Task 12 Discussion 11

Walter & Group...

[GH]  The haul can have many functions.  Increasing overall distance is only one of them. It can do this by  :  1. Directly increasing line and loop speed.  2. By increasing peak rod load. 

 Hauls can also result in:  3. taking up unwanted slack ( casters new to hauling may inadvertently use it for that purpose ), 4. Assist in the control of loop turnover,  5. Share the work load of the casting arm, and 6. affect the stop sequence. 7. Many anglers (especially salt water fly casters) use it with almost every cast they make to help smooth out the cast when using heavy tackle, especially in windy conditions. 8. As a "check haul" to assist Tuck casts and increase slack line layouts.

Troy Miller sends this message on the "haul / shoot sequence".  He also adds (9.) The use of the haul for more efficient pick-ups :-

 

I find it very interesting that few people have talked about a combined haul/shoot sequence.  Mac just touched on it below, but to me, ultimate efficiency in flycasting occurs when multiple elements can be perfectly synchronized to minimize false casting to even a single backcast/delivery cast cycle.  When I bass fish in clear water (from a boat or wading), I’m typically trying to hit targets from 40 to 80 feet away with pinpoint accuracy – but I don’t usually fish the cast all the way back to me.  In fact, I may only work the fly for 10 to 20 feet before picking up and recasting.  For this application, I don’t want the fly and line in the air any more than I absolutely have to.  My typical casting sequence looks like this:

 

1. Rod tip at the water, line taut.
2. Lift the rod vertically (NOT back, as in the beginning of a stroke) until the flyline clears the water to the leader if possible.  This is rate dependent – too slow and the whole thing just slides toward you rather than lifting from the water, or too fast and you may actually pop the fly loudly on the water .
3. At the precise instant, make your backcast and haul together.
4. Once the loop has escaped the rod tip, ring the line and allow educated shoot with appropriate drag, while following the haul line back up to your ready position beside the cork.  This may include drift (in the classic sense) if I expect to need more stroke length for the forward cast.**
5. Stop your shoot when you have all the line length you want, or you have to be ready for the forward stroke, whichever comes first.
6. Pinch to secure the haul line and make the forward delivery with haul.
7. Again ring the line with my left thumb and middle finger and using educated precision drag to shoot as required to reach the next target (typically about the same distance as the previous cast under normal fishing conditions). 

 

NOTES:  When I’m fishing, I don’t hover casts.  I either gently slow them to a drop, or take a triple haul * to make them splat. I almost always “overcast” the distance and then adjust the shoot to control my distance.  If I don’t put enough into a cast, I can’t make it go further.  I’d rather err on the long side, and then restrain it as necessary.

 

 

**I don’t drift as frequently as many casters.  Generally, I have taught myself to “be a statue” as my loops unroll.  If I need more speed, I try to do it with the haul rather than a more intense/longer casting stroke.

Regards,
Troy Miller 

[GH] *  Back stroke haul, Forward stroke haul & Check haul .

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[GH] From Mike Heritage :

Re Drift. Is there really any need to drift if we are casting a fixed length of line? I can cast the 55' elements of the MCI test without drift unless there is a tail or head wind. I can understand using drift while extending line because each stroke will have a slightly longer length of line but I don't see the need to add drift as part of the stroke if it isn't necessary.

 

  Mike

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[GH]  Mike,

Many great casters and elite distance casters use precious little if any drift following their back casts. whether or not in combination with the double haul.  If we go back to the video of Steve Rajeff's dry fly distance event championship cast we see only a tiny bit of drift prior to his delivery cast.  We also see that he is using a narrow casting arc and short stroke. He can do that because of his combination of perfect timing, close to SLP of his rod tip, a rod so stiff most of us wouldn't be able to bend, and great strength.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgPOa5aw_io

Lefty Kreh and Ed Jaworowski taught for years that drift is unnecessary for most casts.  Their style of casting involved bringing the rod tip way back as part of the stroke... not afterward.  Lefty now writes, "drifting allows the caster to accelerate the rod over a longer distance, but I think it is best for beginners to return to stop the rod where they want to go and become proficient at that before experimenting with the drift technique." *

So I see the use of drift as a matter of casting style. Also an effective tool to increase available stroke length and casting arc for the next stroke when needed.   Sometimes I use it .... often I don't.  Same with Gary Borger's "lay-Back".** Looking at it from a standpoint of when to use it and when not to do so is a topic of its own, so I won't go into that here since we've already strayed a bi from our Task 12 topic.

Gordy

* CASTING with LEFTY KREH, by Lefty Kreh, 2008, p.53

** Jason Borger's NATURE OF FLY CASTING a modular approach, by Jason Borger, 2001, pp. 231-233

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