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Walter & Group...
[GH] From Peter Morse :
Gordy and group,
I have followed this topic with great interest and would like to add an observation. From many years of fishing on small boats I had developed a very rigid body position because you don't want to 'rock the boat'. Consequently my shore based casting was also very rigid, something that was pointed out to me by several MCI's when I was preparing. I loosened up to the point of taking a small back and forward step with my right foot and the results were immediately apparent.
That extreme is not something I would recommend in this scenario but just moving the weight between the feet and developing some upper body sway certainly helps, provided its not accompanied by any shoulder roll.
It has two effects, it is more relaxing, but it increases translation without any more upper body effort on the part of the caster. So as well as relaxing the caster it smooths the cast out and adds force.
Peter
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[GH} Peter,
I agree.
Casting when you don't wish to rock the boat is a subject dear to my heart.
Most of my fishing is done from a light flats skiff with a buddy poling from a push-pole tower in the stern. A good bit of the time, I'm the one up there on the tower with nothing to hold on to except a 22' long graphite pole.
It is sometimes a nightmare for the one up on that poling platform when an angler at the bow lurches about while casting. Over the years, I've been thrown off a few times when that happens. Experienced skiff guides learn quickly to recognize this sort of caster,,, they compensate, when possible. by "planting" the pole at an angle for 3 pt. stability as the caster starts to cast.
No one is more aware of this situation than Lefty Kreh. He has developed a style of casting from light skiffs without any "lurch" at all.... YET HE DOES USE BODY MOTION TO ADVANTAGE FOR LONG PRESENTATIONS. He does it by using body rotation with the body turning pretty much in its own axis. Helps the distance cast without catapulting the guide off the tower. In his book, he devoted a 16 page chapter to body motion complete with photos.*
Steve Rajeff is a large, powerful caster, as most of you know. When fishing on my skiff, however, his super smooth well controlled casts never ever gave me a problem while up on that tower, even when he had to make a long distance presentation. LIke Lefty, he does this with AWARENESS and BODY CONTROL . In addition,he has powerful arm musculature.
Sheila Hassan has also written about the value of body motion and body blocks, including rotation to assist the cast. **
In my view, Joan Wulff is "poetry in motion" as she uses beautifully controlled body motion, particularly with her distance casts. This goes way beyond her writings on the subject. Joan was an accomplished dance instructor (she taught dancing to my niece, years ago). Her statement, "This body motion can extend the length of the arc through which the rod passes, although the relative position of your rod hand to your shoulder will remain the same." Fits her casting style, well. *** She has a lithe body habitus which allows her to gracefully assume positions to assist her casting which most casters would find impossible..... including me.
I agree that smooth, well controlled body motion can assist a distance cast when not on a skiff. A well timed step forward on the delivery cast is one example. Tournament distance casters often literally take it "a step further" (and farther) with either a dramatic forward step in the direction of the cast, or even a jump in that direction (as seen on the Rick Hartman videos). ****
When casting under 100' ... as with the 85' MCI Task requirement, however, most accomplished candidates learn to do it either without a jump,by adding a moderate well timed step. When serving as a mentor for candidate who does the task well with a moderate step on the delivery, I make sure he understands not to step over the start line. I have him coil his running line well enough in front of him or off onto the line hand side so he doesn't make the mistake of stepping onto it.
Gordy
* CASTING with LEFTY KREH, by Lefty Kreh, 2008, Chapter 3, "Casting and the Body", pp. 58-74.
** Fly Casting: A Systematic Approach, by Sheila M. Hassan, 2009, pp. 98, 114-115.
*** Joan Wullf's FLY CASTING TECHNIQUES, by Joan Wulff, 1987, p. 28.
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