Walter & Group...
By now, some of you may be wondering why we are spending so much time on one cast and one caster's style of accomplishing it .... the "170 cast"..... Reasons:
1.) This helps us learn the various ways of judging casts.
2.) Hopefully we can learn by seeing how others do this.
3.) As with many of our topics, we can profit from other's points of view.
4.) We have the luxury of seeing clips of a superb distance caster.
5.) It gives us a chance to see some advantages and disadvantages of a particular casting technique.
6.) This gives another way of casting .. a style which might not have been known to some of our members.
7.) While we may not wish (or be able) to cast in this manner, we might see fit to adopt some elements of this style to solve some of our own casting problems.
8.) This can help broaden our base of fly casting knowledge as background information. In turn, this puts us in a better position to answer our student's questions.
Gordy
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From Peter Morse :
Gordy, The 170 cast stroke technique is also a very useful fishing
cast. Although you don't utilise the full 170 degrees the high rod tip
path and line speed make it very useful. I use it when I have to cast
over the top of a boat because you can get great clearance, I also use
it with heavy flies and with poppers, its also very useful in a wind,
particularly with a casting shoulder wind because the fly clears your
head by several feet. I think the line speed you can generate with
that long tip path is the key. I think Chase cuts himself short on the
haul.
Peter Morse
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Peter... Without realizing it, this higher rod tip path is something I occasionally use when I must make my cast over the skiff ... however, in my light skiff, I think I'd lose my balance if I tried to make that back bend ... even if my old back would accommodate.
Makes me wonder if this is a good cast for those with the physical ability to do it when tournament distance casting... yet of limited use for actual fly fishing.
I would not use this back cast for a back cast presentation, partly because I wouldn't be able to see my "target" no matter how far I could bend back and partly because accuracy would suffer.
When fishing the flats, I usually keep my rod tip and casting elbow low .... works better for me.
I agree with your take on the haul.
Gordy
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I knew Ally Gowans wouldn't be able to resist commenting on the "170" ! Here he is:
Hi
Gordy,
I didn’t want to get
drawn into this topic but find it irresistible. Firstly the casting is
beautiful, like a ballet and I may take my shoes off and see if I can cast like
that!
I think I see some
slide on the back cast and lots on the forward cast. Hardly surprising since
getting hands “together” after a maximum haul separation is difficult without
sliding and the rapid acceleration of the haul after the slide should help the
cast and maybe the hand positions also help with body balance.
The oft quoted rule
“the line follows the rod tip” is true for most casts but in extreme cases like
this clearly it does not occur throughout the movement. It does however apply up
to the time that the line is still being pulled in the direction of its momentum
by the rod tip (during the “SLP” of the line). After the rod tip velocity
changes out of the straight line path (in this case the angular change is about
90 degrees), lack of loading on the rod tip probably means that its speed
increases whilst its velocity in the direction of SLP decreases due to lack of
loading (it is no longer pulling all the line). Meanwhile the line now fully
energised has continued in the in the direction of the SLP due to its own
momentum. The effective “launch point” is in line with the line projection
direction (RSP is later). The mass and direction of the oncoming line has a lot
to do with the “launch point” of the cast since relatively short rod tip
movements cannot change the line direction except for short casts, hence
presentation casts that are easy at short distances are not so easy with lots of
line!
Best
wishes,
Ally
Gowans
See my web sites http://www.letsflyfish.com and http://www.flyfish-scotland.com
2009 Spey Casting and Salmon
Fishing Schools at The
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Ally... On-target analysis, as I see it.
I'll present you with a new set of ballet slippers at the Conclave ! This will make Liam Duffy green with envy.
WOW ! I thought the terms "Launch point" & "Launch angle" were strictly my individual way of describing things ..... I see that is not the case ! (Probably true of most "inventions" and "new things" in fly fishing )
As I dig back into memory, however, I do think I really got the term "launch angle" as a synonym for "trajectory" from Walter Simberski when we were once discussing similarities and differences between things which accelerate including a fly rod and a rocket. Walter taught me that the term "rate of acceleration" was a redundancy, because acceleration is a rate... and that when a rocket's acceleration increases by virtue of its increasing power, it is something called "third order progression".... etc., etc......
Gordy
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