120 ft casts with a 5# rod "part 1"
"recipie for fun, vid cam essential"
Fly
fishing is such a fantastic sport, and given that you are here
taking the
time to read this site you probably dont need reminding of this, what other
pastime encompases so many wide
varying sub divisions within? A person can chose
to completely submerge into any one of the sub divisions and over
indulge himself to the point where he can truly specialise,
leaving other
people to seemingly think you are simply in need of some form of
rehabilitation?. With the utmost of respect to the following persons may I
lightheartedly give you a few examples, lets begin with my friend Paul
Little from
just up the coast, a man who needs
no introduction in the world of fly tying, and never in this day and
age
could you ever witness such knowledge and perfection at the vice, or
again my good friend Illtyd Griffiths, a fine Welshman, and in this
country one of the few who truly understands the Sea trout,
specialising through years of expereince of essentially fishing in the
situation where the majority of his sight is artificially taken away
from him. How about Paul Proctor?, a
guy who could probably tell you both the common and latin name of
every bug, nymph or adult fly he could stumble across
anywhere in northern europe, and of course theres Peter Anderson, a
Scotsman
in his 80's who has mastered the art of Spey Casting with a double
handed rod to such a degree that spectators are greeted with a sight
that borders on something simply not of this earth, a Grand Master if
ever there was one!. In all, these people above are all members of
the proffesional fly
fishing teaching association which is AAPGAI, and like all members they
hold a very wide knowledge base of fly
fishing, casting and teaching in general, and yet what a person can
find is that each further member you come across can quite often reveal
themselfs to be really really geeky to the same degree as those above
in at least one aspect of fly fishing too!
The
purpose of writing part 1 of this article is certainly not an
attempt to tell people how to cast 120ft+ with a 5#, however I would
like to try and convey what I have discovered following the
idea which was based upon working towards understanding the
technical aspects of distance fly casting, with a view to
specialising in teaching it and simply becoming better
at it myself. This never
ending journey which
obviously still has a long long way to go has for the time being become
very
personal and quite often has induced the level of dedication to one
aspect of the sport similar in some ways to those gentlemen described
above, up to the
point where the need to
improve
has seen the drive to practice on a daily basis become
mandatory. Along the way Ive
met like minded people of whom proved to become really treasured
freinds, Ive expereinced both pain and joy, many hours of
confusion, frustration and exhaustion, and every now and then those
fantastic relevations which come forth out of the blue which can often
save your
sanity. Ultimately the sheer beauty of what ive discovered thusfar is
that a loosely knitt brotherhood of distance casters, usually
instructors from all
across the globe who share this
similar "addiction" for the sport, are often brought together in mini
gatherings commonly known as "Shootouts", if ever there was such a
thing as Distance Fly Casting Rehab, then these shootouts are just
that. Just
like the meeting of the skilled swordsmen on
the film "Highlander" these shootouts can occur anywhere on the planet
at any time, and when they do, to watch casters at the top of their
game going head to head is nothing short of
simply awesome..........
"Venue, Norway, April 2007, 11pm"
"Venue, Norway, April 2007, 11pm"
"Battling
with my old mate Grunde"
Ok..........."So whats the big deal!, you are simply showing off, nothing special in that, it
certainly has no real fishing purpose, Its probably impossible to
set hooks at that range, apart from chest beating in your little
click, whats the point?, and of course the classic "you'll catch nowt on there
mate!!"
Made above are some of the typical
examples of statements that we as distance casters have been faced
with,
usually exhibited by persons who first and foremost do not
understand that distance casting is simply a sport, a throwing event if
you will, these people would also do well to recognise that this can be
a very addictive sport which puts you right out there on the outermost
edge of your
ability, and there are many hidden elements involved which do help
enourmously when one switches from a piece of wool on the grass
to a fly on the water. Further more, there are a relative few in
the world who can consistently do it well, so I guess it is well worth
working towards.
Regarding the equipment used, what has become to be the recognised standard amongst many is that the event is played out with a 5# rod, which in the grand scheme of things can be regarded as a light line event, and I find this is what seperates the outstanding from the good, and the world class from the outstanding. It doesnt take much in the way of external contributory factors to make or break casts, and it is because of this, sheer skill bourne from practice holds it all together, and unlike most other casting events, untamed brute strength can quite often come second or third place.....!
