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Walter & Group...
[GH] Still more tricks to go. At the end of my last entry, I took some time to include references in case some of you want to try some of the techniques described in text.
Gordy
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>From Dennis Grant:
Hi Gordy
Close eyes and listen, is a great technique when teaching the roll cast. The sound of too much acceleration early is made by the speed of the rod (SWOOSH). When the student reduces down the SWOOSH by making a slower start then a ’harder stop’, they cast more effectively with the tip rather than the entire fly rod.
Dennis
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[GH] Dennis,
That brings me to my little story #3 :
Tom White, as many of us know, was a superb roll caster. He used his version of that method in teaching rolls.
He'd start with the caster using a rod with no line strung up. As you advised, student's eyes closed. Then he'd take his unstrung rod and make a roll cast move. The student was asked to make his "roll cast" with a bare rod as he tried to imitate the sound Tom's rod made.
Then he and his student would string up and make actual roll casts, each with the same amount of line and distance. Done while listening to the sound made.
Third: All this was repeated at greater distances.
Tom also used that "listening to the SWOOSH" technique to have me make smoother distance casts. The idea was to try to carry the same amount of line and make the same distance with as little sound as possible.
This fit with Ed Jaworowski's way of having his student try to make the same distance with, as Ed would put it, "HALF THE ENERGY".... the main difference being Tom's use of sound.
Gordy
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>From Ernie French:
A method I have used as a teaching tool involves a "rear taper marker". Air Flo used to have them in varying diameters but unfortunately has discontinued carrying them. It is a narrow walled tube that slides up the fly line from the rear and snugs up at the belly. As you feed line during the cast you can hear this tube rattle through the guides as the belly leaves the tip. The same can be achieved with a nail knot and some mono. This has helped clients understand the the feel and efficiency of having the head completely out of the tip as they cast. An added bonus is the marker helps identify the point at which you can generally begin the water haul on the retrieve. Until someone can identify through feel the different diameters of the fly line, this has proved very helpful.
Ernie
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Ernie,
YES ! I have used that technique of placing a nail knot of soft small diameter nylon monofilament on the student's line at the point where we have determined that it is the max amount of line he can carry while distance casting without having the loops suffer. It's a great way to help solve the problem of the caster (particularly budding Master Candidates) who's distance casts suffer because they keep slipping more and more line as they false cast until they reach the point of carrying more line .....not more line than they can carry, but more than they can carry while still maintaining good loop control on the back cast with high line speed.
I tie it loosely enough so I can slide it a bit back and forth for changing casting conditions or in the event the student improves and can carry more line.
That Airflo "rear taper marker" provided both visual, tactile (the caster could feel it) and sound assistance; the latter provided as it clicked in the guides as a signal to slip no more line before delivery. Airflo still has one Spey line called the "SPEYDICATOR" which has a long "marker" at the base of the head. The marker is really a 25' - 30' heavy level section which they call the "mending zone". The caster can feel the transition from this to the ridged shooting line behind it. Their term, "speydicator", however, actually refers to the line having been designed for use with various sized strike indicators placed near the tip. *
A while back, I experimented with black heat-shrink plastic sleeves sold to help protect electrical wire connections.** It could be cut with scissors or blade to trim for length. Problems were three fold: 1. We had to be very careful with the heat. Too much and the line coating would melt. Too little, and it wouldn't fit snugly. (We ended up judiciously using a ladies hair dryer). 3. We couldn't remove it or slide it to a new position.
Another way of doing it, is to use a little bit of soft PLIOBOND (TM) contact cement at the desired point on the line. *** It takes about 48 hours to set, but never gets hard and can be peeled off with a fingernail when needed without damaging the line. Unless you make a big "bump", you can't hear it as it goes through the guides. Worked best when I whip-wrapped the line at the desired point with fly tying thread before applying the cement. I used a method described by Lefty Kreh to do that.... instead of making a loop, I can place this whip on the line at any point.****
Years ago, Scientific Anglers produced a line with a built in "bump" at the base of the head as an indicator for what they felt would be a good point of reference for the caster to determine the best length of line to carry. They marketed it under the name: TELECAST. The same company now markets a line with a similar indicator a few inches behind the base of the head. They call it the MASTERY SERIES - HEADSTART line. ***** I tried one which one of my students had brought. Not easy to feel, and it didn't make a sound as it went through the guides. Also, hard to see. Of course, that indicator bump can't be moved.
**** LEFTY KREH'S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO FLY FISHING, by Lefty Kreh, 2003, pp. 197-198.
Capt.Bruce Chard (of our Group) demos Lefty's method :
Capt. Chris Meyers also demo's Lefty's method. Note his finish which is the way I finish the whip when placing on the body of the fly line; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp9CEiMiREE
Having gone through this "High Mass", Ernie, I still prefer the mono nail knot with or without the addition of Pliobond.
Gordy
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