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Q&A: Weeds / Pain when casting
- Subject: Q&A: Weeds / Pain when casting
- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:45:58 -0400
Walter & Group....
Short and Long answers from Gary Davidson:-
Gordy,
I hope you are having a great Sunday there in Florida. The
weather here in Texas is outstanding this time of year. I should be on the
water trying my luck, maybe later today. Honey do's
first. But first want to do something for me.
Wanted to feed back my long answer in the tradition of Master Study
regarding your question this week. The question may be
Simple, but it is a very important question. Being as it is a common
and inevitable occurrence to all Fly Fisherman. Various ways to get weeds
off a fly.
My short answers were:
Roll cast
Spiral cast
Snap T
Snake roll
Combination of one or more depending on the position of the fly in the
grass.
Gordy,
I hope you are having a great Sunday there in Florida. The
weather here in Texas is outstanding this time of year. I should be on the
water trying my luck, maybe later today. Honey do's
first. But first want to do something for me.
Wanted to feed back my long answer in the tradition of Master Study
regarding your question this week. The question may be
Simple, but it is a very important question. Being as it is a common
and inevitable occurrence to all Fly Fisherman. Various ways to get weeds
off a fly.
My short answers were:
Roll cast
Spiral cast
Snap T
Snake roll
Combination of one or more depending on the position of the fly in the
grass.
My long answers would have been:
The traditional means for removing a fly from surface weeds is the roll
cast, which pulls the fly directly vertical off the weeds in order to make
an immediate back cast. Your plan on where to take the fly once air borne
is yours at that point depending on the fishing conditions. If you can not
remove the fly on the roll cast then another cast administered
directly after that cast which is the Snap T. The upward
and downward motion of the rod tip of the Snap T will pull the fly
straight up in the air and back to your direction. This needs to be
administered with proper power application depending on the position
of the line in the water and the distance. Too much power and it is
coming straight at you so be sure to have protection of eyes and head while
fishing. Once the fly is loose it will come to you and allow you to
visually inspect the fly for hand cleaning if needed.
Another alternative is the Spiral Cast or Snake Roll. These
casts are very similar in nature. In that the line is in
constant tension throughout the cast and the circular motion of the cast
will lift the fly directly up off the weeds into the air. The Spiral cast
is administered with a narrow rod tip path in a circular motion. Once the
fly is lifted off the weed bed, then the fly can be
taken directly back into a back cast for presentation or servicing the
fly in the water to remove the weeds. The Snake Roll is a wider circular
rod tip path and will bring the fly into you at about the rod length 9' for
a splash and go casting if the fly seems to be clean of weeds in
a 90 degree angle away from your target area. Your 2nd option with the
Snake Roll is to stop upon anchoring the fly in the water to administer hands on
removal of the weeds.
Depending on the fishing condition if there is plenty of room
behind then you can make a back cast to re-enter the fly back
into the target fishing area. If there is restricted area behind with
limited space, then I would use a single spey cast or another
Snake Roll cast to administer the presentation.
Note: Spey casts have been connected to only wet fly application, however
you can still administer spey with dry fly with the use of false casting to dry
the fly and then bring into play with a spey cast at the end of the
presentation. I would not limit my self to the wet fly only box.
All the best on this Sunday.
Gary Davison
Gulf Coast
Spey
CND Custom Design:
Representative
Willis, TX.
Office
The traditional means for removing a fly from surface weeds is the roll
cast, which pulls the fly directly vertical off the weeds in order to make
an immediate back cast. Your plan on where to take the fly once air borne
is yours at that point depending on the fishing conditions. If you can not
remove the fly on the roll cast then another cast administered
directly after that cast which is the Snap T. The upward
and downward motion of the rod tip of the Snap T will pull the fly
straight up in the air and back to your direction. This needs to be
administered with proper power application depending on the position
of the line in the water and the distance. Too much power and it is
coming straight at you so be sure to have protection of eyes and head while
fishing. Once the fly is loose it will come to you and allow you to
visually inspect the fly for hand cleaning if needed.
Another alternative is the Spiral Cast or Snake Roll. These
casts are very similar in nature. In that the line is in
constant tension throughout the cast and the circular motion of the cast
will lift the fly directly up off the weeds into the air. The Spiral cast
is administered with a narrow rod tip path in a circular motion. Once the
fly is lifted off the weed bed, then the fly can be
taken directly back into a back cast for presentation or servicing the
fly in the water to remove the weeds. The Snake Roll is a wider circular
rod tip path and will bring the fly into you at about the rod length 9' for
a splash and go casting if the fly seems to be clean of weeds in
a 90 degree angle away from your target area. Your 2nd option with the
Snake Roll is to stop upon anchoring the fly in the water to administer hands on
removal of the weeds.
Depending on the fishing condition if there is plenty of room
behind then you can make a back cast to re-enter the fly back
into the target fishing area. If there is restricted area behind with
limited space, then I would use a single spey cast or another
Snake Roll cast to administer the presentation.
Note: Spey casts have been connected to only wet fly application, however
you can still administer spey with dry fly with the use of false casting to dry
the fly and then bring into play with a spey cast at the end of the
presentation. I would not limit my self to the wet fly only box.
All the best on this Sunday.
Gary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
From
Les Rosenthal:
I’ve read that with a fish on, it’s
possible by sharply wiggling the rod laterally to and fro some weeds will come
off.
Les R
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Les:
I don't think you actually meant
that as an actual answer to an oral question; rather a comment which brings up
another related subject.
You are correct that one can
sometimes rid the fly line of weeds by doing that.
