ol Al...
Here's what I consider a really valuable concept. I learned it from Joan Wulff. :-
The act of, "lifting the fly line from the water" is actually an integral part of the cast itself.
As you perform this, "lift", you are performing what Joan terms, "THE LOADING MOVE". This, in turn, is followed by what she terms, the "POWER SNAP". This occurs as the final step of this cast as it ends at the STOP.
THE STROKE IS COMPLETED AS THE FLY LEAVES THE WATER !!!!!
After the STOP of the hand / rod butt, we have the brief continuation of the travel of the rod tip to RSP (rod straight position). This interval is when the rod tip is moving at its greatest speed.
At RSP, the loop begins to form, since it is here that the fly line can start to overtake the tip.
The rod then goes through counterflex and rebound as the loop travels in the direction of the cast.
Gordy
From: "Allen Crise" <flysoup@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "ol Al" <flysoup@xxxxxxxxxx>,"jerry Puckett" <jerry puckett [jerry_puckett2001@xxxxxxxxx]>,"Harvey Harris" <Hlhpc@xxxxxxx>,"Troy Miller" <Troy.Miller@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,"david Bradley" <dallasflyfisher@xxxxxxxxx>,"john Deardorff" <jdeardorff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,"Steve Barlow" <steve.barlow1@xxxxxxxxxxx>,"Stacy Trimble" <stacytrimble@xxxxxxxxxxxx>,"Raye Carrington" <raye@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,"cindy Alexander" <calex75773@xxxxxxxxx>,"Clay Roberts" <CRoberts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,"dave Speer" <dave@xxxxxxxxx>,"Don DeRidder" <ddr125@xxxxxxx>,"Gary Wood" <brushycreekfc@xxxxxxxxx>,"Harry Boyd" <maker@xxxxxxxxxxxx>,"James Russell" <jrussell1128@xxxxxxxxx>,"james Parker" <james.parker3@xxxxxxxxxxx>,"Ken Cole" <ken.cole@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,"LC Clower" <lcclower@xxxxxxxxxxx>,"Matt Wilhem" <educate@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,"Ron Allen Thomas" <koolfly1@xxxxxxxxxxx>,"Steve Hollensed" <stevehollensed@xxxxxxxxxx>,"Jerry Puckett" <jerry_puckett2001@xxxxxxxxx>,"keith Richard" <KRichard@xxxxxxx>,"gordon Hill" <hillshead@xxxxxxx>,"Dale Connally" <Dale_Connally@xxxxxxxxxx>,"John Till" <till@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,"Rusty dunn" <caandu@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,"jeff jackson" <tjjackson3@xxxxxxxxx>,"Marshall Lasswell" <mlasswell@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,"Dennis Burns" <Dennis.Burns@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,"Sonny Hinojosa" <csonnyh@xxxxxxxxx>,"Travis Burt" <tburt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: FW: Back casting
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 19:29:56 -0600
Howdy casters of the long rodHere is one I got from Troy Miller. Well worth reading.Allen Crise FFF Master Casting InstructorSOC VP of EducationHawk Ridge Flycasting School2508 A County Road 1011Glen Rose, TX 76043254-897-2045geocities.com/rrdoctorflysoup@xxxxxxxxxx-----Original Message-----
From: Miller, Troy [mailto:Troy.Miller@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 6:41 AM
To: Allen Crise
Subject: RE: Back castingGood comments from Gordy. I?ve used all of them in some form or another in my 25+ years of teaching. A couple of other comments:
Make certain to practice on water frequently when working on your backcast. The effect of surface tension on the flyline MUST be accounted for when we input energy to the rod and line. There is a distinct ?lift? that must occur before actually beginning the serious acceleration part of the cast when you have more than about 30 feet of flyline out of the rod. Starting with a low rod tip, we raise the rod tip at such a speed as to gain a nearly straight line between the rod tip and the nail knot. Hopefully, if we do this at the right speed, the rod will be in a perfect position (thinking of the clock face, maybe 10:30 if you want a horizontal cast) to make the actual acceleration of your backcast. To say this another way, you want to have the line lifted off the water at precisely the instant that you?re ready to make your backcast stroke (the start of the SLP). Think ?lift, then stroke?. Of course, this only applies to the very first backcast stroke, since each subsequent stroke will already have the line in the air. A person who only practices on grass WILL have some adjustments to make when he gets to the water. Ripping the line off the water may spook the fish, and it will certainly make SLP harder to achieve. It normally will create some serious shock waves in the flyline loops and make graceful casting nearly impossible.
