“15 year old George learned to cast a few weeks before this and was casting the Double Spey and Snake Roll for the first time… “
just shows what a great natural talent combined to a great casting coach can do. of course, it doesn’t hurt if that particular coach happens to be Ian Gordon…
from the ‘A driveway runs through it’ series
in slow-motion and color enhanced to see the line, leader and fluff better.
(i love the slomo bird songs !)
sharing this here today more for the visual aspect (for those who enjoy this kind of fly line flying stuff) rather than a how-to of the actual casts, this was a simple test film i did for myself years ago. i wanted to have an after-the-act visualization of the line in the air and its consequent layout. the slomo editing takes image quality a few notches down but gives a better sense of the line’s propagation.
the make-believe situation was fishing upstream in an encumbered stream. just a rod length to my left was the cabin, the cedar branches (they’re like velcro !) prevented casting over the casting shoulder, there was a phone line 4 meters above and bird-haven bushes behind me. the camera was free-held in my left hand while the right arm was performing the casts over my left shoulder.
in retrospect and in a real fishing situation, i would have reeled in at least a meter of line in to make it all more manageable and to have an easier time in case of a strike. although there’s only one serious ‘fish-lining’ (to cover the fish with the fly line/scaring it because something strange just landed over its head) most of the casts would have had a good chance to interest the ‘fish’. in a way, what i’m most surprised/pleased with is how my left hand managed to stay pretty well on track. as such, i’m thinking the left hand did a better job than the right.
here’s the same video unedited and in real time.
casting by Bernd Ziesche filmed by Aitor Coteron
a lot more than just a fun thing to do, what we’re mostly seeing here (and outside of some outstanding loops) is, although a fly rod makes fly casting and fishing easier, it’s not the rod that makes the cast.
take the caster out of the equation and nothing happens. we cast fly lines, not fly rods.
for sure, the ‘rod hand’ is flexing a bit but it’s nowhere comparable to the bend a rod experiences with the same cast. to understand concepts better sometimes its good to test extreme opposites and compare the results so, seeing that it is quite easy to get fantastic loop shapes with a broomstick (completely rigid lever) as well, it looks like we can remove the over-rated ‘rod load’ concept from the all-essential list of items that make a cast work or not. just as Bernd is doing here with his hand, it’s what (how) we do with the rod tip that makes the line do what we want it to do. it’s a lot more about how we move rather than what we use.
some food for thought… enjoy !
related articles
Speyside, Scotland
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in what is undoubtedly the absolute bestest fly rod review ever to end all fly rod reviews, directly from yesterday’s Sexyloops Front Page, ‘Tarzan’s’ (he used to be Zorro, not sure what happened) account bypasses all technical info and goes straight to the point. worship, anticipation, tangas, mysticism, South Africa and a whole lot of enthusiasm and wine. “awesome !” just doesn’t do it justice. enjoy !
i don’t do wine and mysticism but there’s one thing i’ll completely agree on with Zoran: the Hot Torpedo is the absolute best fly rod i have ever cast. period. i’ve had the Instructor model 9′ 6wt for four months now and the woW ! just won’t go away.
here it is on a special rod rack i made for it.
HT Delivery
Arrived last week (thanks Ákos) but only collected today after an exciting argument exchange with SA Post Office. Surprisingly enough, those SA postmen know what a superb Fly Fishing rod is, but Tarzan also knows what superb fly fishing rod is, so, I won this time, HT is finally in my hands!
I left a few PO employees’ and his manager behind me in bloodless conditions, but at least, they realised no one can fak with Tarzan, The King of the African Jungle (and monkeys).
Only Chuck Norris, maybe.
Coming home with Hot Torpedo
Soon as Rescue Emergency followed by two fat policemen behind arrived at Rivonia PO, I was driving like crazy to get to my house, forcing myself to not tear up the winning parcel right there on the parking, take the rod out and do those “swish swish” things!
So, I get home first.
You know, it is Autumn here in SA. Nice, pleasant and warm during a day and fresh and chilly during the night. Probably the best climate in the World. My grass still looks fresh and green, but covered with thousands of yellow leaves, beautiful contrast in colours.
That was my playground to check this rod out, still in the tube!
Epitome Wine on casting field
Even it was maybe too early (11:30 am), I opened one special bottle of red wine, which I bought directly in heavenly Cape Town vineyard one month ago. That wine is out of this world, it’s a mix between Syrah (Shiraz), Pinotage and Merlot, with a touch of blackberry and some magical South African Mountain herbs. Vineyard is situated in the CT Mountains, having Trout lake (pond) . Owned by English nobles couple, maybe one of the most beautiful vineyard and Vinery around. Staying on the bank of the Trout pond, one can take a view of the Mountains behind and Indian Ocean on the left (Atlantic Ocean is just 30 minutes driving on the right hand side(West) ).
Here, at the point where warm tropical salt waters met cold waters of Atlantic Ocean, spiced by fresh air from South Pole icebergs and pumped by hot climate from Africa continent from the North, life has nothing to do except to explode, blossoming in a glory of the Earth’s Creator Himself. And all around this vineyard are more vineyards. This is how Paradise must look like.
Copy and paste, if Creator had a computer, that’s how Paradise from Heavens come here on the Earth. Red Vine was Epitome 2007 :
Epitome itself deserves a full Front Page on Sexyloops, maybe even 3 or 4 pages, depending on how many bottles are on the table. So, why on this Earth I am talking about wine and yellow leaves in my back yard?
Because of the clear moment and because of colours.
Imagine that colour of green grass, yellow lives and dark red, but crystal colour of Epitome, which looks like a frozen wave of liquid Rubin Crystal, and then put HT next to it.
I am
HT tube comes in cherish Cordura, with black, solid zip on the cap and comfy black rubber handle. It feels very heavy and looks very solid, probably is hard aluminium tube inside.
I guess I can drive with my 2.5 tons 4×4 over it, and rod (for which I still don’t know how it looks like) will stay untouched. Would you like to know how Epitome tastes?
No, you don’t want to know that, it will lift you up to the sky, you will think it is your nicest day in your life, you will certainly don’t want to go back and you will forget that we are here because of bloody rod review. Wine testing – another entrance, please.
OK, I took one more sip of that Godly Wine, I closed my eyes, and asses the weight of tube again. It looks pretty heavy, didn’t I told you? Then, I gave another 5 minutes until countless, tasteful sensations and aromas generated by one wine sip randomly as it comes, now randomly vanished away. All the colours around me becomes more clear, gently pulling my inner me to another spiritual level, with my senses amplified by 100 times, making me to realise meaning of “I am”.
That was one of those moments, you know… when you simply “are”. I was there, standing on my lawn, with glass of wine in one hand and Hot Torpedo tube in another hand.
I am.
Opening the Hot Torpedo Tube and Tanga surprise
Then, suddenly, without any introduction, you know, I don’t like too much of introductions, I unzipped that bloody HT tube cap zip . It was about 1,5 hours after I left PO Rivonia and after 2 pages of introduction to this rod review.
Unzziip!
Oops, now I am trying to pull out that rod tangas (rod cloth, rod underwear whatever) but nothing is happening. I cannot pull rod cloth tangas rod out! Put my reading glasses on Ð and hop, I realise rod tangas cannot be pulled out, it is a part of internal tube furniture!
Now that’s clever, I said to Paul and Akos in my mind, and took another (number 3) sip of that Goodness wine.
You guess it already, I gave another 5 minutes to enjoy out of this world taste, aroma and wine bouquet, simply diving in the immense dimension of that Ruby Wine colour.
The Rod Appearance
So, because tangas cannot be removed , I decide to put my fingers in (any resemblance with SheepGirls business is highly intentional, and that was exactly what it felt like).
Rod tip part was the first to come out, so called FF rod clitoris in my neighbourhood. It looks so tiny , fragile and unprotected (I am talking about rod tip, btw). In the same time it has some kind of dynamic authority when I did that “shwish shwish”, cutting the air like a sharp knife used to cut our enemies flesh in our past lives. Fast and sharp but still smooth on some weird way.
OK, I get deeper with my spoiled fingers inside the tube, enjoying that smoothness of rod tangas while still looking for the feel, feel of the other rod parts, of course. And then, I pulled them all out. All of them. Part 2, 3 and 4 – the rod handle, so called butt in the same neighbourhood.
Fantastic! Rod blank is black matt. Looks cool, looks very danger, kind of macho on Gentleman’s way, you know. Iron fist in silky gloves. No shine will scare the fish with this rod. It was built by someone who knows how much scary green, blue or red shiny rod finish could impact the number of fish takes.
Blue thread over the guides legs looks fancy and classy. Forces you to look through it, like a 3D thread. Guides are uncommon, tiny and small, recoils in one word. Later during a casting, recoils proved their supreme impact on rod action and rod/line balance, time will show durability.
The Rod finally assembled
Fak, it looks really nice and classy. So simple and pure, but not boring. In contrary, very inspirational. Mat black rod blank, midnight blue (Atlantic Ocean style) 3D transparent thread, Chrome guides, beautiful healthy looking Portuguese cork with chrome seat is winning combination. Nothing to add nothing to deduct.
