|
Walter & Group....
[GH] From Bil Kiester :
1. When in relation to the casting stroke and casting arc should the haul begin ?
The haul should begin at the beginning of the 'speedup and stop'. Because I think of the casting stroke as a set of preprogrammed actions which run to conclusion after being initiated by the caster this is a very nebulous thing to define in terms of rod angle and arc. But, as a subjective point in the cast it has meaning to the caster.
2. At what point, when false casting, should the line hand stop ?
The line hand should stop with the stop of the 'speedup and stop'.
3. At what point, when executing the delivery cast should the haul hand release line ?
I would have said (and for most cases I still would say) the stop. But please see below.
Haul length and speed significantly different between front and back .
4. Can you come up with casting circumstances when it would be advisable to have a significant difference in haul length and speed between forward and back casts ?
a. When picking up long (60 plus feet) of line from water or lawn.
b. When feeding line into a cast only on the forward cast or the backcast .
c. When feeding line into a cast against a strong wind
d. On the delivery of a distance cast.
e. Any casts that rely on overpowered deliveries such as curve and tuck casts.
5. Is there a fishing circumstance which would be best handled that way ?
see above
6. Do you teach that the haul length and speed be approximately the same for forward and back casts ?
Yes.
7. When teaching hauls, do you bring up that issue with your students ?
Not explicitly, but I do have a pet peeve about people who will not lift long lengths of line off the water and who instead strip line 'all the way in' before making the next cast.
In a response to a comment I on the timing of hauls relative to RSP on last December 4th.
Jim Chestnut opened my eyes to a very interesting situation.
In this video of Steve Rajeff casting one of the frames around 1:07 shows
the rod already in counterflex, yet Steve's hauling hand has not yet
appeared behind his side. This can be clearly seen by hitting the stop
button at exactly the right time on his presentation cast.
So the effect of a portion of the haul in this case (in addition to
increasing line speed) would have been to slow counterflex or reduce the
bending of the rod.
Because this was a distance cast the line release is not until quite a long time after RSP which is normally thought of as the end of the powered cast.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[GH] From Gary Eaton :
Gordy,
The haul should begin when the rod is pretty-well loaded and extend through STOP.
Practically, the rod is fully loaded at mid rotation, sometimes a bit before. I teach to begin the haul by the time the rod is vertical for overhead casts or as it crosses the middle of the casters body or face for other planes. I have some other simplifications, but they encompass some form of "When the rod is fully loaded".
Tom White recognized Bruce Richards when he instructed me that the hands "Start together, come apart smoothly, stop together, and return together" to make a haul. The stop together is in terms of timing and means "simultaneously" as opposed to all of the other "togethers" meaning "in close approximation". When I pointed out this variable meaning could be confusing, Tom said, "I am glad you were listening." Now, I often use "at the same time" to convey the message absent the shift in meanings of the word "together".
The shooting of line is initiated after the loop is formed. I try to teach Lefty's "o-ring" as a means of controlling the shoot and try not to encourage just letting the line go, even though I often do that. There is definitely a "sweet spot" for shoot-release that includes a loop, rod leg between half a rod length and two rod lengths, in most cases. Jason Borgerlikes to say "Stop-shoot", to assure the stop is held long enough. Sometimes saying Stop-p-p to emphasize the delay required for the loop to form prior to shoot.
Hauls may vary to be longer and stronger into a wind - back or forward cast. I think the back cast needs more emphasis in most casters. Part of this is that the back cast muscles and biomechanics are inherently weaker and smaller than front of body. I introduce single-haul on back casts when teaching line pick-up from the water. After people get roll casts embedded, I add a haul when the rod is loaded, at mid stroke, etc. so that the principles of when to haul are less complicated by distracting of more complex rod and hand movements.
I also interject a form of haul when I feel a cast collapse or lose energy (rod unloads) prematurely to salvage the line straightening intent. Alternately, I go dead-stop still whenever I feel any "collision" of casting elements. Often the result is a smaller tangle to unravel.