Regarding the equipment used, what has become to be the recognised standard amongst many is that the event is played out with a 5# rod, which in the grand scheme of things can be regarded as a light line event, and I find this is what seperates the outstanding from the good, and the world class from the outstanding. It doesnt take much in the way of external contributory factors to make or break casts, and it is because of this, sheer skill bourne from practice holds it all together, and unlike most other casting events, untamed brute strength can quite often come second or third place.....!
"I once believed this image was me doing things right, Thanks to many hours practice and meetings with other distance casters I can now fully appreciate the many errors of my previous efforts"
As
stated above, what has become accepted between casters in comunication
with each other is that
they mostly use
stiff "off the shelf" rods of AFTM rated 5#'s Usually the 9ft Sage TCR
5#, basically we are all on a level
field and people can relate too and appreciate other casters efforts
this way, It
is also probably the best way to gauge your own progress against the
well known world superstars of this event, as in the United States
plenty of emphasis is placed on 5# casting at those huge event shows.
The current line for the job in hand is none other than the
3M/Scientific Anglers 5# ED which comes in two colours, one is green
and
is 105ft in length, and the other which is the one we use most is the orange
version
totalling 120ft in length and a head that comes in at 69.5ft.
What people "myself included" can and did make as their first mistake as they undertook the sport for the first time, was that they lead themselfs into a false sense of security regarding their present ability, for example, in the absence of a long tape measure, upon casting a full 90ft line plus a 9ft rod lengths of backing, coupled that with your 9ft leader on the end, one would assume that we have just got a cast which was getting on 108ft, I can assure you that this is definately not the way to gauge what you have just threw, if the cast was made against the tape you would probably find that it went more like 90ft, if you were lucky. To actually measure where the fly landed, not where the backing knott is in relation to the rod is the first reality check we expereince, and can come as quite a shock when first seen. The second mistake is that people cheat themselfs and start adding to thier own measurements, even if by simply rounding up to the nearest foot, again not good practice. When i was looking to reach 120ft last year I was stuck between 117 and 119 ft frustratingly for what seemed an eternity, there was simply no point saying I had threw 120 because I hadnt and nor I did know what it felt like to actually surpass that barrier. Thirdly, keep this side of the line!, all to easy to wander off up to the two foot mark to cast when your stuck on 118.
"geared up for a full days shootout down at Paul Ardens, with all casters to cast all outfits ranging from 0 weights to 8 weights"
The rules are quite simple,
a tape
measure is rolled out to somewhere around 130ft "well we can but
dream!", and each caster has three minuites each time to cast outfits
brought to the shootout, or if you have plenty of time during the day
you can utilise the following rule, each caster when its his turn can
have one cast of which he can count,
and then has two more, or have one cast, discount it if need be, but
must then take the best
of the next three. The worst demon that a caster can face when up
against the clock rule as above, is that those effortless casts which
were performed in practice now turn into distances which land some 10 -
15ft short of your current pace, please take heart in the fact that you
are in the company of fellow casters who know and appreciate why this
is happening, its called pressure!, and it can induce all kinds of
problems.
What people "myself included" can and did make as their first mistake as they undertook the sport for the first time, was that they lead themselfs into a false sense of security regarding their present ability, for example, in the absence of a long tape measure, upon casting a full 90ft line plus a 9ft rod lengths of backing, coupled that with your 9ft leader on the end, one would assume that we have just got a cast which was getting on 108ft, I can assure you that this is definately not the way to gauge what you have just threw, if the cast was made against the tape you would probably find that it went more like 90ft, if you were lucky. To actually measure where the fly landed, not where the backing knott is in relation to the rod is the first reality check we expereince, and can come as quite a shock when first seen. The second mistake is that people cheat themselfs and start adding to thier own measurements, even if by simply rounding up to the nearest foot, again not good practice. When i was looking to reach 120ft last year I was stuck between 117 and 119 ft frustratingly for what seemed an eternity, there was simply no point saying I had threw 120 because I hadnt and nor I did know what it felt like to actually surpass that barrier. Thirdly, keep this side of the line!, all to easy to wander off up to the two foot mark to cast when your stuck on 118.
"geared up for a full days shootout down at Paul Ardens, with all casters to cast all outfits ranging from 0 weights to 8 weights"
"Danish fly casting superstar and AAPGAI Master instructor "Lasse Karlssson" and I stringing up for a shootout in Denmark"
In all, when constantly pushing yourself at the edge of your casting and carrying ability time after time, most things below this become much easier very quickly, seeing what is regarded as normal fishing ranges appearing quite comfortable.
"AAPGAI Instructor and good friend Pete Tyjas going up against the tape, another one bit hard by the enjoyment of the bug!"