Reminds me on design approach from Tom Anderson, the Top World guitar luthier. When he build the guitar, one must simply stay with no words, no comments. It is about beauty by itself, when nothing is left behind to be said.
And then my first, second and third swish, this time with rod assembled! Swish, swish and swish…
Wow, something is happening here my friends, this not about every day mass produced rod. This rod has something! Swish, swish and swish again in a nervous trial to immediately find out what is so special… but no luck.
It feels special, but I do not know why? Tarzan on his knees? Tarzan at a loss for words or some good explanation or two? Don’t joke with Tarzan.
Hot Torpedo IS
I know, you will now guess I took another wine sip, and I can tell you, you are bloody right! I actually took two sips, because I always find myself to have 4th and 5th sip randomly. Why ? Older Sexyloopers will know why. This is SL , and there is no 4.
So, because there is no 4 , go figure…
This time, I didn’t allow that wine to pull me out of this World so easy, I stick to Hot Torpedo with my right hand, what secured me some kind of earthing. But still, Epitome phenomenon and taste explosion simply did another kind of swish, this time swish with myself, exactly as I did with Hot Torpedo five seconds before.
In a millisecond, measured by this world time, until observing the situation from the nearest cloud and watching down to myself standing on the lawn with that rod, I realise what is so special with that lineless rod swishing.
The Hot Torpedo IS!
Yes, that rod is simply: “is”.
One piece, one flow, one dynamic, one wave, one completely compact rod bastard, never seen before in my life. Maybe in dreams. No “dead spots” along the rod, not at all. Bouncing? What is bouncing? If one try to figure out what is bouncing, he will never make to learn about bouncing with this rod. Try some another rod, than you might find out what is bouncing.
All in all, this is simply one-piece, bouncing-free, loop-maker mutherfuker!
The Hot Torpedo, Short Casts, Roll Casts
OK, I prepared XXD #5 and #6 and Rio Distance Casting line, given to me by Paul as a prototype, before Rio faked up that line in final version (I was told they shortened a head for few meters).
First Ð XXD #5 (yes it was really XXD, my old private stock reserves, the last one of its kind in #5). Pulled out about 12m, with the rest of 3 meters in my left hand. Short cast aiming the yellowest leave on my lawn. Swish, ops, that was easy but sharp, light and precise. Casting is flawless, rod balance is amazing, doesn’t feel as a #6 rod, not at all. More like a powerful #5.
Let’s check again those labels on the rod: “HT Pro, Sexyloops, 9′ #6 weight, Zoran FP Team, Paul’s signature, No 22″…? Maybe &Aactute;kos or Spanish rod builder made a mistake? They sent me Competition in #5, with rod labelled as a #6?
Fak it, its feel so good, that really doesn’t matter, let’s do some Roll Casts. Roll will tell me. If its hard to load the rod and do the Roll Cast with 10-12 meters, then shit! Roll, roll and again roll. Then a real EFFF static Roll! Wow, it works with deep, sophisticated action penetrating right through the rod handle.
Let’s do some false casting with short line. Swish swish swish… My God! That loop point, that rod leg looks like ironed! I used to have a small, undesired wave just one meter or so behind the loop point on the bottom leg. With every rod, with every line. It has something to do with my forward flick, I didn’t make to get rid of it, so I decide to live with it, WTF.
With this thing, my famous wave in the bottom leg just disappeared. Vanished. No there anymore.
I thought I will jump on Distance Casting ASAP, but some magic keeps me stacked into that 12 meters casting for a long time. I couldn’t believe this rod is so god on short distance and for Rolls. It is a pure pleasure, and it was easy to load it with lazy, short stroke. Presentation could be so gentle and delicate, almost like with soft rod specially designed for big Caddis dry fly fishing.
All that with #5 line, meaning underlined! They must made a mistake, this is not #6 rod, this is a powerful #5 rod , for the God sake!
Medium Casts, Spey Casts
It took me a good few minutes to switch to another reel with #6 XXD, with my hands shaking all the way I was so impatient to prove that guys made a mistake sending me #5 instead of #6 bloody rod.
Ok, no time anymore for short casts, I just wind off the line up to say 25 meters and start with false casting. Oh, my Gosh!!!! That flick, that life, that action! Rod simply disappeared out of my sight, meaning I was able only to see and feel the loops, rod doesn’t exists anymore in a sense that I have to think about it, if you know what I mean.
Rod doesn’t feel “powerful” anymore, it felt just right. In other words, between my self and the loops was nothing. One biiig nothing. Black hole, emptiness, silence. Just my thoughts and loops. Except of the feel of the flick. Flick back, flick forward. It was somewhere deep in my mind, like a memory of rod, but not rod exactly but just a rod flick.
But what a loops my dear. Straight, ironed, no any bloody wave. My back cast simply exploded in its sharp, energized point, almost like in Paul’s demonstration from SL apps. I finally understand Paul’s teaching and about what he is up to.
Then Switch, Snake Switch, Snap Switch, and every other single hand Spey Cast I can imagine and beyond. Singing, that rod is singing.
Actually, this rod is just IS.
On the same way I AM.
Loops, these Loops are charging the air with energy of Sex… hence the name Sexyloops?
Then I checked the wine level in the bottle… Still enough, huh! But why is this rod so good on short and medium distance. Why the loading is not a problem with short and medium long line? Why is so easy to do even EFFA static Roll Cast? Switch is also easy? Distance must suffer. Nothing is perfect… that was what my Eng. brain continue to telling me, bloody educational training sucks.
Distance Casting and my teachers
OK, you hot bastard, now I will broke you, and send the broken rod in 9 pieces to Akos and Paul with instructions how to assemble two shorter rods out of those 9 pieces, waiting for them to send me a proper and normal stiff broomstick in a #6 weight.
So, I release full length of my lovely #6 XXD and start to torture so called Hot Torpedo in my neighbourhood, in a manner to come up with two shorter, baby hot torpedos.
Meanwhile, I had sip number 6, 7, 8 and 9 (or it was 10?). Epitome rules, what to say. The late afternoon Sun helps me to clearly see my loops against the dark trees in my backyard. Ideal scene and setup for filming Fly Casting movies. Epitome in my blood and some wild energy in my chests make me to do not feel my Golf Elbow, pain just disappeared.
Jason Borger from River Runs Through It was with me, Paul Arden was with me, Mel Kruger was with me, my Daddy was with me… all the important Fly Casters from my life were with me in that very moment, with all of their teaching I managed to assimilate, showing their influence in every piece along my loops… Or those were thoughts transformed in loops?
Zoom, zoom zoom (swish is for short, zoom is for long casts, btw) Oh my dear. This thing somehow and finally becomes a “proper” #6 rod. Weird, but only with maximum line in the air I could manage, I start to feel the real “stiffness” and power of this rod. And as much as I increased the power applied, the rod increases in its strength, recovery speed and response.
My loops get some kind of bonus. Bonus is when you think your loop will collapse and should be opened with the fly dropping on the ground, but instead, loop just proceed for a second or two to fly and unroll, like some anti-gravitational force is pushing it forward, keeping it in the air for longer.
That bonus, in line length, was significantly longer than my usually achieved distance. That bonus in loop shape was in waveless bottom leg, tighter, straighter, more energized loop points and faster loops in general. That bonus ,from caster perspective was in easiness of casting, in control and deep feeling of flick, from the sensitive rod tip up to the latest millimetre of Portuguese cork.
I was wondering if that was really me casting those loops, with loop shapes from Photoshop surgery. Late rotation get sense 100%, I just get enlightened what to do and how to do on the right way, adding a touch of delicate thrust on the end, just to confirm torpedo’s macho’s penetration ability.
And yes, Akos, Paul and Spanish rod builder were right, this is the #6 rod, the best #6 and rod I ever tried in my life.
Fishing
Of course, didn’t tried it on the fish yet, but tried to pulling trees and fight like with fish. The rod tip is surprisingly tippet friendly, I am sure it will amortise every wild fish run saving tiny tippets, but still with the lots of power to land it.
Ideal rod for fishing 6+ pounds Yellowish on Sterkfountain with 5X tippet, and for fat Drina Greylings with 6X.
Summary, finally You ARE here, congratulations!
Soft and stiff, but not soft and not stiff (?). Yes, you are reading it right, new terms and wordings must be applied to explain that. HT response is like a pain response. Fast and powerful, but delicate and surprisingly gentle when need. Light but not too light. Balanced to perfection. Just right weight in the hand. So friendly. Welcome home! Bouncing free. The biggest, immediately noticeable advantage of this rod.
Short casts, medium casts, long casts – all with authority and as it has been designed just for the each of those conditions separately, and then design assembled in one single rod, very effective synergy of three different rods.
Build Quality is on the highest possible level, top notch. Worth every bloody penny and a few more. It looks classy and rich, tastefully designed. One can use #5 or #6 line, depending on purpose.
This rod deserves its own fly fishing line line to be developed, The Sexyloops Hot Torpedo Fly Fishing Line, period. If the same level of innovative performances could be achieved with HT line as Paul did it with HT rod, it means the guys from Sexyloops Rod Factory Team nailed it 101%.
And yes, it will make you better caster and sexier person, for sure.
Ladies?
Cheers,
Zoran
well, here you go !