So, I emphasize back cast hauls by 1) introducing single hauls for that task 2) having the rod in front of the caster when introducing hauls helps them see the rod, well-loaded, before the haul is initiated. 3) by this time in my teaching sequence, I have introduced that the proper time to STOP the rod is when the leader-butt is lifting from the water - this makes it easier to coordinate STOP of the haul with STOP of the rod hand as my students already know, and have practiced, that timing.
I emphasize getting more power in the roll casts by teaching single hauls in that application.
I like to have students recognize early that a haul is a tool, in Tom White's vernacular "the accelerator or turbo-charger". I like Mac Brown's description of the rod hand as the "pilot", too.
I dislike the description of the hands being in "mirror-image" when hauling and even more dislike the description of "mirror-image" for front and back cast haul motions. In thousands of students taught, nothing stops the flow of skill-building like the term "mirror-image". Sometimes an advanced student can handle it, but it remains relatively useless, in my experience. Just watch their faces.
The animation of a caster demonstrating equal arc and stroke with identical loops on front and back casts needs to be tempered by reality. Absent a significant drift into both of these directions of unrolling loop, the net result of these narrow arcs is ultimately, tailing loops. In Mel Krieger's explanation "too much line for the amount of tip movement". I find that hauls cannot fully compensate for inadequate tip travel and often exacerbate tailing loops if mis-timed.
Having said that, I think that most-times, the addition of hauls may reduce the amount of rod-hand force necessary to execute a back or forward cast. I have heard Mac Lord, Tom White and Mac Brown assert some form of balancing the force of the cast between both hands as part of the benefit of double hauls. I would emphasize that this is true only when the hauls are properly timed. If force is mis-applied by one hand, the other hand often has a shorter time period during which to apply a very demanding compensatory force; - a surprisingly common source of casting pain.
Rather than teach that the haul is equal going back to front, I teach to match the haul with rod movement using the "togethers". People who insist on using extremely flexible rods may require a haul to prevent tails on even very low-demand casts. Likewise, people with very stiff rods and marginally muscular strength for them, may require a haul to get the rod to bend with shorter amounts of line beyond the rod tip. Both of these situations may arise in a relative manner on back versus forward casts, if people have relative weaknesses.
I once had a Boy Scout as a student who had agenesis of his dominant side pectoral muscles. He did not make any sports teams. The haul made him a great fly fishing companion to his father and grandfather. Similar adaptations help mastectomy patients and those recovering from various surgeries on the trunk and upper extremities.
I have an double haul related, "Instructor's Nightmare" scenario that I prepare CCI candidates with. "
An "experienced" trout fisherman comes to learn the double-haul, because he "already knows everything else". When you watch him cast his loops are gigantic,there is no consistent stop, and excessive force is accompanied by widely divergent planes for rod leg and fly leg. How do you proceed?
Ultimately, I teach my instructor candidates to require a "qualification" before enrolling people in double-haul classes. What is that "qualification"?
ANSWER - In order to qualify, a caster must demonstrate a consistent one-hand shoot of at least 40% of the amount of line carried. My rationale 1) they must have some form of tracking and timing to generate shoot. 2) they usually have reasonable loop shape and speed to accomplish shoot 3) the rod hand has some discipline to be consistent. 4) this keeps really awful casters from diluting the class time for remedial loop basics that often leads to resentment from other students who are more ready.
Gary Eaton
Gordy - an addendum to my post of two days ago
1. I recall Lefty Kreh in a video lesson reporting that most fly fisherman use the double haul to throw their mistakes further. Very accurate, in my experience.
2. I have inherited many, many students who were initiated to using a haul from the beginning. The vast majority of these people are truly marginal casters when they do not use the haul and their haul consistency is generally too variable to be reliable. Secondarily, their hauls become much more effective through better comprehension of haul timing AFTER they get to where they can shoot line effectively absent hauling.
Realistically, most of these people never really practice casting outside of fishing. A common path to mediocrity.
Gary Eaton
|