Category: Casting

Task 3 by Dayle Mazzarella with Video by Bill Wheeler

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The article for preparing for task 3 can be found below. The accompanying video can be found at https://vimeo.com/196007308 Members will have received the password to view the video in the email notification. If you would like the password please contact me at mcistudygroup@shaw.ca

[embeddoc url=”http://wildoutfitting.com/testwp4920/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/How-I-teach-MCI-Task-3.pdf” download=”all”]

Professional Casting Instructor Workshop – January 21, 2017

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Professional Casting Instructor Workshop

(An opportunity to jump to another level.)

Continuing Education Program under the auspices of the
Casting Board of Governors / International Federation of Fly Fishers

This is your invitation to join other Casting Instructors in an afternoon chock full of effective approaches to casting instruction that will help you get behavior change in your students.

A Kaleidoscope of Casting Competencies — When Casting Instructors with unique specialties and from different disciplines come together; ideas happen, bonds form, you learn new strategies, and catch onto the latest trends that can completely revolutionize your casting instruction business or practice. This is a Fly Casting Instruction Practicum where you can learn, grow, share, and turn your vision into reality.

Saturday, January 21, 2017 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm in the Southborough Room of the Royal Plaza Hotel in conjunction with the Fly Fishing Show in Marlborough, Massachusetts

Macauley Lord – Classic Casting: This is where it all starts: Fly Casting’s ABC’s

Mac has always had an acute interest in developing teaching techniques that simplify the sport. His classic approach is “the standard” for the novice, intermediate and advanced casting student. Mac,the Dean of Fly Casting Instructors in the Northeast, has been awarded the highest distinction in the fly casting world, the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the IFFF. He is author of the LLBean Fly Casting Handbook (Lyons Press), was a longtime editor of our IFFF fly casting newsletter The Loop, when he served on our Casting Board of Governors, and was for two decades the Head Instructor for the LLBean Fly Fishing Schools.

Jim Valle – Spey Casting: The fastest growing aspect of our Fly Casting

Jim holds every Casting Instructor Certification the IFFF offers (CI, THCI, and MCI) and currently serves on the Casting Board of Governors. With a specialization in both Single Hand and Two Hand Spey Casting , he has been the featured instructor at show clinics, a college course, IFFF Fairs and the IFFF Youth Program, Jim was singled out and recognized by the IFFF for his worldwide instruction and named recipient of the Mel Krieger Casting Instructor Award. He is a member of the G. Loomis Pro Staff and the Fly Fishing Pro at Woods and Waters in Wall, NJ.

Jean François Lavallêe – Fly Fishing Casts: This is really what people want to learn

Montreal resident and principal/owner of the Modulus Fly Fishing School, JF was the first Québécois to become a Board Certified Master Fly Casting Instructor . His climb to greater heights in Instruction led him discover the world of competitive fly fishing and his expertise is evident. In 2014 he won the individual title as the Canadian National Fly Fishing Champion while leading his Team EnDiables to the Team Championship title. In 2016 JF fished for his country (Canada’s Red Team) in the Ten Country Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships. He tied for first place in the number of fish caught and caught the biggest trout in the Tournament.

Louis Lortie – Putting It All Together: How can I get to Teach more?

Louis who lives in Quebec City is a Senior Captain flying world-wide for Air Canada, an accomplished CCI and holder of the IFF Fly Tying Skills Award. He decided that he wanted to have an opportunity to get more involved with Fly Casting instruction so he organized, promoted and facilitated a three day event which he called Rendez-vous Les Escoumins, and the event took off.

The Rendez-vous was held in the town of Les Escoumins ( pop 1,700-732 houses) up on the Côte-Nord (256 kilometers -4 1/2 hours) Northeast of Quebec City. 138 people registered for 12 classes or workshops, another 51 people participated in the Casting Games. There was a town sponsored Spaghetti Supper in the Community Center, Awards for Casting games, and the administration of two CI tests. Louis will share with you the story of how he did it (and probably invite you to this year’s Rendez-vous).

“The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, rather to hold a persons’s feet only long enough to enable them to put the other foot somewhat higher”…Bill Gove

You will need to do two things to take part in this Workshop:

1) Contact Rod McGarry at flyrodmcgarry@gmail.com or phone 207-615-4804 and ask that a seat be held for you …and

2) Mail a check for $22 ( payable to IFFF) and send to Rod McGarry, 22 Braddish Ct, Portland, ME 04013

Casting Practice by Lefty Kreh

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Many years ago I attached yarn to the leader when casting. I was never satisfied with the results for the little yarn ball never felt like a fly but more like a miniature parachute, making it difficult for the tippet to turn over. I stop using it.

Maybe 10 years ago I was in St Pete, Florida with Pat Damico, an FFF fly casting instructor and old friend, who showed me what I regard as an excellent answer. Pat uses soft surveyors cord or similar material. He cuts a short length, folds it and ties a knot. I prefer making a small nail knot rather than a knot.

I’ve attached a photograph. A knotted example is on the left in the photo and the rest are secured with a nail knot. Fray the two legs with a needle and attach the tippet to the looped eye. The shortest one in the photograph is used when casting a dry fly and when casting bigger flies use the looped yarn with longer legs.

Pat’s looped yarn gives the impression of casting a real fly. It doesn’t tangle in the grass or in the trees and costs less than a penny to make. If you are taking casting photos the Pat’s gadget looks just like a fly.

To give the impression you’re casting a weighted fly I double several lengths of lead core fly line and whip finish a loop to stabilize the legs.

