Hi....
I dug this out from May, 19th....
Gordy
From: "Gordon Hill" <hillshead@xxxxxxx>
To: permitonfly@xxxxxxxxx
CC: hillshead@xxxxxxx
Subject: Factors for distance casts
Date: Thu, 19 May 2005 18:17:03 -0400
Hi, Group....
WOW! I'm glad Tom White prompted me to do this one. I have had an avalanche of responses from many of you....... so many, that I thought I'd outline all of your answers.
FACTORS FOR LONG DISTANCE CASTS:
A.) The fly:
1.) smaller 2.) lighter 3.) less bulky 4.) For practice yarn fly, don't tie it crosswise to the leader, but the long way, and taper it.
B.) The Line:
1.) "Distance friendly" 2.) Greatest distance with shooting taper. 3.) The longer the shooting taper you can handle, the longer it takes to unroll. (The longer it takes to unroll, the longer the time of forward motion....which ceases when the loop unrolls completely.)
4.) If not using shooting taper, use a long belly line. 5.) If allowed, use a dense intermediate or sinking line....it'll shoot farther. (Better concentration of energy and less air resistance.)
5.) Line with stiff core and little stretchability.
6.) If casting in the tropics, use a line made for torrid weather.
7.) Line with a modern super-slick finish.
8.) New line. (Avoid old ones which are, "tired" and "wimped out".)
9.) Be certain there is no break in the coating....especially just above the leader connection ! (This is often missed, and can slightly decrease efficient energy transfer to the leader.)
10.) Be sure you have stripped out enough line to go the distance. (Sounds ridiculous....but Steve Rajeff told me he once lost an event that way.)
11.) Best to have the line coiled IN FRONT OF YOU not off to the side, on your shoes, or behind you.
12.) If a questionable grass surface, best to coil your line on a bath towel before making the cast.
13.) If only doing distance events, you can carry more line and cast farther if you underline the rod by one or two designations.
14.) Be sure to stretch out your line.
15.) Clean it.
16.) Lubricate it.
17.) Inspect it for abrasions, nicks, and "inch worming".
C.) LEADER:
1.) No longer than designated for the event. 2.) Butt section may be soft or hard but in either case should have just about the same "bendability" as the end of your fly line....or just a trifle less.
3.) Use the smallest knot connection to the fly line possible.
4.) 60-20-20 formula (60% Butt, 20% taper, 20% tippet) OK....but with steep taper for more certain turnover with presentation layout.
5.) Avoid loop-to-loop connections at either end.
D.) The REEL:
1.) The lighter the better. 2.) Super distance casters in competition use NO REEL. (Bacause the mass of the reel acts as a counterweight and provides inertia which makes it harder to have a crisp STOP.)
3.) A large arbor (Or ULA) reel stores the line with less coiling and crimping.
E.) THE ROD:
1.) A faster action rod helps. (High modulus material with high stiffness profile.) 2.) A longer rod helps....up to a point. (Longer lever = greater tip travel) 3.) A higher wt. designated rod can handle a heavier line...and (if the caster can handle it) can help make longer casts in the wind. 4.) Slick stripper guide surfaces. 5.) Some find advantage in adding another stripper guide about 4" beyond the main stripping guide (Joy Dunlop and Don Phillips.)
6.) Some have found that a larger diameter 1st stripping guide helps.
7.) Others opine that it's just as effective to have stripping guides which stand up high above the rod blank.
8.) Some feel that the use of a large diameter tip-top helps when using high diameter floating lines with heavier tackle. (Not everyone agrees with this. One trade-off is that you may increase bounce which can put waves in the line, and decrease distance.)
9.) A cork grip which fits your hand and is COMFORTABLE for you.
10.) A lighter wt. (Mass, not designation) rod with the same stiffness profile can be an advantage. (Easier to handle, and less momentum for a more defined STOP.)
F.) CASTING: (At last....and, yet by far most important.)
1.) Be "in the buff" and feeling great.....ready to lick tigers ! 2.) Don't try it if you have any wrist, shoulder, or arm pain.
3.) Use optimum distance casting technique:- (We'll go back to numbers since there are more items than letters in the alphabet !)
1.) Use maximum stroke length. 2.) Maximum casting arc (rod arc) 3.) This translates into Maximum tip travel (For your final back cast and presentation cast.)