The comments about watching your backcast are spot-on. I?ve been teaching to watch the backcast since my very first student. You know my method of having students make completely horizontal sidearm casts, single direction only? The whole purpose of those exercises is to allow the student to develop ?cause/effect? relationships between how they move the rod and what the flyline does as a result. It?s not just for practice, either. I watch my backcasts for at least 75% of my fishing, and fine tune my strokes until I like what I?m getting. This changes continuously as we fish ? changing positions relative to obstructions behind us, varying wind, casting different distances, different fly sizes/air resistances, etc. How can we know what the loops look like without looking at them?
I?ll be leaving Argentina tomorrow night and be back in TX on Wednesday. I plan to go to Mt Home for a week or so before Christmas and do some serious night fishing. I want to land a 20+ pound brownie.
Regards -- TAM
-----Original Message-----
From: Allen Crise [mailto:flysoup@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 1:26 PM
To: ol Al; jerry Puckett; Harvey Harris; Miller, Troy; david Bradley; john Deardorff; Steve Barlow; Stacy Trimble; Raye Carrington; cindy Alexander; Clay Roberts; dave Speer; Don DeRidder; Gary Wood; Harry Boyd; James Russell; james Parker; Ken Cole; LC Clower; Matt Wilhem; Ron Allen Thomas; Steve Hollensed; Jerry Puckett; keith Richard; gordon Hill; Dale Connally; John Till; Rusty dunn; jeff jackson; Marshall Lasswell; Dennis Burns; Sonny Hinojosa; Travis Burt
Subject: Back casting
Howdy Gang,
I was cleaning up my Emails and found this from Gordy that I had over looked. This is such good information I think it is one to 'clip and save'. In my studies I have gotten much of this information from Ed Jaworowski, Bill Gammel, Floyd Franke, Tom White each giving a few of these points. Here Gordy has gathered and set down what I would call the steps to improving your cast by starting behind you. I tell my students that 3/4 of the cast is the back cast.
1) You have a pick up to the back cast.
2) The back cast loop formation.
3) The straight path loading from the back cast.
4) The forward presentation cast.
To improve your forward cast work hardest on your back cast.
From Gordy give to one of his students.
Judging from your level of participation and good common sense answers to some tricky questions, I figure your level of knowledge is good.....close to or at Master level.
The back cast is the nemesis of many candidates.
I have many suggestions for self improvement with this at any level.
1.) Spend time doing nothing other than back casts, and critique every one. (Make a back cast, then turn around and make another in the opposite direction, repeatedly.)
2.) Make back casts with different lengths of line out of the rod tip, starting with those done to perfection at 30'....only then increasing distance a bit at a time.
3.) Use Bill Gammel's method of making casts slowly keeping good tight loops and parallel loop arms with only 30' of line carried, then keep doing this with ever increasing line (loop) speed. Add 1 foot, and do it again. Then 1 foot more......keep going until you have reached the max line you can carry maintaining these loops and parallel arms at high line speed. If perfect back casts are your objective, then do this while concentrating on these.
4.) While practicing back casts, it's best to be able to see them. Watch that back cast loop all the way until it has unfurled. This is much harder to do with a vertical rod plane style as the distance increases, because you can't develop sufficient tip travel. (Combo of rod arc and stroke length) One suggestion is to open your stance and change to a more off-vertical rod plane style for these back casts at greater distance.
I can't over emphasize the value in actually seeing your own back cast as a self teaching tool. (It's amazing how a poor back cast can improve if I'm coaching a candidate and I do nothing other than say, "watch your back cast.")