Swedish SuperRattus, always up there with the best (but quite discreetly) in showing us causes and effects in fly casting, demonstrates here what might be the smallest loop possible.
at the beginning of the film we’ll notice that the fly and rod legs are so close they actually touch (or skim might be a better word) before opening up again just before turnover. awesome !
this, of course is not a tailing loop as there is tension in both legs. enjoy !
what a nice way to say “what i think i’m doing isn’t really what’s happening”, something many if not most of us are guilty of when it comes to fly casting (and a lot more… )
see, and just as an example, i had made no plans whatsoever to make an enormous, five minutes-to-take-apart series of knots in my fly line in front of all those people while doing a casting demo. dumb brain…
not a country one usually thinks of when thinking of pike. just goes to show to expect it when you least expect it i guess.
filmed at lake Joca by Akos Szmutni, enjoy !
not at all mate !
first published by Will Shaw on the Sexyloops Front Page in December 2010, this one’s always in the back of my mind.
continuously forced to have ” what the fuck where they (not) thinking about when they designed this ?! “ thoughts when using, reviewing or just paying attention at design details for so many of the varied products we use as fly fishers leaves in many cases the impression that these ‘designers’ don’t actually fish at all or that they must simply be beer numb…
very expensive fly reels that are just copied from everyone else’s, very expensive fly reels that don’t have waterproof braking systems and fail when wet (we tend to fish around water), very expensive waterproof clothing that don’t have a dry inner space for wallet, rolling papers or car keys, fly keeper rings on very expensive rods, very expensive neoprene stockingfoot waders that make our feet sweat (and thus get clammy and cold), very expensive jackets whose hoods don’t cinch down so the first breeze pushes it back to let the cold and rain in and f’n useless rod alignment dots that are usually not in line !
the list could go on and on but i need to watch my Xanax consumption. add yet another self-inflating “It’s a tough job but someone’s gotta do it”-type remark on adverts from designers that are paid to not design and the bitch-slap hand instinctively rises so, yes, i really like Will’s article in a hot-blooded sort of way !
” Tea drinking is famous for being ritualistic – everyone has their own. The Japanese take it to extreme with fancy costumes and precise movements. Your own ritual might just involve firing up the Kelly Kettle, preheating the teapot, or being picky about whether you put the milk in first or last. Either way there’s a build up of tension culminating in the actual pouring of the treasured brew.
So, it’s a major pisser when the teapot doesn’t work.
You’d think it would be easy to design a teapot wouldn’t you? I mean there are thousand of beautifully efficient teapots out there, managing to get tea into mug with absolutely no fuss at all.
But, unbelievably, there are equally as many so-called teapots which can’t do this. For some reason their designers thought it would be fine to produce something which can’t be moved without (a) the tea spilling out of the lid and onto the table (b) the tea spilling out of the sides of the spout and on to the table, or (c) scalding the hand of the pourer because there is no insulation between the pot and the handle. Some of these gems manage to do all three simultaneously.
Equally unbelievably there seem to be thousands of cafes and service stations just as content to buy and use these things in bulk.
How does this happen? I mean the efficient blueprint does exist and isn’t patented – there should be no problem. And you only have to use the thing once to know it doesn’t work – we’ve had centuries to perfect this stuff and it blows my mind that we’re (it isn’t just me is it?) still suffering.
Maybe no one else is bothered.
In which case no one else is bothered about back pockets on wading jackets…
Some one tell me, what is the use of a back pocket on a rain jacket that can’t be accessed without taking said jacket off? You’re likely to be wearing the jacket because it’s either wet, or cold. So you’re not going to be too keen on disrobing to get whatever it is you’ve stuck in there, are you? Are you?!
There are quite a few things that might usefully be carried in a back pocket: A bottle of water, a spare pair of gloves or a woolly hat, a sandwich or two.
So I want a quick gulp of water. I’m standing in the middle of the river. I start off trying to unzip the back pocket in situ. This involves a fair bit of grunting and stretching and tugging on the jacket.
If you’re quite flexible then you might successfully locate and grab the zip (although this might be judged a miracle if the designer has thoughtfully hidden the tiny zip under a flap). Then you have to do more grunting to open the zip far enough to get into the pocket. This willresult in you dislocating your shoulder and pulling a muscle in your neck – which is probably a good thing as actually trying to retrieve anything from the open pocket will end in you slipping a disc, and falling in.
At this point you’ll give in and either (a) decide to die of dehydration, which tends to slow the catch-rate somewhat, or (b) wade angrily to the bank, take off your jacket IN THE RAIN! and get a soaking, thereby defeating the whole point of wearing the jacket in the first place!
Jeez!
I’m only aware of one jacket that puts the zip on the side of the pocket. Blimey I bet that was some kind epiphany when the designer came up with that one. Must’ve taken years of training and experience. Still you’ve got to give them some credit for thinking about it and solving the problem. Shame that this is the most expensive jacket currently available.
The bizarre thing is that in an industry that has no shame in copying other’s ideas no one else has thought to follow suit.
I can see the design meeting now. Everyone gathered around the design table to discuss Wading Jacket Improvement for 2012. Lots of blank faces, with blank design pads in front of them.
Well they’re not totally blank – some of them have several large blotches on them. Tea-coloured blotches… “
Will
contrary to myself, Will doesn’t get as angry about all these trivialities and manages to smile while casting, ( i haven’t slept since he first posted this article) and btw, even if they’re a big step forward, the vertical jacket back-pocket openings aren’t all that much easier to get in and out of either which of course makes me doubly happy that at least i’m not a tea drinker.
around the knees !
or
Heed the Pants !
or
Vision waders don’t hold up with time.
or
Fly Lines Fall at the same rate whether they’re close or far away.
an excellent demo by our beloved friend Mike Heritage. not sure what the problem was with the water pants but it was a welcome distraction from all that distance casting silliness. thanks Mike !
one of the more interesting activities of the Sexyloops Gatherings is the demos we give to the group. most participants are casting instructors, guides, and fervent fishers of all levels and fishing specialities but more importantly, friends. this last part means we can get and give honest constructive feedback on each others ideas and demonstrations. it’s not just the usual clap, thank you and walk away.
the learning curve goes way high in these situations, specially after a while of consideration and testing and adapting and incorporating or not what has been learned to our own ways.
this year i did two demos, one on striking, fighting and landing fish using the rod’s potential to its maximum while maintaining as close-to-possible perfect tension on the fish and another on casting Tenkara rods.
the SF&L demo has been part of all my courses for the last year and the Tenkara was mostly to share this ‘newish’ style of equipment to several people who hadn’t had the chance to either see or try one out. it was an extremely easy demo because outside of exploring a different dimension of fly fishing there’s absolutely nothing to learn casting-wise because it’s just another fly rod. most where blown away however by seeing how easy it is to have extremely nice drifts with these rods in fast waters.
speaking of waters, i’ve been close to Glasgow for the last few days where the waters mostly come from above, it’s not so warm and i only managed three salmon yesterday on river Tay but those salmon happened to be babies that fit in my hand.
related articles
noun
1 an assembly or meeting, esp. a social or festive fly fishing and fly casting event or one held for a specific purpose: the Scottish Sexyloops Gathering.
2 a set of printed signatures of a book, gathered for binding or: for the purpose of letting you all know why there won’t be a whole lotta posts on The Limp Cobra in the next few days.
gather |ˈgaT͟Hər|
verb
1 [ no obj. ] come together; assemble or accumulate: a crowd gathered in the casting field.
2 [ with obj. ] bring together and take in from scattered places or sources: we have gathered all the fly casting instructor/geeks we could find. hopefully all this will happen without any intervention from the police or fire brigade.
• pick up from the ground or a surface: they gathered up their fly rods after tea.
• collect (cookies or other chocolate-filled foods) as a harvest.
• collect (coffee, chocolate-flavored energy bars, etc. because it’s all too easy to forget these vital things when you’re in the swing of things) for food.
• draw together or toward oneself: she gathered the fly rod in towards her shoulder to initiate the back cast.
3 [ with obj. ] infer; understand: her clients were, I gathered, a prosperous group of casters.
4 [ with obj. ] develop a higher degree of: blimey ! i had a feckin’ blast !
5 [ with obj. ] summon up (a mental or physical attribute such as one’s thoughts or strength) for a purpose: he lay gathering his thoughts together before he gathered himself enough in-the-groovness before trying to perform a VooDoo cast at the gathering.
apart from a lot of fishing on the way and back down (and testing a new tenkara rod given for review with the goal of landing a salmon with it !) , a lot driving on the left side of the road, kilt & scones shopping and tons of coffee, that about sums up the next two weeks for me and the casting part at least will be happening here-
(weather looks nice and clear and all’s green, not white. good sign)
with the hope there will be a decent internet connection to share some picks along the way as well as a few Scottish jokes (just kidding, we all know there is no such thing as Scottish jokes), i bid you all a great day. see ya soon !
cheers,
marc
“Have a good look at me and smile because it’s probably the last time you’ll look at me without wanting to throw me away.”
how many times have you heard the gleeful chant “I just cast 30m/99 ft !!!” ? (with as an example the average line of 27m/90ft plus a 9′ leader) and that person believes the fluff-fly is actually that far from their feet ?
well, i’ve heard it a lot but since Stanley was usually missing from the equation, my reply tends to be a polite smile and maybe a “far-out !” for encouragement all the while knowing they’re usually 20 or so % off.
