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Walter & Group....
[GH] Rick Whorwood brings up a topic that we have reviewed in various ways and with varying detail over the past 10 years.
Rick and I really started this Group as we became "study buddies" in preparing for our Master exams back then. We emailed casting and teaching questions back and forth each requiring a "short answer" followed by a "long answer". As time went on, others joined. We now have 282 members.
It is important enough to warrant repeat and updated review as we gain more insight into it over the years. Doing so will also help our many new members as they prepare for Master Certification :-
Hi Gordy
Some time ago you had a list of what causes tailing loops, do you still have that list ?
Rick Whorwood
[GH] I do. However, let's start with basics and expand for the sake of our new members.
Over the years arguments have raged over tailing loops .... Who is correct ? Who is wrong ? Reminds me of the three blind men trying to describe an elephant.
I offer my perspective :-
THE TAILING LOOP
Description : - A "closed loop" formed as the fly leg of the loop crosses over the rod leg.
- A casting fault resulting in loss of distance, accuracy and presentation.
- Often yielding a collision between the loop legs.
- Sometimes forming a tangle or knot. (Oft called a "wind knot" )
Causes : The basic cause of most (though not all) tailing loops lies in the formation of a concave path of the rod tip.
Ten Caster movements which can lead to the formation of tailing loops :
1. Erratic or inappropriate application of power.
The caster applies a sharp spike of power during the casting stroke. This makes the rod tip fail to follow a straight line path. The tip dips down as the rod is briefly accelerated. The caster is unable to maintain this acceleration, so the rod tip rises forming a concave rod tip path. An irregular line wave is propagated as the loop forms resulting in a tailing loop.
caveats :
- Often happens when the caster uses a as sudden burst of power to try to cast into a strong wind. The tail is caused by the casting fault, NOT the wind.
- If the caster were able to maintain this level of acceleration, no tail would result because the deflected rod tip would not rise and no concavity of rod tip path would occur.
- We are currently looking into a phenomenon called "kickback" as playing a role. This, simply put, is the tendency of a flexible rod to briefly flex in an unintended direction as a result of its vibration frequency property. (More on this as a separate topic ).
- When the crossover of the loop legs is incomplete, no collision occurs. This is often called a "tendency to tail".
- This "tendency to tail" or "partial tail" is considered a fault for MCI exam purposes.
- The tendency of the loop legs to crossover when expert competition casters make long distance casts is a result of gravity acting on the long lines carried out of the rod tip. Collision does not occur. Some have called this a "trailing" loop. Others have referred to this as an "underslung loop". The rod tip path is not concave (usually very slightly convex.) This is not a true tailing loop.
2. The use of too short a casting arc for the bend of the rod and the amount of line carried.
- This fault by itself results in a concave rod tip path and a tail.
- Often, this leads the caster to apply inappropriate power as in 1.
3. Creep.
Creep is the unaccelerated slow movement of the fly rod in the direction of the cast made while the back cast loop is still unrolling or newly unrolled. It results in diminution of the available stroke length and casting arc. Two things may occur singly or in combination as a result :
- Sensing that something is wrong (usually a lack of sense of rod load), the caster exerts a spike of power leading to a concave rod tip path and a tail.
- There is a mismatch between the diminished casting arc and the bend of the rod resulting in a concave rod tip path and tail.
Master candidates must be able to explain and demonstrate all three of the above ways of forming a tail.
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Other ways of forming a tailing loop.
4. Using a sharp spike of power early during the casting stroke with the line hand as a haul is made.
- This can cause the rod tip to dip down briefly and then rise.
- The acceleration of the line hand during the haul isn't maintained during the remainder of the stroke.
5. Casting with less than 180 degrees between the trajectory (launch angle, line plane) of the back cast and the forward cast without changing rod planes (casting planes).
- Example : The caster maintains the same rod plane for both the back cast and the forward cast. The back cast is made high (high trajectory); then the forward cast is made high or parallel to the water surface. This yields less than 180 degrees between the back cast and the forward cast. A tailing loop results.
6. Failure to end the cast at loop formation (Rod Straight Position) with the rod tip below (away) from the oncoming line.
- This forces the fly leg to collide with the rod leg of the loop resulting in a tangle.
- While a collision does occur, it is open to interpretation as to whether this is a true tailing loop be virtue of the description, above. I do consider it a tail.
Lefty describes it this way:
"Remember principle 3 - the line goes in the direction the rod tip speeds up and stops. Almost all tailing loops occur when the rod tip speeds up and stops in a straight path, and the line collides into itself. It can be at any casting angle - the rod tip can stop going up, parallel to the water, or down toward the surface. The most common cause of a tailing loop is elevating the elbow on the back cast and lowering it on the forward cast." *
7 Allowing the back cast to drop much too far (result of poor timing) prior to starting the forward stroke. **
- Not common, though it does occasionally happen.
- Sometimes seen when casters fish with heavily weighted flies.
8. A "two stage cast".
- The caster starts to make the cast, accelerating the fly rod.... then hesitates and accelerates again.
- The rod tip dips down during this first acceleration. Then, during the moment of hesitation, the rod tip rises only to dip down again as the rod flexes as a result of the "second stage" of re-acceleration.
- This results in a concave rod tip path and a tail.
- Rarely seen.
9. Shoving the rod tip up directly into the path of the oncoming line soon after loop formation.
- I have never seen a fisherman or a student do this.
- All too commonly seen when CCI candidates find an "easy" way of making a tailing loop when practicing for an exam.
- Since this does not occur when fishing, and is NOT the way a student of casting is likely to do it, this maneuver will not pass on either a CCI exam or a Master exam !
10. Purposely lowering the rod tip and then raising it again during the cast.
- Doubtful that this ever occurs when fishing or when a student casts.
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CORRECTION OF TAILING LOOPS :
- No one method will correct all tailing loops.
- The correction must depend upon what the caster is doing to create the problem.
- One of the most sound methods of correction is the use of Bruce Richards' six step method :
1. See what the line is doing.
2. Note what the fly rod is doing.
3. See what the CASTER is doing to make the rod do what it does.
Now reverse the process.
4. Correct the caster's movement.
5. Check to see if this corrects the fly rod movement.
6. Check to see if this corrects the line fault.
"QUICK FIXES " :
1. Have the caster lengthen the casting stroke.
2. Tell the caster to cast more slowly.
3. Teach the caster to dip the rod tip farther down at the end of the cast.
- Generally NOT recommended, because they are not based upon an analysis of what caused the problem.
- Leaves the student with no understanding of the problem.
- Sometimes used by stream guides when the angler is not interested in a casting lesson.
- Often just don't work.
What determines how far out the tail will form when due to a concave rod tip path ?
- The earlier during the stroke the fault is made, the closer to the caster the tail forms.
- (The later during the stroke the fault occurs, the farther away from the caster the tail forms. )
- This is just the opposite of what happens when we make a mend (repositioning the line after loop formation .
Why ?
- The move which makes the mend is made after the casting stroke.
- The move which makes the tail is made during the casting stroke.
- Moves made after the stroke tend to result in changes to the rod leg of the loop (mends).
- Moves made during the stroke tend to result in changes to the fly leg of the loop (tails).
(I spent lots of time casting and teaching with our late Tom White. Tom was uncanny at being able to use this method to place the tail anywhere he chose in the line or the leader. I admit that I never developed that expertise. )
* ** CASTING WITH LEFTY KREH, by Lefty Kreh, pp. 404-408.
Gordy
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