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Walter & Group...
[GH] From Joe Libeu (Current Co-Chair of the MCI Testing Committee) :
Gordy,
According to the MCI test,
Lengths of line to be cast are specified in each Task, include the leader, and measured from the caster to the fly.
Joe
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[GH] From Bill Keister:
Gordy,
Watching Paul Arden's video on upside down roll cast set me thinking. I do a lot of lawn casting and one of the things I wound up doing was throwing a vertical loop from a sidearm cast with the rod in a completely horizontal plane. This was just a little oddity but it led to trying to throw an upside down loop. I was never satisfied with the upside down loop. Instead of the loop plane being completely vertical the top or rod leg was closer to me then the bottom or fly leg.
Thinking about my problem in light of Paul's video, I had a small epiphany. I had been trying to cast the line. What I needed to do was think about the path my rod tip needed to make to accomplish my goal. This may be obvious to others but after swinging my rod back and forth over the lawn for the last decade this is the first time I saw the problem in that light. (Guess I should have gone back to Bruce's 6 steps as I tell everyone else to do.)
Bill Keister
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[GH] Right !
What we are really discussing, here, is LOOP PLANE CONTROL.
About 10 years ago, Jeff Barefoot visited me and we spent a few days casting together. He introduced me, for the first time, to the concept of controlling loop PLANES. Several Masters joined us ... some remained skeptical ... but after actually using this concept when fishing and playing with some "trick casts" with Tom White, we were convinced that Jeff was on target.
Paul Arden's excellent video helps confirm.
Gordy
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[GH] Question from Bob Rumpf:
Hi Gordy & group,
I have a question that may seems unnecessary, but being a curious individual I have often wondered about this; When MCI examiners lay out the tape to place the targets on the course; Do they then lay the target down so the center of the ring is at the required distance, or do they lay the outer rim of the target at the required distance? And has this topic ever been discussed and agreed upon? People preparing for the exam make thousands of casts to their practice targets and can become deadly accurate at those distances, a foot of difference may have an effect on their results.
Regards,
Bob Rumpf
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[GH] Bob,
I place my targets centered at the indicated distance from "point zero" where the caster stands. I generally use orange plastic field cones sometimes called, "Soccer Cones". At other times I use orange plastic discs.
There can be a few inches of difference in the position the caster occupies with respect to the starting point. After much practice, candidates gain an awareness of this.
Some examining teams use rings with or without center markers.
Tim Rajeff and Lefty Kreh both have called attention to the fact that if the caster has a small object like a tennis ball .... or any small, highly visible object, accuracy improves. Lefty sometimes uses a gold gilded mousetrap for his students. (Trying to trip his mousetrap with a weighted fly is a HOOT ! )
I have found slightly improved accuracy when I place a black dot on the very tip of my cones when practicing..... so I, now, use those marked cones when testing.
Tim Rajeff has talked about what he calls his GAZE EFFECT. The idea is to teach the student to literally fix his gaze on an imaginary small spot in the center of a ring target. So much the better to have a real spot available.
I have also noted that students can achieve a bit more accuracy when they cast at a vertical target such as those cones. Don't know why that is the case.
Some of the participating accuracy casters with the ACA may have some other tips. *
Of course, when we fish, we don't have the luxury of a specified measured distance. For that reason, I have given thought to having candidates cast to targets placed at approximate or even random distances and random directions when tested. Problem with that is that there would be complaints of lack of consistency.
Once in a while, when I find a candidate who seems "locked to the target tape", I'll throw a new target out to the side at an unmeasured distance and see how he handles that. I know some other testers have done this, so MCI candidates should be aware and not let that be a problem.
Why do I do this ? .... Simple. A real Master ought to be accurate as he casts to a narrow feeding lane, a rise, or a tiny pocket when actually fishing.
* ACA = American Casting Association.
Gordy
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[GH] From David Edens:
Gordy
Is rod fade as coined by Mac the same thing as follow through as coined by Joan Wulff in Fly Casting Techniques, Page 47?
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[GH] David,
Not exactly, but awfully close.
Her Glossary definition (Red highlighting mine.) :
"Follow-through - The movement of the casting arm and rod, after the power snap on the forward cast, in a natural continuation of the casting stroke. " *
She gets a bit closer, however, in her latest book with this definition:
"follow-through. The movement of the casting arm and rod, after the forward cast power snap, in a natural lowering of the rod." **
I think she made that change in recognition of a conclusion to the casting stroke somewhere in the narrow interval between launch point, RSP, and loop formation prior to additional rod movements. A more modern concept.
I look at ROD FADE as a purposeful lowering of the rod rather than a "natural" lowering.
We're splitting semantic hairs !!!
* Joan Wulff's FLY CASTING TECHNIQUES, by Joan Wulff, 1987, p. 235.
** Joan Wulff's NEW FLY-CASTING TECHNIQUES, by Joan Wulff, 2012, Glossary page.
Gordy
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[GH] From Jim Hund :
Dr Gordy:
Like Gary tried out "Upside down cast" - what is in my mind a cast where the loop stays under the rod tip on BOTH back and front cast. I find that when performed as a switch cast or even one where line remains air born on back cast (without creating an anchor on water with line), the natural result is a slack LEADER cast which seems to occur from the upward movement of rod rip at end of the stroke. This causes the leader to be in a vertical position as it falls to water. Interesting question - would this be an acceptable form of a slack line cast for task 7 of CCI exam?
Jim Hund
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[GH] Jim,
Well, Task 7 on the current version of the CCI exam does not specify that any particular slack line cast be performed.
As long as it complies with:
1. A presentation made as a slack line cast with no aerial mend.
2. It would achieve a drag free drift.
3. The fly and leader must land in front of the fly line.
I'd have to accept it.
Gordy
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