Advanced teaching ... Style vs. Substance

The detailed message, below, represents advanced conceptual teaching of which Dennis Grant is so adept ! It goes way beyond memorization of commonly accepted "facts" and dogma and makes us all THINK.

The well seasoned and best informed Masters will use this kind of logic as they read and discuss many flycasting concepts, going way beyond what is in most texts and what is taught so often in the field. This thinking can be applied to things like tailing loops, Principles, casting variables, essentials and many others.

EXAMPLE: Often, we teach a list of commonly accepted things which represent STYLE and those which represent SUBSTANCE. Rarely are the "gray" areas which lie between discussed. Some of you have gone beyond that stereotyped thinking as you have questioned the validity of these "lists" in our past messages. GOOD !

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hi everyone and thanks for participating in the Style vs. Substance quiz:

DEFINITIONS (for the purpose of this exercise)

Style– Something you teach that represents your personal _expression_

SUBSTANCE – A fundamental casting rule that should rarely be broken.

Number of you who participated: .....................................................................................................66

Number of questions with 100% answer consensus.: ......................................................................... 4

CONSENSUS Question 1:When casting, the rod side foot should always be slightly back. Style

CONSENSUS Question 4:For a straight line cast the rod tip should travel in a straight line path. Substance

CONSENSUS Question 8:When teaching accuracy, the index finger should be on top of the grip pointing to the rod tip. Style

CONSENSUS Question 16:Your weight should transfer from the front foot to the rear foot on the back cast, then transfer back to the front foot on the forward cast. Style

The following answers may be arguable, but if asked, I expect those in the minority would need to justify their position:

        Question 2:To allow time for the line to unroll, it is necessary to pause at the end of the back cast. Style : 2.  Substance:  60

Question 3:When roll casting off the opposite shoulder, the rod arm should cross the body  Style: 54. Substance: 8

Question 9:For accurate, dry fly presentation to 40 feet, (including leader) the preferred line is a Double Taper. Style: 58. Substance: 4

Question 10:For accurate dry fly presentation to 60 feet (including leader) the preferred line is a Double Taper Style: 59. Substance: 3

I think we should revisit this one. At 40 feet it is style at 60 feet ??

Question 11:When casting, you should always try to throw a tight loop    Style: 56.  Substance: 6

Question 12:A fast action rod should be used for casting in salt or large open water areas  Style: 58.  Substance: 4

      Question 14:When using a floating line a caster should always use a tapered leader     Style: 54.  Substance: 8
Question 15:The initial size of the loop is determined by the distance the rod tip is below the line when the rod tip stops.  Style: 2. Substance: 60

Question 19:When making a roll cast, the rod should be held high or higher than the top of the head at the beginning of the forward cast. Style: 60.  Substance: 2

Question 20:Before beginning the back cast, the rod tip should be pointed at the fly   Style: 8  Substance: 54

Question 22: You should remove all the slack from the line before beginning the back cast. Style: 8. Substance: 53

The following questions/answers are a bit more involved. We can focus on them and get your thoughts. Consider your position from two perspectives, first, if you were presenting the issue to a NEW CASTER, secondly would you change your answer if you were teaching an ADVANCED CASTER.  I will give you my opinion (in red) and I expect that will spark some discussion.

Question 5:When making a long double haul, the line hand should haul as far as possible    Style: 38.  Substance : 24

The question is purposely a bit vague, it is not clear whether it is the pick up or the delivery cast. Assuming it could be either (pick up OR delivery), I would argue it is more STYLE. When teaching the 'pick-up' haul to a new student a common error is to pull the line across and behind the casters body. The rod loses load and the 'up' or 'give' stroke will throw slack into the line. Therefore on the delivery cast my preference is to teach that the line hand remain visible (relatively short and line under tension). For advanced casters I want to have the rod under load for as long as possible which would work better if the haul continued as far as possible, it which case it is more SUBSTANCE.

Question 6:When making a double haul, the haul should be simultaneous with the stop of the rod hand    Style: 22.   Substance: 40

I think this is more SUBSTANCE.

Question 7:It is necessary for the wrist to apply acceleration before the stop   Style: 50.   Substance: 12

It may not be NECESSARY for the wrist to apply acceleration but I would argue that it is commonly taught and I tend to consider it SUBSTANCE especially when teaching NEW CASTERS

Question 13:When Roll casting the line/fly should stop moving before beginning the forward stroke.    Style: 36.  Substance: 26

This could be either STYLE or SUBSTANCE depending on the circumstance. What would be those circumstances ?

Question 17:On a back cast, you should let the rod drift backward, after the stop.  Style: 52.   Substance: 10

A question for all: Under what circumstance would it become SUBSTANCE ?

Question 18:When ‘Double Hauling’ you should constantly Haul, with the line hand, through both the back and forward casts. Style: 40      Substance: 22

STYLE !

Question 21:To put ‘S’ slack in a cast, the rod tip should be wiggled from side to side during the forward stroke.   Style: 40.  Substance:   12

STYLE !   'S' slack with the tip causes 'load' and tends to straighten the line. Moving the ROD (hand) from side to side keeps the tip more static and keeps the 'S' under control and more effective.