Distance accuracy from a skiff / Moving targets /"Unscientific" teaching

Walter & Group...

Dusty Sprague responds to the idea of using the white floating rings of bilge pump hose on measured marked lines for distance practice :-

Gordy,

 

Very good ideas.  I'll try the white rings interspersed along with the floats on the cord.. Also, I agree....letting the wind and current 'deploy' the rig is often less frustrating than trying to keep the rig straight by anchoring both the deployed line and the boat.....anchoring both can easily result in slack in the layout and a curved rig instead of it laying out straight and true to the measured distances.

 

 Dusty   

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COMMENT:  Let's say you wish to practice doing the distance casts into the wind.  In that event, I do it in very shallow water and anchor the ring on a short line so it can't wander much.  I use a 3#  lead trolling ball for the anchor.  Then I use my marked and measured line to gain the distance.  Combines the advantages of both methods.  When windy it does make it more difficult to pole the skiff accurately to a specified distance ...... in that event, I stake out the skiff a few feet beyond where I want to be then use the measured line to slowly drag the ring and its anchor to the right mark.

Gordy

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                                                                                MOVING TARGETS

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Lou Bruno responds to John Tarr's idea of casting to moving targets:

Gordy,

John’s suggestion is excellent; target shooters practice shooting at moving targets! His suggestion now provides one such opportunity…a remote controlled fish!! This idea could be incorporated into part of your training or included as part of a casting competition.

                                                                      

Regards,

Lou

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From Richard Ross:

Gordy,

 

I have long used my Gordon Setter for target practice!  Great fun for both of us….

 

Richard

From Mark Huber:

Hi Gordy,

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                                               Computer glitches  -  "Unscientific" teaching

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From Mark Huber :

 I am not sure if you are away or experiencing computer problems.  This is the last message that I received from you.

 

Your emails and the discussions are thought provoking and interesting on my end.  My learning continues. 

 

Last weekend, I picked up the book “Casting with Lefty Kreh”.  This book seems to be a comprehensive work on casting and I am looking forward to some quiet afternoons digesting Lefty’s ideas.  My physical build is tall and thin.  Lefty’s concept of long stokes with body rotation provided a significant break though in my casting a couple of years ago and showed me that casting off vertical was an acceptable method and effective.

 

I look forward to continuing participation in your group.

 

Best regards,

 

Mark Huber

Anchorage, Alaska

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Mark...  Sometimes one of our members gets automatically kicked off the MailList Controller address book.  This can happen without my knowing until I take the time to check.  This most often occurs when several of our messages bounce as "undeliverable" for any number of reasons such as the recipient's "tank" being full .....

You are now reinstated.

You mention Lefty's teaching of body motion when casting and casting off-vertical.  This happens to be my favorite style, though I respect the styles of others ..... it's what works best for each fly fisher in each fishing and casting circumstance.

I just got through discussing this and many other things with Lefty including the fact that our last message on fly casting physics did tend to criticize those who teach using terms which are not strictly scientifically correct. 

We both noted no description of the important mechanisms contributed by the motiion of the caster's body or for that of the haul.  A great deal could be added there.

Most of us do use very unscientific terms when teaching, to a limited extent .... I do it regularly when it serves the purpose at hand of getting the student to cast properly. One example that most of us use, is the teaching of the STOP.  Another is the teaching that a straight line path of the rod tip is needed to make a tight loop when in reality, if we DID have a perfectly straight tip path, we'd end up with the line striking the rod tip .... many others too numerous to cite.

Lefty and I agreed that we often do this when teaching ... because we are not trying to teach the student the science behind casting.  We are teaching him to CAST.  Lefty is a true master at using unscientific words and phrases which work well to improve his students' casting.  One could say that this is a STYLE of teaching ..... works fine for some instructors.  I can appreciate that the super scientific mind will find this hard to comprehend.

Gordy

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I've added two attachments.  These are papers on fly casting physics for the informed but not scientifically minded fly casting instructor which I asked Walter Simberski to write several months ago.   G.

 

Attachment: casting physics part 1.doc
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Attachment: casting physics part 2.doc
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