Steeple, hover & live line roll casts. / haul release

Walter & Group.........

From Jim Valle:-

Gordy & Group,

 

Just returned home form the Conclave and Idaho this am.

Conclave  was as always Terrific! 

Truly about the people.

Gordy, Dennis Grant and I taught a lot and learned from each other.

Met Ally Gowan (MCI, THCI, etc.)  from Scotland… We were very impressed with his easy ergonomic method of spey casting, Great guy and a lot of fun!! You have to love his accent especially when he is telling stories.

I ordered one of his videos I think it is titled “Spey Casting Made Easy’ I’ll find the address and pass it on to the group for anyone that is interested.

 

Server came by my “Emergency Room Casting Clinic”  and asked about the Steeple cast and hovering …which I was glad to show him, but for anyone else that might be interested I will describe below.

(All of this relates back to my Masters test and my answer to How many Change of Direction Casts I could name… I answered at least 12… of course having opened that door… the next question was “Ok, Name Them!”   I can still hear the crowd as I did…and the ball went out of the Park!)

 

One of the casts I described was the typical steeple … done by rotating the wrist and getting the thumb under the upward cast similar to a Gallway but in an upward direction…

The variation I added came from Jason Borger’s book “The Nature of Fly Casting” on Circular casts and what he calls the Wrist Flip.

This is done by making a palm-up horizontal backcast and flipping the wrist up to throw the line above your head … with practice it can be very vertical… thus allowing the forward cast to be made in almost any direction.

The advantage is that the wrist flip gets the line directly above the caster making a change of direction and straight presentation cast much easier.

The typical Steeple sends the line up but at an angle away from the caster, and thus may require some body/arm twisting to get the backcast 180 degrees opposite from the straight line forward presentation.   

 

In reference to the Hover I had problem with this in the beginning of my odyssey also… first I learned to use a white fly and large enough to be able to see… a pea sized yellow is too small.

Second a matter of tracking and unrolling a tight loop more precisely. Then you have to focus on the anticipated leader roll out area… good power to a very firm stop is essential. Once you have your loops under control it becomes a matter of focus and training your vision… in other words you have to focus your mind and eyes to see it, then it is no big deal.

Also to clarify things, you only get a momentary snapshot of the fly out there, and from there you adjust your line length( and hover height)  until you are satisfied that the fly is over the target…

There is one additional very important aspect of this accuracy … When you are false casting and hovering to determine distance you will naturally stop you rod at a certain angle on the forward cast… When you make your final  presentation if you don’t stop at the same point for example if you make your stop and then follow the line you will be lowering the tip thus extending your length etc… stop higher for some reason and you will be short … more or less power ??? Hover too high ??? I know this seems extremely obvious, and it is now… but there was a time when it wasn’t… for me anyway! (Hope I am not the only one!) 

You must develop a disciplined technique to be consistent.    

 

The roll cast without an anchor is an “active line roll cast” or a circular cast (elliptical) starting with an under the tip backstroke…  circle up to a roll forward, I use it all the time both for practice and fishing, it is just easy repositioning. Of course if you let it anchor, then you are into single hand spey and that is another fascinating subject…

 

Hope that helps!

 

Jim

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 Jim....   Great info !

That Steeple cast also goes by the name of the, "Tower cast".  This is described on pp.254 -255 of Jason Borger's, THE NATURE OF FLY CASTING.  The accompanying drawing makes the back-and-up phase of the cast easy to see.  I had never tried this before Jim taught it to me.

   Just to clarify a point about the, "active line roll cast", I'll point out that this is sometimes called a, "forward Spey" or a, "switch cast".  Basicallly, it is a roll cast made without stopping on the back cast setup.  I'll point out that even though this is one way to gain more distance, it will NOT pass muster for roll casting tasks on an MCCI exam.

A clear and brief description of the Hover cast is found on p.47 of Joan Wulff's FLY CASTING ACCURACY. To that I'd add that you must aim to a point above the target.  Let it drop if you like it ...... make another false cast if you don't.

I must say that I got a lot less fatigued when using Ally's style of Spey casting.

Gordy

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From Server Sadik on timing the release of the haul with the line hand on the delivery cast:-

Interesting comments from Jeff and Bruce.  For a long distance cast with a wide initial loop due to counterflex it maybe possible that the line in the loop will be drawn up to the leading edge of "free flight" line if the release occurs somewhere after counterflex where the rod tip has had a chance to rise due to rebound.  Releasing earlier should mean that the line in the loop is drawn straight my more progressive interactions (maybe not the most efficient) because of the reduced tension in the line due to being released.  Perhaps applying a short duration frictional load can do the trick?  Release around RSP but let some line slide through your fingers (say 1 foot to start experimentation) then fully release.  This may be enough to pull loop into a smaller size right away.  This is all thinking outloud because I haven't tried it but the physics indicates its plausible.

 

Server Sadik

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Comment:   Putting all the opinions together and adding my own observations, I think that releasing the haul at or near RSP (Rod Straight Position) works well for most casts.  For long distance casts, I get the impression that releasing it a fraction of a second later (during counterflex) may be a bit more efficient.    NO HARD PROOF .

 

Gordy

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