When big game fly fishing, I've
found that a large clump of weeds such as sargassum on the line can have a
disastrous result because it puts a tremedous stress on the leader apart from
that exerted by reel drag inertia. This is especially true if the fish runs at a
great angle to the clump of wet weeds. Sharply doing anything with the rod
usually accomplishes nothing (Unless it's a tiny clump.)
We are usually fishing from a flats
skiff which allows me to handle it this way:-
I have my angler back off on
the drag, then slowly have him gain line by reeling in as I move the skiff
toward the clump of weed (NOT toward the fish !). Then I have the angler
lower the rod tip to the water and try to pick up the weed on the rod tip.
I have him hold it there long enough for most of the water to drip off, then try
to flick it off. Works more often than not.
Gordy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WOW ! The painful arm topic
has yielded 82 answers .... many by casters who have or have experience the
problem. I can't possibly share all of them with you. Let's pick a
few:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Rick
Whorwood...
Hi Gordy
One of my students has a double crush, Ulnar Nerve at C5
(shoulder/back area) and Elbow. On his right side (he is right side
dominant). He's in constant pain, and his pain receptors are always on.
John is an airline pilot, so taking drugs for the pain is out of the
question.
My question to the group: lets put a casting program
together that John could follow and be proficient on his left side. John is an
excellent caster and understands the fundamentals of casting. He wants to fish,
saltwater as well as fresh !!
Rick Whorwood
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rick.... We'll start by heeding the following messages and trying to
learn from one-another. Gordy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Ally
Gowans.......
Hi
Gordy,
Avoiding pain and
injury is important not only for instructor candidates but also for every one of
the persons that we teach. We must teach safely too. As you know I like to make
fly casting simple and easy and start with the most important component, the
body. A little knowledge about ergonomic principles goes a long way to
developing good style and reducing the chances of injury. I know a number of so
called “good casters” who now have painful maladies, sure they could cast a long
way but in my book good casting technique is more important than brute strength
and injury risk and like you I have thrown a few thousand mile of line in my
time! There is a very good book called “Fit to Fish – how to tackle angling
injuries” ISBN: 1-57188-354-1 worth having for reference. Most discomfort arises
from tension in the muscles, often from gripping the rod too hard but
overstretched limbs and muscles are also a common problem. For those practicing
with the non-dominant hand please do not assume that you have less strength with
that arm because you will put in too much energy and exacerbate the problem, the
more effort used the harder it is to stop and the less good the “stop” the less
good the “go”.
From Jerry Puckett
......
Gordy:
Excellent series very appropriate as I approach age 68 next month. I
feel the aging process gnawing at my bones and muscles. To date I have not
had a serious casting injury requiring rehabilitation.
I learned in sports years ago the necessity of warming up gradually and
stretching which serves me well to this day. I have a slow leisurely
entire body stretching routine with fast walking or jogging to dilate all the
vessels to get the warm blood cruising, focusing on complete physical
conditioning required for rowing and wading in western rivers.
In addition to my work out program in the gym I am really focusing on
expending no more energy than the cast requires, saving distance casting to last
and then only about 10 to 15 cast. I alternate right hand casting and left
hand casting giving each arm a chance to rest during each practice
session.
I practice one day with the single hand rod and the next day with the
Spey Rod to work different muscles groups.
I am especially aware of the tendency we men have in beating the devil out
of the cast before learning the dance and make an effort to cover injury
prevention as an introduction to any casting lessons with beginners. I
keep a close eye on every student and address the issue of prevention if I
think one is developing tendencies leading to possible injury.
I also take light two to five pound weights with me and use them in warming
up to set the example and encourage students to do the same under guidance after
an assessment of there physical capabilities.
Thanks again to every one for this wonderful opportunity to
learn!
Jerry Puckett
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Carl Zarelli......
Hi Gordy if I may I would recommend a read that
I think is one of the better books out there about the subject of angling/
casting injuries . This book is written by a PT and a MD it is
called " FIT to FISH " How to tackle Angling
Injuries .
It is written by a couple of fly fishermen who
understand the body .It explains the different ailments and how to
deal with them .
I think the most important information in the book is
the preparation for the types of casting/ fishing one will perform . This
book deals with the injuries and exercises that you can do to get ready and keep
the inflammation and pain down by preparation.
Short ( 150 pages ) and to the point.
Carl Zarelli
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Carl: Can you
provide us with the name of the authors and perhaps even the ISBN number
? G.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~```
From Michael
Jones......
Gordy:
I had a debilitating 'bout' with tennis elbow after installing/hammering in
an oak floor, then immediately getting on a plane to cast/row in Chile for 2
months. I took the liberty to call my doctor from the lodge to get his
advice for a fast
reduction. What follows is what he recommended to me and cured the
problem within days:
1. Take 800mg Ibuprofen 2-3 times a day for 5 days (lesser doses
help, this dose cures).
2. Ice the injury when it is irritated (I used an Ace bandage and a
small gel ice pack, this allowed me to ice, work/socialize without having to sit
in one spot).
3. Wrap your forearm with a tennis-elbow strap when casting/rowing to
reduce the swelling.
4. If possible, rest from casting for 2-3 days, while continuing the
Ibuprofen regime.
5. Stretch the wrist, and massage the forearm muscles with your
fingers of your opposite hand.
The Ibuprofen dose may not be tolerable by everyone, but it worked to get
me back on the water quickly. I made certain I took the 800 mg's with
food!
MJ
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From Michael Ames....
Gordy,
you have given so much good information in this one email -- I did have a
problem about 3 years back that was bad enough that I could not use
my dominant arm for at lest a year -- to fish I had to learn to use
the other. The advice here seems that it would be true even with
out injury. Thank you for including me in you group.
GOD Bless &
Tight~Lines
Michael Ames President FFF SOC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More very timely advice to come in our next message
from Gary Eaton and Guy Manning.
Gordy
`