- with the average angler, in most cases the above distance once Stanley’d might be something around 25m at best.
- with an experienced caster (in this case meaning someone who has good to great control of their cast) that distance might be around 27-28m.
- and a distance competitor maybe between 28 and 29m.
please take notice of the ‘maybe’s‘ and ‘might be’s‘ above. there are too many countless variables involved to reach definite conclusions. however, my point here was to demonstrate ballpark proportions for the three groups of casters.
as can be expected, the one’s who regularly practice distance casting will be the most consistent and their casts will go furthest but there is a common denominator to the different levels: no one is actually reaching 30m. because fly lines simply don’t fly out and land all straight, taught and perfect. (or at least it’s so rare that it’s basically a freak incidence when/if it happens)
with our 30m example, to get to that distance consistently would mean being able to cast much further consistently and then ‘holding-back’ to reach the 30m smoothly, precisely and with straight line layout: actions that are extremely hard to manage when trying to cast ‘all-out’.
of course (and thankfully), most fishers/casters couldn’t care less about exact distances, so this all is just a reminder of a common phycological state/belief that things aren’t always as they seem.
thanks to friends like Mel Krieger who stated “The distance between your head and your hand can be a long way” and not-so friends like Stanley who likes to slap our egos once in a while, in the end both will put us back on the right track and make us work a little harder to live up to our expectations.
if you want to cast further and don’t have a tape measure, get one. as stated above, you’ll spend most of your time wanting to destroy it but at the same time, deep inside you’ll be happy to have this new friend and this one always tells the truth.
(a little nudge in the ribs to all my distance buddies… 
)
far from the quaint yet confusing spey cast presentations of yore (and not-so-yore… ) here’s a lot of very good explanations and demonstrations on this foundation cast by one of the best, Eoin Fairgrieve.
the double spey’s main purpose is to easily and safely reposition the line prior to D-loop set up on the downwind side of the caster while creating a pronounced waterborne anchor*.
in the video Eoin points out that he’s on river right ** and has a downstream wind, therefore to cast safely, the D-loop needs to go on the downstream side, something the single spey couldn’t do.
whether using a single or double hand rod, short, middle or long belly line, this cast is not only pleasant to perform but can get you out of tricky situations easily. unfortunately, the whole roll/spey cast family is most often referred to as the casts to use when there’s obstructions behind the caster but that’s just one reason.
often ignored, safety issues such as when fishing from boats with a friend(s), casting very heavy flies or in extreme wind situations are other areas where rolls and spey casts shine.
the only real limitations the double spey might have is casting very far (the single spey definitely outclasses it there) or when using easily water-logged dry flies as they tend to not stay dry when dragged through water during the set up or presentation roll cast but i’ll have an alternative spey cast created just for this purpose for you soon.
on the other hand, the double spey is safer and usually easier to get ‘just right’ than the single spey when using fast-sink tips and specially, big and heavy flies.
to conclude, if you’re new to spey casts or want to get better at them, the best you could do is learn:
a) the roll cast
b) the double spey
c) the single spey
in that order and off both shoulders and preferably with a longish line. (long lines teach us to cast better as there’s less room for mistakes. from there, adapting to shorter lines is a breeze)
once those skills are acquired all other spey casts and spey styles will be a simple matter of slight adjustments as they are only variants of the three above.
*Eoin refers to this as “sustained anchor”, a term coined from the Skagit school. according to Ed Ward, the creator of the term, the sustained anchor, a deliberate and prolonged pause before line reversal into the D-loop can only be applied to Skagi-specific casts with i guess, Skagit lines. this is all being worked on/talked about/debated/and hopefully made clear… these days over on the Sexyloops forum. more on this sustained anchor and other Skagit stuff later.
** river right/right bank- the angler has the current going left to right to the intended fishing area
river left/left bank- the angler has the current going right to left to the intended fishing area
should the angler be in the middle of the river the left or right bank/river designation will be determined as above by current direction and intended fishing area.
if there’s any confusion, imagine you’re on a bridge looking downstream. on the right is right bank, on the left is left bank.
here’s an organ that most of us have but is seldom used or brought up in casting discussions.
to bring back a quote from Bern Ziesche posted here at the beginning of the year that fits well with today’s topic: “You can’t feel, hear, smell or taste the quality of your back cast but you can see what happens” and that’s something i completely agree with, now on the other hand, by opening up our holed appendages we can easily determine how fast we are moving the rod either on the back cast or front cast and more specifically, and because this can lead to problems, if we are moving it too fast.
the faster the rod moves, the more noise it makes as it moves through the air.
compared to a lot of other more intricate moves we need to make to control a fly line well (such as tracking the rod tip in a straight line, just to name one), less ‘whooosh‘ or more ‘whoooooooosh‘ is an easy concept that anyone can understand and instantly put into application with every cast without having to learn anything at all because we already know how to hear.
it’s all too easy to get overwhelmingly absorbed by the casting process, specially if we’re working on technique or casting to some big ‘ole fish, leading to cloaking some senses to favor others such as the visual or feeling so, if we want to hear the rod all we have to do is remind ourselves to do it. it’s an acquired skill but a very simple one to acquire.
ironically, the sound of the video isn’t very good… 
but just crank up the volume and listen to some great tips from Chris Myers. enjoy !
just out and designed to do everything listed below very-very well, i’ll add that as an added bonus it also brings a smile to every cast.
after playing with one of the prototypes for the last several months that last part is indeed subjective but that’s what really sums it up to me.
from Mike Barrio’s online page:
The Barrio Switch floating fly line is a full floating line designed for two handed Spey and overhead use on Switch rods.
Many Switch lines on the market are sold as lines for both one and two handed casting, thus being a little light for two handed use and too heavy on a long rod to be comfortably managed single handed.
The Barrio Switch features a compound rear taper similar to our SLX single handed line, this helps to produce sharp controllable loops from dead line roll casts and allows more line to be carried into the D loop when we have space and the need arises. The head length to the colour change is approximately 30ft on the Switch and up to 6ft can be overhung for long range casts where required.
Barrio Switch Lines are designed to work well with poly leaders or 10 to 15ft heavy butted tapered salmon leaders. With the right leader set up, these lines will delicately present a micro tube on a long leader in low summer conditions, yet will also carry “heavier gear” for fishing bigger waters, high flows on spate rivers, or bouncing flies at depth for Pacific species.
The 7/8 and 8/9 lines will carry fast sinking 10ft salmon poly leaders, lengths of “T” tip material and moderately sized copper or brass tubes straight from the box, however if your fishing dictates that fast tips and big flies are usually the order of the day, then the line can be cut back by up to 18 inches from the tip.
Our 5/6 line will carry any density of trout poly leader up to 10ft in length and the 6/7 will carry 6ft to 8ft salmon poly leaders in any density and short “T” tips, plus long tapered leaders for fishing small flies to spooky fish in thin calm water.
Target head weights:
Switch 5/6 – 340 grains (approx 22 grams)
Switch 6/7 – 380 grains (approx 24.5 grams)
Switch 7/8 – 425 grains (approx 27.5 grams)
Switch 8/9 – 470 grains (approx 30.5 grams)
* Please note that our fly line profile diagrams do not include information regarding any compound tapers that we may have included within the profiles and that the dimensions may also vary for each individual line weight.
since i get asked all the time: Barrio fly lines are not available in any store but only through Mike’s online shop. not going through middlemen explains why they are all at more than reasonable prices and those prices include shipping anywhere in the World.
they are all highest quality premium fly lines more often than not better than any of the big-name brands in their respective category.
click the image to access the Barrio Fly Line page.
for a slightly less bewitching method to conquer this shameful habit you could always try this: LOco WriSt !!!
image and casting wisdom via Mark Surtees
(somewhat) related articles
by Lee Cummings
over the last few years and among a whole lot of other things, Lee’s been doing a lot of research on shooting heads and more particularly, short, mini and micro heads to be used in the tightest of areas where other lines can’t deliver (pun intended), such as this little seatrout stream in northern England. 
sure, the need for these is situation-dependant but it does give us the possibility to fish in areas we might generally pass. (and if we pass them there’s a good chance other anglers do it as well, meaning that fish who aren’t comfortable in high-pressure areas will happily congregate there)
without going into the micro-short, the set up below directly inspired by the Skagit school is a very good example of out of the box thinking even though it actually comes straight of a box without any cutting up, weighing, measuring or other fancy finagling. taking the Skagit concept and scaling it all down gives this, and that’s a good this !
“This awesome little set up is handy for fishing the tightest of the tight when it comes to available casting space.
The head in this example compromises of a 5ft Rio floating Skagit cheater coupled with the 1.5″ per second 15ft sink tip that came with the Rio Skagit system.
The running line is simple mono so as to offer minimum resistance and maximum range to this super short and deadly fishing shooting head.”
and if goes about it the same way he casts there’s bound to be a few knots involved as well… 
created as a continuation of the paper editions of My First Trout and My First Salmon previously mentioned here in the ‘brainwashem’ young series, Eoin Fairgrieve takes one big step further with this new publication by providing it in digital form to share with our wee ones.
