Teaching visually impaired casters 4

Walter & Group...

[GH]  Great message from Phil Gay !

Hi Gordy,

 

I had an exceptional experience teaching a blind friend and actually put her in the river and she caught two fish.  The first with a little help from me and the second on her own using her acute sense of hearing.

 

Things I did included using a soft action rod and lining it up two line weights to facilitate her sense of feel.  I positioned her hand at the front and back stops and she could repeat it with relative ease.  Her casting was remarkable in just a few minutes. (As an aside I often ask students to close their eyes to better feel the cast.)

 

Once in the river I selected a spot with no casting hazards and a spot where we could work directly across a riffle.  Mother Nature helped out by producing a caddis hatch with their very splashy rises. I asked my friend if she could hear the rises and she said yes.  I asked her to point where she heard it and she pointed directly to the spot. I set the line to the right distance and asked her to cast and then adjusted the direction to get the right drift line.  A little 7 inch wild brown took her fly and I gave the rod a little pop from underneath.  Fish on.  I asked her if she heard the fish take her fly and she said she did.  After we landed that fish she wanted to touch it all over.  She said it is beautiful isn't it.  I assured her that it was while trying not to cry.  Then I said, OK next time if you hear the rise I'll say lift and you pull up on the rod.  Less than a few minutes later another little wild brown took her fly and before I could even get "lift" out she pulled up on the rod and we had another fish on.

 

All in all perhaps the most magical teaching experience I've ever had.

 

Phil

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[GH]  Phil,

Inspirational to say the least !

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>From David Lambert :

Re: Craig Huckabee's  knot note:

Welshman Davy Wotten's 'Davy' knot might be an excellent knot for a hard-of-sight or blind caster/fisher.  It's one I've used and taught because it can be done mostly by feel, which makes it a great night fishing knot.  It's my 'go-to' knot these days, even for reds in the grass (North Florida redfish tailing in the local spartina grass).  Never had it slip or give in maybe six years of fishing with it. That said, I'd not use it for hard fights or really big fish, above 12 pounds.  The beauty of it is that that it's quick, easy, and tied by feel as much as sight.

Also, the 'Eugene Bend,' because it's a 'feel; knot that, when properly tied, produces an audible 'pop' when tied correctly.

Here are links for both: 

Davy Knot -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol4n9ZaJR4U

Eugene Bend -- http://www.peninsulaflyfishers.org/resources/Documents/Tackle/eugene_bend.html

This because catching is more important than casting -- to those other than us.

David Lambert

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[GH]  David,

Learning knots is important to anyone who fly fishes.

A few years back, Peter Hayes of Australia taught me to tie the Pitkin knot (tippet to fly hook) with eyes closed.  He was able to do it with his hands behind his back !

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[GH]  Gordy,

 

In teaching the blind that have never had the gift to see, I as a novice would have a hard time expressing what a fly cast is!

 

The adage or proverb: A picture is worth a thousand words! Come to light here on this subject.

 

The only thing that I could provide to the student is verbal and the feeling or touch portion of the cast.  Unless they had sight and then lost it, where they could relate to fly casting using all sense's.  

 

So for me the marking of the line with the braille knots and the movement of the arm and hand to make the cast would be the only key points that I could provide as an instructor with verbal, visual stimulus as they could relate depending.   

 

We as teachers of the blind need to put on the Blind Folds that cut out all possibility of sight and then move forward. However we as sighted instructors, still have that advantage of knowing what the cast look like.

 

It will be difficult for us to be in the moccasin's of those that have not had the gift of sight in order to relate.

 

So we need to seek out the support of those that have walked the walk. The ones that have learned to cast with out the gift of sight, and learn how they accomplished the task. 

 

This is one area where the instructors may be learning from the students, based on the unique circumstances of the curriculum.  

 

Tom Jindra is in process of organizing a committee for the FFF to look into the possibility of providing Certification for those who have special needs.  Special test may be required by the FFF for this purpose.

 

 I would love to attend a conclave where a Blind CCI was teaching another blind student how to cast, who had aspiration of being a blind CCI to teach others!

 

I hope Tom will get the support he needs from the organization to make this a program happen!  

 

All the best,

   

Gary Davison

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[GH]  A suggestion from Rick Brown :

Gordy, I have not had the opportunity to work with handicapped casting students. My thought about working with visually impaired students would be to use  a less than fast action rod and overline it too. The student would be able to feel the coordination between line and rod so much better this way.

 

Rick