4.) Finish your presentation stroke with a CRISP STOP !!!!!
5.) Start with only about 30' of line out of the rod tip and work up to carrying your max line length prior to your final strokes.
6.) If no wind, change your LINE PLANE (trajectory) so that on the final back and forward strokes, you have 180 degrees between the two with the back cast lower and the presentation cast higher so that you are aiming just ABOVE your distance target.
7.) If wind, adjust accordingly....( A whole other topic.)
8.) Consider the use of a drift...WAY back between strokes.
9.) Consider a THRUST BACK between strokes.
10.) Consider a distinct line SHOOT on the final back cast (for a so-called, "pre-load") (This is how Joan Wulff can make her great competition distance casts.)
11. ) Consider the use of a forward THRUST on your delivery cast. (Particularly if you have a head wind.)
12.) Consider the use of, "pointing" during followthrough after the STOP of the presentation cast. (One good way of doing this is to raise the casting arm and point the rod at an imaginary spot just above the target.)
13.) Consider twisting the fly rod while pointing, 90 degrees from it's customary rotational orientation. (This can have the effect of lessening line-slap.....particularly if your rod has guide rings close to the surface of the shaft.)
14.) To increase stroke length, use body motion on BOTH back cast and forward cast.
15.) To increase stroke length and tip travel, take a step forward as you make your presentation cast.
16.) Use an OPEN STANCE.
17.) WATCH YOUR BACK CAST !!!!!
18.) If you have made your back cast and don't feel TOTALLY pleased with it....tight loop and perfect timing feel...then abort the cast on that back cast....NOT on a forward cast. (That way, it won't count against you in competition and with many examiners.)
19.) Carry as much line out of the rod tip as you can handle WELL. Any more than that will hurt your cast. (One of the most common flaws I see with MCI candidates !!!!!!)
20.) I hardly need to mention the need for a Straight Line Path of the rod tip for a tight loop.
21.) A reel crowding grip (at the base of the cork) can give the advantage of adding relative length to your rod with it's casting advantages.
22.) A carefully timed PAUSE helps. (Bill Gammel is one of the best distance casters in the world. He has honed his style and technique to the point that he comes forward and starts his forward stroke exactly at the point that his back cast loop has completely unrolled. )We mere mortals can't time it that well....so most of us find that the style of starting the forward stroke a tiny bit before the "J" had fully unrolled, is more forgiving. If you wait too long, the line is no longer travelling back, starts to fall, and your initial rod loading suffers. As the belly drops, slack in introduced. That has to be taken up before your stroke becomes effective.
23.) Be sure to DEEPLY LOAD THE BUTT SECTION OF YOUR ROD. (There are several ways of doing this...depending on style.....this can be the subject of several pages of seperate discussion.)
24.) In line with #23.), You may consider a horizontal rod, "pull" before the bending moment during the forward stroke. Some distance experts refer to this as, "DRAG".
25.) Use YOUR STYLE. Not somebody else's.
26.) Hone your double haul technique. For max distance, most find it best to mirror image the motion and acceleration of the rod hand with that of the line hand. Some teach to continue the long haul for a fraction of a second after the rod hand stop, during counterflex. ( Darn hard for us ordinary humans to time it that well !)
26.) Keep increasing line (loop) speed during false casting leading up to your presentation cast.
27.) Be aware of a tendency to CREEP.....and avoid it. I've noted some creep as the forward cast loop unrolls....that shortens the available stroke length just as it does in the opposite direction. This is most common when casters try for max distance.
28.) Don't have a great increase in the force you use on your presentation cast....it shouldn't have to be much if any more than that on your last false cast....rather, increase the speed of your crisp haul....(Let your line hand be the accelerator....Lefty Kreh.)
29.) Steve Rajeff points out that the ability to carry more overhang can really help gain distance. He says that the overhang is the barometer for the rate of turnover of the head. (The longer the turnover time, the greater the distance....since the loop is only travelling forward while it's still unrolling.)
30.) One answer was: "Cast downwind".
31.) Another, was: "Cast at high altitudes." ( Thinner air and a tad less gravity.)
32.) The last one was: "Make the cast on the moon" !
Now.....ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TO MEMORIZE AND THINK OF ALL THESE THINGS AT ONCE AS YOU GET READY TO MAKE YOUR DISTANCE CAST...........EASY!
Gordy