“Written by professional fly casting instructor, Eoin Fairgrieve, My First Salmon is an interactive children’s book about learning to fish for Atlantic salmon. This book has been inspired by Eoin’s work teaching thousands of children to fish, and comprises of sixteen chapters covering all aspects of fly fishing for this prized species of fish. It includes motion graphics, interactive educational tools, and an image gallery. The book is written in an informative and engaging style, and children will learn about water safety, the salmon’s anatomy and lifecycle, and the importance of maintaining a healthy riverside environment. Other chapters include information on the Atlantic salmon’s amazing ocean migration as well as essential tackle and fly casting techniques. This publication is an ideal reading and reference guide for any child interested in learning to fish for salmon, and is particularly suitable for children between the ages of 9-16 years.”
a sample page from the book on salmon anatomy
outside of bringing them to the water (and as a perfect addition to this), at $6.99 it’s one of the better gifts you give your kids or a friend’s or relative’s.
click either pic to access the iTunes store.
ffs, that’s better casting than what i’ve seen a lot of people do and the goofy beasts don’t have thumbs or even hands for that matter…
~ Stephen King
at first i thought this might be a long tirade about that first cast to a sighted fish, you know, the jitters… ( specially when it’s a beauty !), but then i realized i’d simply forgotten to eat today.
continuing with the Fly Line series, today’s gem comes to us from Lee Cummings.
“One of the questions I normally ask a client whilst setting up his/her own equipment is “may I ask what line you are currently using there?” and secondly “what is the head length ?”
These are not trick questions, I just simply wish to learn about the clients mindset as to why they chose that line, or why it was recommended to them. Quite often the client remembers the name of the line manufacturer and even the model name and its AFFTA classification number, but there the knowledge of it often ceases.”
“If a line of inappropriate and excessive head length has been purchased, the angler “after some frustrations” does the sensible thing and only false casts out to a length which they can manage, sadly the outer most reach of their fishing is regulated by a head length issue right there.”
and that’s just a few snippets i hope will wet your appetite for more.
if you’ve ever gone out and bought a well reputed fly line and wondered why it wasn’t living up to your expectations you’ll find some very important thoughts in Lee’s highly recommends article. enjoy !
not quite like hiring an experienced guide or casting instructor but here’s the next best thing.
in this 50 or so minute film series we’ll get a whole heck of a lot of shared trout fishing knowledge from one of the best and more innovative fly fish everything-guys of his time (and still going strong), Mr Gary Borger.
filmed maybe 50 million years ago, we’ll notice that not all that much has changed. we’ll even see a few techniques and things that have fallen into the past but just might be a breath of fresh air for your future fishing. enjoy !
another lovely drawing from Takashi Kuwahara that brings a thought:
when returning a captured fish we give it the chance to grow, reproduce and then we all get to capture it and it’s offspring again and continue the cycle.
when we loose a fly to a tree we’re giving another angler the opportunity to try it out and hopefully find success with our dearly departed, continuing the fly’s life cycle…
via CustomFlies.dk
such an interesting mix of “I know better but probably won’t”.
as casting/fishing instructors this situation comes up often. even with paying students.
we have to find out just how much the person(s) want to put into it and work from there.
far from being a ‘ha-ha, look at him screw up’ post, i particularly like the humble honesty involved in making and sharing this video and it’s accompanying words.
thing is, he’s not bad at all. nothing a little guided practice wouldn’t fix….
“I am not a good flycaster, in every cast I try to get longer than I ever have before, as a result of that, I often have knots on my leader that are not supposed to be, at other times I just have bad casting days. I guess I should practice more instead of fishing, but then again, then I wouldn’t have the time to go fishing as much.
it’s been t-shirt, bees and bats coming out and miniskirt blossoming spring days lately here in the sunny south but the road north seems to be all white…
anyway, the van’s packed, coffee’s brewing and i’m hoping you all have a special week.
expect a lot of pics and hopefully some vids as i’ll be with some of the best fly casters in the World. see ya soon !
i remember Lee Cummings bringing this up several years ago and i’m pretty sure it’s still in the back of his mind.
the idea being, through high-tech chemistry and ingenuity, someone could devise a fly line that would change colors as it goes through various degrees of tension throughout the cast. the tension glasses would allow the caster or viewer to see these colors while the line is dancing in the air and as a bonus, look extremely cool and cause large amounts of envy by having shades no-one else has !
it’s easy to see how a visual back-up confirmation of explanations such as this would greatly benefit casters of all levels.
“With a beginner, one way I like to describe fly casting is to get them to imagine that the head of the fly line out beyond the rod tip is like a piece of bath plug chain of the same length and the typical objective of a normal overhead cast is to get every ball and link of this chain moving in the direction toward intended target area prior to ceasing to apply force with the rod.
If we don’t do this then there is the risk that the last few links/balls at the very far end of the chain were not fully utilized as available weight during the casting process and as one result, the leader and fly of which is attached may not be directed accurately at the target.”
as per Lee’s ‘vision’ demonstrated by the photo-shopped image above, bright red would designate highest tension and i guess, bright blue when completely slack. (blue being at the opposite end of the visible spectrum for humans)
anyhow, somewhere right in the middle of downright absolutely f’n brilliant and something pulled from an old pipe-dream sci-fi flick, i fully applaud this kind of thinking and imagination because, even if it never really comes through, (but i hope it does ! this already exists so changing a few things here and there and transposing the idea to a fly line doesn’t seem so exotic) the idea might lead on to another way of achieving the same result, furthering the knowledge of fly casting without resorting to horrendous and boring charts, graphs and equations that have become the norm when discussing casting physics.
“I think if I ever get these glasses it would open up a whole new dimension to fly casting pleasure, actually seeing tension change with the eye would probably stand right by what we have actually come to learn what it is that we feel when we cast.”
for the complete Fly Casting seen through Line Tension Glasses article click this link or the pic. put on your shades and enjoy !
related articles
with the hope the following article will help clear out a few ideas on fly line selection and since there’s been some recent comments regarding the use of level lines…, here’s an introductory excerpt on the hows and whys of fly lines tapers from Bruce Richards‘ seminal book Modern Fly Lines via Virtual Fly Casting.
as a reminder, Bruce was head line designer at Scientific Anglers for over 30 years. we can consider him to be the ‘father of modern fly lines’, “What Bruce doesn’t know about flylines, probably isn’t worth knowing. In fact some of what Bruce *does* know about flylines you probably wouldn’t want to know either.”
~ Paul Arden
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“The primary purpose of the front taper of the fly line is to allow proper delivery of the fly and leader. The taper from the belly of the line to the tip acts to reduce the mass of the line. As the loop of any fly line travels through the air, the mass of the moving part of the line decreases because that part becomes shorter. In tapered lines it decreases even more because the line becomes smaller towards the tip. This increases acceleration, resulting in greater wind resistance and greater energy dissipation, and therefore a more delicate delivery.
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Obviously, heavy and wind resistant flies offer more resistance to the fly line than light, small flies. Lines with long front tapers have less mass in the front section of the line than lines with shorter front tapers. Less mass means earlier acceleration, earlier dissipation of energy, and a more gentle, less powerful delivery which will effectively deliver small, light flies, like most trout flies. Lines with short front tapers dissipate energy less efficiently, resulting in a more powerful “turnover”, suitable for the heavier, wind resistant flies usually used for bass or saltwater fishing. |
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It should be mentioned that the tapered leaders tied to the end of fly lines continue the dissipation of casting energy. If you have ever cast a line without a leader, you probably noticed it did not cast well. Lines are designed to be cast with leaders. A properly designed line will have just the right amount of energy left at the end of the cast to turn over the leader and deliver the fly. If a line is cast without a leader, it will ‘kick’ and be most difficult to cast. Lines are designed to be cast with a particular leader commonly used with that size type of line. A light fly line will be overpowered by a heavy saltwater leader; the line will not have enough energy to turn it over properly. By the same token, a light trout leader won’t be able to handle the large amount of energy a heavy saltwater line passes to it, and the line will ‘kick.’ Casting a level line with no front taper demonstrates very clearly how tapering effects the way a line casts. Even with the correct tapered leader, level lines ‘kick’ when casting because thy have so much undissipated energy left when the line straightens. To avoid the kick the caster must modify his or her casting stroke to reduce the amount of casting energy by slowing the line and by casting with a larger, more wind-resistant loop.
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Level lines turn over very abruptly and land on the water forcefully because the energy dissipates poorly because the tip is just plain heavy without the line taper. Sinking lines are said to ‘hinge’ when cast; there is a significant change in the density where the floating and sinking parts of the line join. If cast correctly, a properly designed sinking-tip line does not ‘hinge’ but rather ‘kicks’ just as the level line does. The tip of a sinking line is very heavy and dissipates energy poorly. To compound the problem, lines with very high density tips are very small in diameter and offer less wind resistance even when the do finally accelerate. The key to casting these lines effectively is the same for level lines, namely to open the casting loop and slow the line down as much as possible.