5.) Having a knowledgeable observer critique your back casts is helpful.....as is video. This, however, is no where near as valuable (in my opinion) as your own direct observation in real time.
6.) Molly Semenik came up with a neat way of critiquing her own back cast. She observed her back cast loop repeatedly in the "mirror" provided by a large picture window with the light just right as she made her casts at different angles.
7.) Floyd Franke and Lefty Kreh both taught me a way of teaching yourself to make better back cast loops by casting over a taught rope using a horizontal rod plane. Floyd showed me that you can do this even if you don't have a rope handy, by simply laying out another hi viz fly line on the grass. That way, you can easily SEE your back cast all the way. I expanded upon this idea by simply placing 2 taught ropes at varying distances from one another on the ground.....the idea being to try to keep the entire loop between the ropes as you place these ropes ever closer together. Once you become able to make really tight back cast loops between ropes only 18" apart at increased distance, you gradually increase your rod plane more vertically until you've matched your style of casting.
8.) The best back casters I see, are fishermen who make frequent back cast presentations to fish. Good practice to do this very thing........with targets. These targets can be on the ground.....or on a tree. A hole in the trees is a good one.
Often, I'll be able to improve a caster's back cast by having him/her aim the back cast loop at a particular cloud in the sky......or the top of a telephone pole, etc. There's something about actually aiming it at a target which helps sharpen that loop.
9.) Practicing the placement of a forward loop through a suspended hula hoop is a time tested loop control teaching tool. TRY THIS WITH YOUR BACK CAST LOOP.
10.) As you get better and better with back cast loop control, start practicing these back casts with differing line planes (trajectories). This is particularly important to do well with accuracy casting for your exam......because this is one place where you will NOT be looking at your own back cast, but your examiner will ! You will be concentrating on the target and your eye/target and hand/target lines. Your trajectory (line plane) will change dramatically as you go from a target only 15' in front of you, to one at 50' or greater distance........but your back cast loops should not suffer as you make that change.
11.) We've talked about tight loops on the back cast as though they were always necessary. In truth, in the real world, that is only part of loop control.
REAL loop control refers to the ability of the caster to make any size and shape loop needed to handle a multiplicity of casting and fishing circumstances. One example is the use of a high line plane controlled wide loop for your back cast when casting with a high wind coming at you, followed by a low line plane tight loop forward cast into the wind, maintaining a 180 degree line plane between the two. Another, would be the controlled wide loop for a back cast presentation of a weighted Clouser or heavy crab fly to a fish.
12.) Another worthwhile exercise, is to practice loops of various sizes with both back casts and forward casts....say, tight loop on your back cast with a wider loop on your forward cast, vice-versa, etc. etc.
13.) Practice distance back casts with back drifts. Watch these all the way.
14.) Another great exercise, is to make high speed / tight loop back casts shooting that back cast loop toward a target.
15.) Sometimes the back cast will appear to, "almost tail"....particularly when the caster increases loop speed. This is usually due to erratic application of back stroke power. Once in a while, I find that it is due to what I call, "reverse creep"....where the caster is trying for distance and reaching his/her max line carrying ability. The creep occurs by slowly and inadvertently moving the rod tip back while the forward cast loop is still unrolling. This diminishes the available stroke length for the back cast stroke. Sensing this, the caster applies a spike of power during this back cast stroke. This results in a bit of concavity in the rod tip path. For a variety of reasons, it usually does not result in a complete tail with a "wind knot" the way it does on the forward cast.....but gives that, "almost tail" appearance.
16.) Remember......the back cast is the, "set up" for your forward cast. It may well be, to quote Bob Andreae, YOUR MOST IMPORTANT CAST.
Gordy
When asked if you should watch your back cast? IF I am testing you or are teaching I will be watching your back cast.
ol Al
Allen Crise FFF Master Casting Instructor
SOC VP of Education
Hawk Ridge Flycasting School
2508 A County Road 1011
Glen Rose, TX 76043
254-897-2045
geocities.com/rrdoctor
flysoup@xxxxxxxxxx