Loop knots / Zane Gray / Fly casting mechanics

From Carl Zarelli on loop knots (Sometimes the links don't transfer for our Group Messages ... hopefully this one will.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Hi Gordy I was reading your information on big game knots and noticed the comment about the perfection loop.

I have attached a link to You Tube for a perfection loop I saw used while I was fishing for Giant Tarpon in the north of Mexico a couple of years ago.

I was tying my usual knot for the fly to shock tippet and the guide looked at me a little funny and showed me this knot .

This is tied a little different than the usual perfection loop.It gives you the ability to squeeze down the loop to a very small size with a little practice .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`~~

Regarding Zane Grey. In the 2008 DVD The Lost World of Mr. Hardy reveals historical details of the House of Hardy fishing company. Among them that Zane Grey challenged Hardy Brothers to make more powerful reels and pioneered ideas in collaboration with them. It seemed Grey tried to get others interested but only Hardy had the infrastructure to do everything from rod design to intricate reel engineering and manufacture. They employed hundreds of highly skilled craftsmen and still do. Now, many are not British.

The parent company of Hardy Flyfishing is a composite manufacturer and designer that makes the fibers we see in military aircraft, Kevlar armor, and fishing rods. They pioneered and patented the first graphite rod after World War II but foolishly limited their patent to a small percentage of graphite fibers, rendering it useless. Hardy-Grey's Limited has become a multi-national company with manufacturing divided among Great Britain, South Korea, and other places. Their saltwater specialty rod, The Zane, memorializes their long collaboration with the great American sportsman and writer.

I chose a Zane 7-wt for my MCCI test. My examiners cast it after I passed and were favorably impressed. When Hardy Flyfishing went to international pricing in October of 2008, retail prices dropped dramatically across the board. Some rods are now 50% of their traditional cost. One can still pay a lot for a Zane titanium saltwater reel or Hardy Angel Smuggler fly rod but, one can also find a tremendous value on a great selection of rods in the Hardy-Grey's line.

Several years ago, when they first came out with those Zane rods, Hardy sent me two of them to field test. The tarpon model (I recall that it was a 12 wt.) was so stiff it felt like a broomstick. I made the comment that I thought it would be good for construction engineers, because it would be great for holding up concrete walls . The 8 wt. one was very fast, but a good casting rod if I matched it with a # 9 line. One "advantage" would be that if you broke your push pole, you would be able to pole your skiff off the flat with that 12 wt !!

Regarding Eric’s post below, I’d like to clarify that the flyline is not the only thing pulling the rod tip forward after “the handoff”. The rod tip itself has momentum and will continue past RSP -- it would continue forward even if no flyline were attached. The same way that we can load an unloaded flyrod without flyline, we can similarly unload a loaded rod without line. I’m not implying that I disagree with Eric’s post – but I think there’s a bit more to be said about the topic.

So to further this discussion, what influences the amount of deflection and rate of deceleration of the rod tip after RSP? I have my own ideas, and would like to hear others.

Steve is spot-on concerning his comment on “net force”. When I briefly mentioned “free body diagrams” earlier in the week, that was what I was hinting at. To be correct, MUST concern ourselves with summation of forces to understand motion. Integral calculus (I know, uggghhh) is useful here if anyone cares to explore it…

Regards,
Troy Miller

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Troy ..... Makes sense. I think we all use simplifications knowingly to emphasize a point. I suppose there are a lot more things to consider, too .... like atmospheric resistance. If we studied it to the last degree, we might even find that temperature, humidity and barometric pressure might make some slight difference .. (???????)

I can see what you mean by explaining things like a compendium of variables with integral calculus. I'm afraid if we did that, however, we'd turn off some of our Group members.

Gordy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`