(Update from Pat Damico – Lowe’s and Home Depot have bright colored cord that is used for carpenter’s chalk, to strike a line. One spool will last several lifetimes. Take your choice. When people ask me what fly to use for success, I hand them one of these. “Learn to use this well and you will catch a lot of fish,” is my usual reply. )

Thanks Lefty!

CASTING DUMMY FLY
CASTING DUMMY FLY

Backcast Tracking by Gordy Hill

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Great thread, here!   Some really good suggestions from both Gail and Scott.  I use ground casting as a teaching tool often.  Hard to “mal track” when doing that.  I recall one instructor doing what Scott does with the flat paint stuck but with a flat pizza box taped tight to a stick.  In that case, the idea was that the caster could feel air resistance if the ersatz “fly rod” was moved out of plane as the arm was rotated around.

 

First, let’s have a description of MAL TRACKING.
Mal Tracking:   Lack of parallel loop legs in the horizontal plane.
Putting it another way:  Side to side separation of the legs of a loop yielding a loop which may appear to be small when seen from the side, but is very wide as seen from above or below or in front and in back.

 

At a Conclave several years ago, Jason Borger showed me another diagnostic trick.  He was the instructor of the casting workshop.  He had the participants arrange themselves in a large circle with a radius of about 40’.’ .Jason stood in the middle.  He had all the students make 30’ false casts toward him.  In about 2 minutes, he could pick out each one who was casting with poor back cast loops partly or largely caused by rotating the arm back and around, thus yielding gross mal tracking.

 

Then he proved his point by having each student do it again with instruction to make three false casts and let the third back cast fall to the ground.  EACH MAL TRACKER HAD A BACK CAST LAYOUT WITH THE FLY LINE CURVING AROUND BEHIND HIM.

 

Easy to do on an individual basis.  Simply stand just out of casting range either directly in front or directly behind the caster and observe:  1. What the line does.   2 What the rod tip did.  3 What the caster did (Body rotation, arm rotation or both).

 

Then confirm by having the caster allow the back cast to fall to the ground AND LEAVE IT THERE.

 

In keeping with Bruce Richards’ “Six Step Method”, you then reverse the process:  4. Have the caster avoid the arm and/or body rotation. 5. Note the rod tip going in a straiter line.  6. Observe the effect on the line (Hopefully good tracking of the loop)  CONFIRM BY HAVING THE STUDENT DROP THE LINE ON THE “CORRECTED” BACK CAST.

 

Here is another trick I’ve used:   I have a home in the Keys which is 13’ elevated on concrete pilings because of needed protection from rising water during hurricanes.  I have stood on my deck and had my caster make casts as I stand above.  Makes that rotation leading to mal tracking easy to see in a heartbeat.

 

Comments:
1  It can be very difficult or impossible to judge mal tracking in the horizontal plane by observing the cast from the side.  Easy to see from in front or in back or from above or below.
2.  Easier to avoid that mal tracking when the caster uses a vertical or almost vertical rod plane.  Since many casters find that style doesn’t work well for them,  I don’t see that as a “cure”.
3.  For the majority of casters who use an off vertical or even an off horizontal rod plane style, I do several things:
     a. For the caster who casts with the casting arm “up in the air and out to the side”, get that arm down.
     b.  I’ve found that Lefty Kreh’s concept of keeping the elbow on an imaginary inclined shelf helps a great deal for these casters.
     c.  I have had success by having the caster watch each back cast ‘till the problem is solved and go back to doing that often.  I have him pick an object such as the edge of a building, a tree, a light pole, or even a cloud which is 180 degrees in line with the target line in front.  The caster now has TWO TARGETS. ONE IN FRONT AND THE OTHER BEHIND.  He’s instructed to make a back cast directly to the cloud or structure behind and then a forward cast to the target in front.  By doing this repeatedly, those loops start tracking well.

 

Once the tracking problem is reduced or eliminated, then we get back to controlling the size of the loops by several maneuvers:
1. Correct any overuse of the wrist.  (Many ways of doing this.)
2. Having the casting arc come closer to matching the rod bend.
3. Dealing with where the rod tip is with respect to the oncoming line at the point of loop formation.
4. Avoiding tearing the loop open with a wimpy stop and a dropping rod tip.

 

Here is a message I sent to a CCI candidate I’m mentoring ;-

 
“I first experienced the technique of watching my casting arm with a rod handle in a side mounted mirror when I took Joan Wulff’s course for casting instructors at her place at Lew Beach, N.Y. about 15 years ago.  She was concentrating on wrist positions at the end of the back cast and at the conclusion of the forward cast.
 
Here is another one which I forgot to teach you:
 
Start the back cast pickup with the butt of your fly rod actually making a dent in the volar side of your forearm.  You delay rotation of the rod a bit by not releasing it from that position until you are very close to the termination of your back cast just before the stop.  This helps in keeping the rod tip from dipping down too far from the oncoming line.  For some casters it works well for tightening up that back cast loop as seen in the vertical plane.
 
I use that, ”forearm dent pressure” when I want good back cast loops while fly casting with tarpon tackle in the pre-dawn dark.  Gives me better presentations and fewer tangles and other screw-ups which are so common when casting in the dark.  Also, gives me smoother pickups when I can’t see the line on the water in front of me.
 
Lots of self teaching tricks and techniques.
 
When you think about it, in the end, the student gets best results when she takes what she learned from her instructor and uses that information to teach herself with repetitive practice after each teaching session and beyond.
 
I still do that.  When I make a bad cast or two, I go back to basics, shorten my line, and teach myself what I already have learned to self improve.”

 

Gordy