The ability of the caster is important to consider. Lines with longer, more delicate tapers require good loop control and may be difficult for an inexperienced caster to use. There are lines on the market specifically geared toward beginning casters, lines with shorter tapers that dissipate energy less quickly during the cast. Most novices cast with relatively wide, open loops that are quite wind-resistant. If a line with a long, delicate taper is cast with this kind of loop, too much energy is dissipated and the line and leader will not straighten. With a shorter, more powerful taper, effective deliveries can be made even with less than perfect technique. |
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Instructors may often overlook the fly line a student is casting with. Ask the student what line it is they are using. This may be especially important when dealing with advanced or intermediate casters.
For example, many intermediate casters attempting to cast a line to 75 or 85 feet are simply unaware that in the case of a Weight Forward line, they must learn to control and understand what “overhang” is, and how it will affect their ability to control the line for longer casts. Overhang is simply the position of the rod tip in relation to the distance between the running line and the end of the rear taper. While experienced casters can control lots of overhang the intermediate caster should not attempt to cast with more than 2 or 3 feet of overhang outside of the rod tip. It is highly recommended that an approximate overhang point be marked with a permanent magic marker allowing the student/ caster a consistent “pick up” point that will promote greater efficiency when learning to cast a longer line. Again we turn to “Modern Fly lines” for a detailed description of why understanding “overhang” is critical. |
“A fly line is controlled by the tip of the fly rod, the angler’s last point of contact. The rod tip moves the part of the line that is in the rod tip, and that part of the line moves the rest of the line. For the rod-tip part of the line to move and control the rest of the line effectively, it should have enough mass to move the line connected to it. A good caster can cast effectively with running line in the tip, however, if the line is kept very straight during the cast. Energy can be transmitted through the straight, small- diameter running line to the head of the line. But it usually desirable to choose a line with a belly that will insure the belly is at least very close to the rod tip during overhead casting, roll casting, or mending.”In closing it is important to note that it is the fly line that delivers the fly to the target. Understanding how fly lines transmit energy to deliver the fly to the target is predicated on a firm understanding of taper design. |
as alluded to in yesterday’s post Double Tapered vs Weight Forward Fly Lines – Which is really better?, there’s an enormous amount of let’s say, less than informative information available on the net when it comes to explaining this or that about fly fishing, fly casting and basically fly-anything.
here’s a real gem in the rough in the matter. the poor guy is so lost at attempting to teach us something that he doesn’t know. it would be sad if it wasn’t so funny…. enjoy !
btw, it’s this.
and to get a little more technical, a taper is:
taper |ˈtāpər|
noun:
• a gradual narrowing: (click the link at the top of the page for Bruce Richards’ basic explanation of mass, weight distribution and other goodies and how they affect a fly line’s performance).
verb:
•diminish or reduce or cause to diminish or reduce in thickness toward one end : the tail tapers to a rounded tip | [ with obj. ] : David asked my dressmaker to taper his trousers.• [ no obj. ] gradually lessen: the impact of the dollar’s depreciation started to taper off .
ORIGIN Old English (denoting any wax candle), dissimilated form (by alteration of p- to t-) of Latinpapyrus (see papyrus), the pith of which was used for candle wicks.
hmm, it turns out that thanks to Mr. DT we found out that the word taper finds it’s origins in candles and we can use it when chit-chatting about trousers so, i guess it aint all bad.
by Bruce Richards via Sexyloops
“What Bruce doesn’t know about flylines, probably isn’t worth knowing. In fact some of what Bruce *does* know about flylines you probably wouldn’t want to know either.”
~ Paul Arden
constantly amazed that this subject is still an issue with so many anglers, on so may forums and by so many ‘experts’, i thought it might be of worth to pull up this article and let Mr FlyLine explain it himself.
of further interest we’ll note that the exact same principles of mass (or of more practical use, diameter), tapers and lengths apply equally to leaders. a leader is to be designed as the continuation of the fly line and not an entirely separate entity. what applies to line selection applies to leader selection. the two work hand in hand, so to speak, to enable the fly angler to meet the specific casting/fishing challenge at hand.
“Few fly line subjects have been discussed more than which is the better taper, double taper (DT) or weight forward (WF). The answer is, neither is inherently better, but one may be better than the other for you.
A lot of generalizations are made about these two tapers based on outdated or incorrect information. We’ve all heard that DT lines are more delicate, give better control, roll cast better, etc. In some cases some of these things are true, but not always.
Delicacy of delivery is determined by the mass of the front part of a fly line. This is determined by line diameter (which relates directly to mass), and taper length. A line with a small diameter tip and a long taper has much less mass up front than a line with a large tip and short taper. Don’t be mislead by taper length alone, a line with a long front taper but a large tip diameter will not deliver delicately. A DT and a WF line with the same taper and tip diameter will deliver the same.
For many years most DT and WF lines were made with the same tip diameter and front taper length so there was no difference in how they delivered, although many claimed there was. Today, some of the DT lines are actually designed to be used specifically for spring creek type fishing and do have longer tapers and/or smaller tips.
Anytime a line (or any product for that matter) is designed to do one thing very well it usually has a shortcoming somewhere else. Lines that are designed to be very delicate have little mass in the front to carry larger or heavier flies, and don’t handle windy conditions well. It takes a better caster to throw the kind of loops it takes to make these lines perform their best. And no, DT lines aren’t more “accurate” at normal fishing distances, that is entirely in the realm of the skill of the caster. Good consistent loops and practice are where accuracy come from.
It is very true that DT lines are easier to control and roll cast at longer distances than WF lines. At shorter distances there is no difference. The key to line control and roll casting is that large diameter line belly must be in the rod tip. If small diameter running line is in the tip it is nearly impossible to transmit enough energy through it to the belly to make the line do what you want. What many people don’t consider is that WF lines control and roll cast as well as DT lines at the distances most people fish.
Most WF lines have heads that are 35-40 ft. long. Add a 9 ft. leader and the distance to the fly from the end of the head is 44-49 ft. To that, add the length of the rod since roll cast normally end with the rod parallel to the water and pointed at the target. That is the distance at which DT and WF lines control and roll cast the same. There aren’t many typically trout fishing situations that require roll casts longer than that, and not many casters who can roll cast that far. What this all means is that DT and WF lines work pretty much the same at the distances we fish most of the time.
Certainly if someone fishes a big river that requires a lot of long distance roll casting and mending he or she should consider a DT line or a WF with a long head. Rods longer than 9 ft. are almost a necessity also, roll cast distance and mending performance is directly dependent on rod length.
Everybody knows that WF lines are better for distance than DT lines, but is that really true? Well, yes, but the difference isn’t as big as you might think. Certainly WF lines shoot better because of their small, light running lines. But remember, this benefit starts at 44-49 ft. when the running line is in the rod. If you will be making a lot of long casts it is certainly a little easier to do with a WF line, but don’t think that DT lines won’t shoot, they will, just not as far. With the advent of new slick coatings like AST DTs shoot better than ever.
For most people it probably doesn’t make a lot of difference which taper they use. Most of us fish at distances less then 44-49 ft. which is where WF’s start to shoot better, but lose line control. Most of us don’t have the need, or the ability, to roll cast longer than 45 ft..
So, how do you decide which is right for you? If you do mostly small fly fishing at short to medium range there is no reason not to get a DT line. There is always the budget issue, DT lines are essentially 2 in 1 so are less expensive over time. If you are consistently throwing long casts you will be able to make them with fewer false casts with a WF line, but lose the ability to do long roll casts and mends, if you ever need them, and are able. For most of us it doesn’t make much difference which taper we use most of the time, make your decision based on how much short distance fishing, or long range fishing you do.”
“The cobra effect occurs when an attempted solution to a problem actually makes the problem worse. This is an instance of unintended consequence(s). 
The term cobra effect stems from an anecdote set at the time of British rule of colonial India. The British government was concerned about the number of venomous cobra snakes in Delhi. The government therefore offered a bounty for every dead cobra. Initially this was a successful strategy as large numbers of snakes were killed for the reward. Eventually, however, enterprising persons began to breed cobras for the income. When the government became aware of this, the reward program was scrapped, causing the cobra breeders to set the worthless snakes free. As a result, the wild cobra population further increased. The apparent solution for the problem made the situation even worse.
A similar incident occurred in Hanoi, Vietnam, under French colonial rule. The colonial regime created a bounty program that paid a reward for each rat killed. To obtain the bounty, people would provide the severed rat tail. Colonial officials, however, began noticing rats in Hanoi with no tails. The Vietnamese rat catchers would capture rats, lop off their tails, and then release them back into the sewers so that they could procreate and produce more rats, thereby increasing the rat catchers’ revenue.”
well, at first this might seem like it might put a damper on things here at TLC (specially in the fly casting ‘debunking myths’ section) but au contraire ! i’ll just have to strive to find and learn more and better info and find ways to convey new concepts in contemporary fly casting to a slightly greater public. it’s the Year of the Snake, time to start rattling some tails !
quoted text and images via Wikipedia, gif found on Tumblr
fly casting can be very easy and it can be extremely complex, it’s all a matter of how far we want to take it. you can be an expert in history without ever having made history but you can’t cast a fly line with just theory. whatever level we want to achieve won’t happen without a certain learning curve and without practice. Bruce here gives us some very solid advice and ideas. i hope you’ll both enjoy and benefit from this master’s experience and wisdom.
