum distance that you needed to achieve with a 12' rod was 120m, and that is a long ways of!
The only way you could get this distance was by practising, and I did.
So this laid the foundation for the fly fishing practice. I must be honest in saying that it is much easier practising casting on a flyrod than on a papgooi rod, but not to start a debate, lets leave it at that. (Incidentally, the record for normal tackle distance casting is in the region of 220m!)

2) Accuracy was also one of the most important factors of every fresh water fishing related sport I ever tried. The guys that know how can put their bait (papgooi) on the same spot (1 square metre or less) with each and every cast at over 140m. That is the distance of a 1.5 rugby fields... RESPECT! That is why they are world champs and Springboks.
I need to be accurate, that I know, and that is why I practice...

3) I'm relative newby to fly fishing, been doing it seriously for 2 years now and because I have not ever fished with someone of note I have a bit of a self awareness complex. I will practice for hours on end on some week-ends just to be able to say with 100% certainty I can hit a target at said distance.
This has proven to be the most difficult part since practising on a lawn is not river practice and there are other factors that needs to be taken into consideration (for me) when on a river; thinking of the fish, making sure you do not drown in 30+ cumecs of flow, confidence in your fly, etc.
On a lawn you get consistency, no pressure, or any of the above mentioned, and this is the next hurdle for me, the mind game on the river.

At the moment, due to a lack of open space, I just practice accuracy at between 10-20m.

I'm getting there, I may not be able to cast over 30m but I'm getting there!


Just one question, why put a piece of yarn on the end of the line when practising? I take it it imitates the weight and resistance of a fly, but I have always practised with only the bare leader. The reason for this is that I can immediately hear when my style is off.
So should I rather get a piece of yarn on there?

PS:
Where can one get that DVD and how much for it?

[ShaunF]

Just one question, why put a piece of yarn on the end of the line when practising? I take it it imitates the weight and resistance of a fly, but I have always practised with only the bare leader. The reason for this is that I can immediately hear when my style is off.
So should I rather get a piece of yarn on there?

PS:
Where can one get that DVD and how much for it?

2 reasons I tie something to the end of the leader: Firstly it helps you to see things like presentation and also just to see where the end of the leader is going and how it turns over. Secondly it stops the leader from cracking like a whip.

Do a search for Joan Wulff on Amazon.com. You should be able to find it on there for not too much money. She's an amazing teacher and can cast bloody far for a little old lady !

[ShaunF]

bloody interesting post

shaun, when you practised did you change some techniques you saw on the dvd or were able to correct your tailing loops because of the dvd,or was it just practice.

can you also advise - when you tube and you got your 2-3 rigged rods , does it throw your casting rythm out if you fish with different actioned sticks ? do you carry say 2 or more of exactly the same stick ?

the results of your practice really inspire to do the same -trust me i need it
now if i can just make enough time in my fishing shedule
herman

Hi Herman,

It was definitely as a result of the DVD that I resolved my issue with tailing loops. I just don't get them anymore now that I understand what causes them. Joan explains that the act of loading the rod consists of 2 motions. The first is the arm movement, which accelerates from being stationary into either the back or forward cast. At the end of this motion, you need to snap your wrist, in order to properly load the rod, especially a fast action rod. No wrist snap, no proper load, no proper bend put into the stiff graphite, no power delivered from the rod, only the bit from your arm = no distance. Now the problem with tailing loops comes from doing this "power snap" of the wrist too early in the casting action. You only do it at the end of the cast, either when your hand is next to your ear on the back cast, or in front of you on the forward cast. I found I was loading the rod with this "power snap" too early.

Regarding switching between rods, I find it sometimes takes a cast to adjust, but once you've spent enough time getting the proper casting mechanics right through practice, I find it quite easy to switch. I normally fish 3 fast action rods, with the TCR being the fastest of the lot, my XP which is a bit slower, and a Guide series which again is a bit slower than the XP.

For me, the final step in getting my casting right, and ultimately leading to my best cast ever measured, was getting my rod tip to travel along the same plane. It's tightened up my loop significantly, as I found when actually watching where the rod tip was going, that I used to have a tendency to cast "uphill". Incidently this particular cast, and several of the same distance thereafter before I packed up, were some of the easiest, least effort casts I've made.

[rols]

Nice post Shaun. Like Chris I don't spend too much time with practicing, but definately need to as I too have developed some quirks. One thing I know I have to do is learn some of the casts for tight situations and concentrate on accuracy. This became evident when starting on the streams and my 3 months waiting to get back out there is going to be spent honing up a bit. Nice motivational piece, Thanks

[garyatstealth]

so this might be a little to over the top.
i have 3 hula hoops of different sizes. i have a set casting point and then i throw the hoops to different distances.
my fly line is marked at 15,20,25 and my backing has the 30 and 35m. still waiting to see that final one.i use a std 9foot leader with a bit of yarn to see.
to save time i have 3 distance pegs set at 20.25 and 30 m.
i need to aim my casts as close as possible to the pegs so if i have a decent distance i can measure quickly.

i set a time limit of 5min per go. during that time i need to hit the hoops at least twice within 5 casts each hoop and then as many long distance casts as i can handle in the time frame.
so far the best distance is 32m. the fun is if i don't get the hoops we have to start again. that round does'nt count.

[chris williams]

Well all I know I need to change from left to right arm (casting not beer-can) so I'll be needing all the practice - and help... - I can get! Any of you guys got a hula hoop the size of the MCG oval?

[ShaunF]

thanks shaun,
do you fish your sinkers on the TCR and the floater on the softer rod?

h

Herman, I'd say that 70% of the time I'll fish an intermediate line on the TCR, with the other 30% of the time I'll fish a floating line on it. I fish a couple of waters where the floater is really the best line to be fishing, and its on those waters where I'll normally fish the floater on the TCR. I really seldom use a proper fast sinking line, but on the odd occassion that I do, it normally goes on the Guide.

Most of the time I only rig up 2 rods and find that pretty much covers the type of stillwater fishing I enjoy. I'm not one to go dredging the depths with a fast sinker, and far prefer fishing the shallows and down to around 3-4m, which the intermediate covers perfectly.