“A lot has been written about how to cast effectively. I’ve taught over 3000 people to cast. The one single most important factor in successfully learning to cast, or improving your casting is practice. A lot of my students spend good money and time to take lessons, but if they don’t practice what they have learned it will be lost. Developing good practice habits is often the key to becoming a good caster.
It doesn’t take a lot of time to practice, but practicing fairly often is important. To make a bad analogy, practicing casting is a lot like training a puppy. The best way to train a puppy is in frequent short sessions, not all day once a month, the same goes for casting. Every day is best, but 3-4 times a week is certainly adequate. I have found the best practice sessions are usually 15-20 minutes long, for me in the evening after work. I like to leave a rod rigged and ready in the garage that I can quickly grab and head to the back yard. Having water isn’t necessary for a good practice session, except for roll casting. If you want to practice roll casting on the grass all you need to do is secure the end of the leader to something, to simulate the resistance of water. I like to use a clipboard, just clip the end of the leader in the spring clip and you are ready to cast.
Of course it is important to practice the right things. If you are having trouble correcting problems or improving your casting you need to reference a good book or video, or better yet, a good instructor. Books and videos can be very helpful but don’t provide the feedback a qualified casting instructor can.
I think it is very important to practice to a target. Too many casters practice by just throwing loops at the same distance without paying much attention to their delivery. Being able to hit a target is often pretty important when fishing. A technique I have used very successfully when practicing follows. This drill works very well when practicing for demanding casting tasks like fishing for bonefish or tarpon.
Determine a good place to stand in the middle of a good sized open area. Scatter 6-8 targets (I use paper plates) around at various distances appropriate to the kind of fishing you do, and in different directions. Stand in the center of the targets and make a cast to the one in front of you. Strip the line in short, turn your body one way or the other and make your next cast at the target you see first. Try to make each cast with no more than 3-4 false casts. Repeat this process until you’ve made several casts at each target.
This drill will teach you to quickly work out line, judge distance and make good deliveries. If you find that you are unable to consistently come close to the targets, that usually indicates a problem with your loops, time to consult your book, video, or instructor !”
this isn’t exactly new as it came out a few years ago (2009) but this technique is still quite unknown by a lot, if not most spey casters/fishers. i’ve shared it elsewhere and it’s about time it got more attention because it’s one of those rare instances where true innovation happens in the fly casting world.
created by Juergen Friesenhahn, friend, colleague, IFFF Master Instructor, drummer and all around good guy, this technique is simply brilliant and really stands out from the crowd.
here’s the situation:
we’re fishing flies on the swing with a 3,35m/11ft switch rod, the shooting head or full-line head is 10m long and the leader 5m (33 & 16 ft). without going into whacky gymnastics that puts the fly roughly 18m/59ft from the fisher when the fly has ‘fished out’ and is on the dangle. sometimes fish will hesitate and follow a fly and it’s a shame to tear the fly out of it’s view just because we think the swing is over.
a fly aint fishin’ if it aint in the water !
so, retrieving the fly closer to the angler is the logical next step and if it works, bingo ! but if it doesn’t we’re left with coils of line and to do the next cast we’ll want to have the line’s head out of the rod tip and maybe a little overhang. typically, this means shaking out or roll casting the correct amount of line back downstream but Juergen’s Snap-Slip-Spey alleviates all this wiggly line splashing rolling business (fish could still be in that area) and turns the set up into the D-loop a smooth, fast, suave and downright sexy move.
in slomo
take note that first, to get the Snap-Slip right the ‘excess’ line made during the retrieve needs to be measured (mark the line with a permanent marker), that specific mark gets trapped under a finger and the rest of the line is coiled and stored by another finger(s) of the rod hand. the snap is done with just the rod hand as when using a single-hand rod, slipping the stored line as the rod sweeps upstream and the line hand comes back to the lower grip before circling up into the D-loop. as an extra bonus, by the how-to description above we’ll easily conclude that this technique is as equally valid for single hand rod spey, a little something for everyone.
fair enough, this isn’t the easiest of techniques to coordinate but with a little practice it’s a well-worth skill to have in your bag of tricks.
the S-S-S in real time
cool, huh ?
i mean, just look at how he’s holding the rod. what a creep !
“One could identify a number of plausible reasons to relish in Matthew’s demise: his perfectly combed hair (even in the foxholes), his smirk that wavers between knowingness and idiocy, his decision to pursue the deflowered Mary when the late Sybil was so much nicer and better looking.
We just didn’t think that Matthew would slap the rod down on the water like he was engaged in a joyless bit of sadomasochism with a switch and Lady Mary. Does he lack a proper casting stroke because of his more modest upbringing?”
for more of this lovely, casting analysis by Chris Santella via Angling Trade click the pic.
enjoy !
by Robert Gillespie
whether we’re casting with a single or double hand rod or performing aerial or spey casts the same principle applies. the line (particularly the part of the line closest to the rod tip) will follow the direction and shape the rod tip took as it was pulling it along.
setting aside other reasons why lines can dip for now and focusing on rod tip path and back-cast/D loop set ups, if the rod tip goes too low on the back cast of an aerial cast the fly and/or line usually hits the water, ground, bushes, trees, snags and creates slack and in the best case (which still isn’t good) we’d have to do the forward cast at a much higher angle than intended if we want to have a decent and in-control loop (either that or we’d end up with a big ‘ole dome shaped collapsing non-loop because the cast isn’t following the ideal 180° principle)
with spey casts this becomes even more critical because the fly leg comes in underneath the rod tip on the D loop set up. it’s already low…
since speys are usually done with water all around the caster, dipping the rod tip isn’t as embarrassingly bad as snagging the fly on bank-side bushes and stuff but it still leads to a collapsed/crashing D loop that will ‘stick’ too much to the water requiring a lot of unnecessary force to pull it out and we’ll usually have the same non-180° problem as mentioned above.
as Robert explains, none of this dipping will happen if we continuously move the rod tip in either a climbing slope or curve. ok, that’s pretty logical but it’s easier understood than done, specially with a double hand rod because we’re pushing and pulling, twisting the torso and chewing gum all at the same time. it’s a wonder more people don’t fall over while performing such amazingly complexe motions !
funning aside, this very well explained Climbing Curve exercise is well worth spending some extra time getting down just right and this, for any spey casts, single or double-handed. enjoy !
competition fly casting, at least distance casting isn’t my thing.
as much as i might have a great time watching others partake and know full well that there’s a lot to be brought back from it to the fishing world (similarly to how Formula 1 racing technology comes back to our everyday cars), i’ll learn a lot from it but i don’t enjoy it myself.
i’ve hurt myself so much in the past doing other activities that this type of casting leaves me in pain. big pain. i’ll play along briefly with my friends at various shoot-outs at Gatherings but i won’t practice for it anymore. getting good at the distance game means an enormous amount of effort both physically and mentally and today’s featured comment is about this last part, the mental aspect.
however, as much as the thoughts below are geared towards competition they can also be of great benefit to the fly angler desiring to be a better caster, better prepared to attack a challenging situation in everyday fishing or on a special trip.
confidence, knowing when to give it all or hold back, repeatability, time constraints and looking outside of the fly casting world to find ways to improve our activity are just a few common elements that’ll make a great difference between an average caster and one who wants to go up a few notches.
to sum it up, it’s about being aware, conscious or whatever you want to call it about how you’re moving through space and time, being able to judge your ‘comfort zone’, lower and upper limits and yup, you guessed it, none of this will happen without regular practice, focussed practice, practice with a goal.
with John Waters’ kind permission here’s a reprint from a discussion on Sexyloops. i’ll hope you’ll find it useful for your own needs.
“What a bad parent I am, not actually teaching him to cast. He tells me he knows that already, so I just leave the rod propped up by the back door and leave him to it. I must say I’m impressed with how his haul is coming along.” ~ poppa Stu Hastie
i wish all bad parents where this bad…
one of the more important aspects in sharing our passion is to know when to back off and let them go nuts on their own and simply enjoy the moment. our egos might not always agree but they’ll often learn a lot more this way.
from an instructor/observational/behavioral point of view, of special interest here is when the younger brother ‘becomes the fish’. Thing 1 immediately becomes more focused and calm and delivers the fly exactly where he wants it to go while directing all his attention towards his fishbrother.
my guess is it’s our predator instinct that takes over even when it’s not a prey, something that was very obvious and consistent when i practiced casting with Pussy Galore.
we’d already seen the exploits of Thing 1 and Thing 3, here they are for the first time on video. enjoy !
by Peter Hayes, IFFF-MCCI Tasmania
in one of the better online casting tutorials there is, here Peter breaks down the key elements of the roll cast, it’s whys, whens and hows.
a lot more than a how-to, the best elements here are the visual, symbolic and practical aspects that the caster should safely file in the back of the mind in an easily accessible place, ready to pull out when working on the cast at practice or on the water when trying to find a solution.
remember, \////// and a lot more of what we’ll hear and see isn’t just about roll casting as most principles apply to all casts whether they be rolls, speys or aerial casts.
this one’s well worth bookmarking for future reference. enjoy !
nothing i could say could do justice to these wonderful drawings so i’ll stick to one word: enjoy !
Takashi obviously knows a thing or two about fly casting. respect.
for more of his gorgeous work click HERE
by Bernd Ziesche via today’s Sexyloops Front Page
some very wise words by one of the World’s top fly casting instructors/fishers.
they’re straight, simple, to the point and in a way, put an end to all these endless debates over which casting style is better, cooler, more efficient. regardless of one’s style, it’s the basic elements common to any fly cast and not ego, nationalistic pride or hero-worship that make it successful or not.
this is a real gem geared towards any fly fisher who wants to be a better fisher and not just instructors. hopefully it’ll open up a different mental approach, opening up a myriad of possibilities all leading to what i like to call: free casting or simply, having the essentials down so well, the required cast to fit the situation happens by itself . enjoy !
Right now you may want to ask: What is a FLY CASTING STYLE about?
That indeed is a question I’ve been asked very often. The reason for that question is based in many books, magazines, DVDs, websites, courses and demos each referring to different fly casting styles. This for example may be the TLT style by Roberto Pragliola (Italy), the Andersson style by Göran Andersson (Sweden), the Gebetsroither style by Hans Gebetsroither (Austria), the elbow on the shelf style by Lefty Kreh (USA), the 170 style by Rick Hartman (USA) or the Loch style (Great Britain) just to name a few.
I like to give a quick overview in my fly casting lessons about styles and why some of them have become so well known. At the end of that quick excursion I always point out the intersection of all styles: The 6 essentials I am going to teach during the lesson. If you like you may call them to be the substance of good fly casting:
1. proper line tension*
2. proper timing (waiting for the line to unroll)
3. proper acceleration to an abrupt stop
4. rotation at the right time
5. adjusting arc + stroke to a) line speed, b) trajectory and c) rod bend
6. keep the rod in plane during acceleration and deceleration
All of the above fly casting legends simply learned how to control these essentials in their (very characteristical) own style, their own way of casting. Peter Morse once told me: “Style is how your technique looks.” I like that short definition pretty well. The important word in it is “YOUR”!
In the end STYLE to me is the most over estimated word in fly casting. To me it’s the essentials which matter and then everyone has to find the best way for him/herself to control them and to fit them into many different situations.
Those who use all kind of styles and just choose the one that fits best to a given fishing situation are the true great casters to me!
I hope I could inspire you not to think too much of styles and instead stay open minded and find your own way to control the 6 essentials in order to shape your loops and match line speed + trajectory to present your fly to the fish.
And who knows you may even get a strike. I have done it myself a few times. Good luck!
All my best
Bernd
*Thanks Will Shaw
and thanks Bernd !
Fly Rod Tracking by Jim Williams via Eat Sleep Fish issue 14
“Tracking can be described as the directional travel of the rod tip within a pre-determined plane(s) back and forth for a given fly cast. If you want to cast more accurately or further then optimising your tracking relative to the application can go some way to achieving this.”
Master Jim. geez, the bloke won’t stop and let’s hope he never does. going into the finer points regarding this very important aspect of the cast and my intro being happily finished, if you’re interested in becoming a better, more efficient and happier caster/fisher click either pic and enjoy this real gem in full.
“What is good tracking?
Below is a birds eye view of two anglers, each has an imaginary target directly ahead. The objective is to complete an overhead cast in a vertical plane with a view to delivering a straight line layout towards their target. The coloured dots represent the direction and travel of the rod tip.”
now, if only we could get Jim to teach whoever laid these train tracks a thing or two about tracking straight the World might be a better place…
loosely translated, in german that means ‘there must be order’ or ‘everything in it’s place’, ‘get your shit straight’ or maybe simply: How to put the rod in the Sock
here’s a most often very neglected tip from Ákos Szmutni via Sexyloops. brilliant.
“This may sound very trivial (the answer is: Who cares?) but if you have ever put together your rod and heard the sound of sand or other debris rubbing in the joints, you may be up for some good advice.
Whatever you do, however careful you are, sand or mud will get on your rod sooner or later. If it is on the rod, it will get into the rod sock. If it is in the rod sock it will be in the joints. I have seen rods where the joints were so scratched that all the paint came off from the male part. This is not just a cosmetic issue, it endangers the integrity of the whole joint.
There is a very easy way to avoid this problem: If you use a four piece rod, put the upper 3 sections with the male part down – female part up. It is very logical, but most guys I see do it exactly the opposite way.
Some may think it is pretty girlish thing to keep your rods clean. Well, there is a river in Slovakia that is so dirty that after a 2-3 hour long fishing session even a TCX is totally grey. You can imagine how good the line shoots if the rod blank is covered with dirt. Even in rivers that look clean the rod shaft will gather particles from the water and that can significantly restrict your casting distance. So I would recommend you clean the rod every evening with some soft cloths. You can use an old toothbrush to clean the rod in between the legs of snake guides. If you don’t have an old toothbrush you can use your fishing partner’s if he or she is not there.
Another very valuable advice: don’t leave your toothbrush unattended.”
Cheers,
Ákos
highly recommended and coming up on the 23rd and 24th of March 2013 in Kolding, organized biannually by Federation of Fly Fishers Denmark is the Danish Fly Festival.
if it’s anything like the 2011 edition this one’s bound to be a blast ! fly tiers and casters galore, stands and you name it, this fair’s special because it’s Danish with all that may or may not mean.
the poster art might seem familiar because it was designed by Jason Borger, the famous non-Danish fly fisher/caster. cool !
anyway, more than just a place with a fly fair, Kolding is also an interesting town with many activities to attract and entertain the visitor.
from indoor (in-pub) fly casting demonstrations,
to school art galleries, 
to a wide variety of excellent Danish foods.
for more info click either pic. hope to see you there !
here’s a reprint of an article i wrote last year for Eat, Sleep, Fish ‘s issue no. 3 on fly casting.
i hope you’ll enjoy and even more benefit from these words. i also wish to thank Jim Williams once again for the opportunity of sharing these thoughts to a wider audience on this great ezine.
In my absence, having trekked off to colder climbs to run a dog race, I asked Marc Fauvet to come to my rescue with this month’s casting article… suffice to say the man has delivered – and how! … Not with the normal ABC of a fly cast but some physiology… Thanks ~ Jim Williams
by Joan Wulff produced by Jeffrey Pill | Miracle Productions via MidCurrent
here’s one of the better tips a fly fisher/caster can have.
the ‘death grip’, a constant tightening of the hand throughout the casting cycle not only leads to pains which can vary from discomfort all the way up to tendonitis but is one of the best ways to be a sucky and inefficient caster.
leaving the pain aspect away, what happens if we grip the rod handle too tightly throughout the stroke is:
- as discussed in the Poetry, Grace, Fluidity and the State of Relaxed Butt article, tightened muscle and tendon groups don’t move freely directly resulting in harsh, imprecise movements, the total opposite of what we want.
- if we don’t relax the hand at the end of the stroke (the ‘stop’) we’ll accentuate counter-flex both in amplitude and duration. (counter-flex is the boing-boinging of the rod) counter-flex is normal and inevitable but we want to reduce it to a minimum because it creates waves in the rod leg of the loop and waves are slack and slack is no good for the simple reason that slack means less than optimal control of the line.
Lasse Karlsson’s video below illustrates the damping effect caused by loosening the grip perfectly.
relaxing the grip is one of those complex coordination movements a caster must acquire to be a consistent, accurate and successful fisher and like anything that has to do with fly casting, should be practiced well. Joan’s video explains and shows a great way to practice this, enjoy !
click the image to access the video’s page.
thanks again to MidCurrent for sharing these gems !
by Davie McPhail
enough already with the dainty wee stuff ! here’s something to wake up and get just about any fish all nasty-excited.
as with anything in the fishing world there’s of course no rules but you can expect hard and adrenaline-pumping takes with this type of fly and that’s well, cool to say the least.
by their sexy undulating and volume changing swim, bunny strip flies attract and seduce not only the hungry but lazy, unfocused or simply curious fish. they’re appetizers and as lively in the water as any other material i can think of and that’s what makes them the standard that they are for making ‘living’ flies. some synthetics are pretty good but none come close to the natural materials when we want that special dance.
however, as with our own mating rituals, success doesn’t come without a price. these things are big and when wet, start to feel like a soft brick when casting it to the next spot so we’ll have to adjust the casting stroke accordingly. avoid dry fly-style tight loops and slow down the cast while keeping constant tension on the line. an elliptic cast is ideal.
(often falsely referred to as the Belgium cast, this falseness will be explained in another post)
i.e. a side cast back cast followed by an overhead front cast.
the back cast is done on a side plane, the casting arm drifts up while bringing the rod tip back to the ‘standard’ over-head cast position while the line is unrolling towards the back, and then the front cast is initiated in an over-head plane. this keeps both fly and rod legs of the line well separated, is much easier to keep constant tension and because of all this, there’s little or no ‘kick’ and it helps the bunny tail from wrapping itself around the hook during the cast.
Davie shows us a pike streamer below but this is a pattern that can very easily be adapted in many ways (i often use simpler versions that are 2,5 cm / 1″ long for trout, perch, carp and whatnot) and in fact, the tube, feather over-wing, the rubber legs, eyes and built-up head can be considered accessorial or simply elements that might adapt the fly better for a given species or situation. however, the tail and wound bunny body are what really make it work.
in all it’s variants this is a must have fly so, get you some !
