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Walter & Group...
>From Peter Morse:
Gordy and Group. This is a big issue, interestingly most casters know there's a problem but they don't know what it is. Its all in their head, they need a consistent and repetitive demonstration that shows if you don't make the loop you won't have an effective cast.
I explain that the only way we can get the fly to the fish is to create a loop that we unroll off the tip of the rod and this ultimately carries the fly to the fish. To get their attention on this subject I'll coil up 30 feet of line and then try to throw it so that it carries the fly, of course it ends up in a mess. Then I'll hand cast the same length of line and this always gets their attention. "No loop = no cast, no stop = no loop".
They need to break very old habits to get around this one, and the feeling that they need to throw this thing out there on the last cast.
Peter Morse
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>From Jerry Puckett:
Gordy,
Glad you survived the cane! How many now over the years, survivor man?
Thought I would share this experience with the group, I think I have before, but hope worth repeating. Regarding the stop on the distant cast only--- in watching Steve Rajeff and Rick Hartman compete in the Best of theWest distant contest--after it was over and we were talking over a break--- I ask both the same question at same time, "How do you define the stop?" To which they answered together without thought, same words out two mouths at the same time---"when you run out of arm!"
So to improve my cast I am going to have an arm lengthening operation--about ten feet should do it! So I always say,---
Chase your dreams until they catch you!
Best Always and Thanks Always,
Jerry Puckett
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[GH] Jerry,
Works for those super distance casters ... but not for all of us mere mortals.
That running out of arm "stop" technique was also used... and may have been popularized by Lefty Kreh years ago when he was casting with Gary and Jason Borger. Lefty has referred to it as a, "WIND CAST". Jason came up with the name, "THRUST CAST" to describe its key element which is a thrust forward with the casting hand which literally comes to a "stop" when the arm suddenly straightens....i.e. "when you run out of arm". *
Gary acknowledged that it is similar to Charles Ritz's "HS/HL" back cast and his forward, "STORM CAST" described in his 1959 book, A FLY FISHER'S LIFE **
This cast is demonstrated in a video produced by Gary Borger, with Lefty casting. ***
It is also describe in Jason Borger's book. ****
I use it when fishing at times for casting into a strong head wind.
Caveat: I don't teach it except for advanced casters who already have good control. When early casters try it, there is an incidence of elbow damage !
* PRESENTATION, by Gary Borger, 1995, pp. 239-241.
** A FLY FISHER'S LIFE, by Charles Ritz, English translation,1959, pp. 38-53.
*** FLY CASTING WITH LEFTY KREH, by Gary Borger, 1992, Video production, Skills of Fly Casting Series,Tomorrow River Press, ISBN 1-879443-11-2.
**** Jason Borger's NATURE OF FLY CASTING, by Jason Borger, 2001, p. 235.
Gordy
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>From David Edens:
Gordy:
My way or reinforcing the necessity of the stop is by demonstrating how a loop is formed.
I take the rod in one hand and the line in the other. I bend the rod by pulling the line, explaining to the student that when you move the rod forward or backward, dragging the weight of the line bends the rod, compressing it like a spring. I then release the line which shows what happens when the rod is stopped: the compressed power of the rod is released, throwing the line forward, forming the loop.
It seems to get the point across.
I have never tried the technique of a stiff arm and wrist in Jim Green's article to teach the stroke and stop. I will give it a try next chance I get. It sounds like it will work.
David
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[GH] David,
When I tried to make those tight loops with a poor "stop" I think one of the reasons I couldn't get good distance despite the small loops may have been just that. Not enough "oomph" to the rod straightening contribution. Required a bit more "swing" to make up for the lack of good "spring". Not sure about that.
This was described in an article by Stan Steele in THE LOOP. *
* THE LOOP, Summer, 2004, p.5.
Gordy
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Paul Arden comes in with a very different explanation:
Hi Gordy,
this is all backwards. Good flycasting is not about the stop (we know this now), rather it is about how one applies force.
A "mushy stop" as you describe it doesn't mean that less energy goes from rod to line, we know in fact it results in greater energy imparted (JB and Grunde), where it may be undesirable is that force can be applied over too wide an arc. It's all about application of force, not about the nature of the stop. If telling someone to apply an abrupt stop gets them to apply force over a narrower arc then this is all fine and dandy, but where we've gone wrong in the past (myself included) is assuming this is because of the nature of the stop and not was has occurred before.
There are some excellent European casters incidentally who have mastered the style you threw on the skiff. They throw smooth long casts with light gear using this style.
Cheers, Paul
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[GH] Paul,
That would fit with the distance cast being more efficient when rotation is delayed.......
Still doesn't explain why I can't get the distance even though I can make a tight loop despite my purposeful "mushy stop".
Do you have a reference for me from Jason and Grunde? I daresay we could learn something from it.
Gordy
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>From Rory Graham:
Hi Gordy.
Sometimes I use a phrase that I heard from one of our MCI's here in Australia - Matthew Howell, about how he teaches the stop. "Red Ferrari"!!
Imagine you're driving a Red Ferrari really fast with no seat belt, accelerating through the gears as you go (this can represent the accelerating of the rod through the cast). At the point you hit your top speed (or close to it) the car slams into a brick wall. Due to the inertia (is that the right term?), and not wearing seat belt, you fly through the windscreen of the car.The loop created by the stop of the rod can be likened to the unfortunate driver of the unfortunate ferrari. The energy created in the rod thanks to our casting stoke unleashes itself into the fly line that is traveling behind the rod tip, at the point that the rod is stopped, therefore allowing the loop to form and line to unroll.
Rather a simple explanation but, since I'm a simple guy, I like it.
Probably many better descriptions out there Gordy, but this is effective and Matty Howell is an awesome teacher and caster!!
Best
Rory
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[GH] Rory:
The late Tom White used to use that "Red Ferrari" analogy. Years ago, he spent time teaching fly casting in Australia, as you may know. He may have introduced it there, then.
Gordy
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>From Jonathan Walter:
Hi Gordy,
Glad to hear that you weathered the storm reasonably well!
David Edens brings up a problem that is often seen and was in fact a real problem for me personally. I've heard it called "last cast syndrome." When I have a student not stopping the rod on the delivery cast and having the line pile up, I first ask them if they understand why it is happening. If they don't, I will demonstrate how their delivery cast is different than the preceding false cast. (This assumes that they can form a reasonably good loop. If they can't, there is other work to be done.) "If only you would make the same cast and the same stop on your delivery cast as you make for the false cast. Doing this takes some focus and discipline" I will say. I usually then ask them to choose a target or pick one for them, then ask the student to draw a line 4-5 ft. straight up from the target to create a secondary target. Then I will direct the caster to aim the loop directly at that secondary target, not at the one 5 ft. below. This usually works, although maybe not immediately. Moreover, I leave the student with a method of correcting the problem the next time they encounter it.
As to the "follow through" I emphasize its importance also. However, I have stopped using the term follow through because this reminds me of follow through in throwing and racquet sports where there is no preceding stop. I think words can be powerful (witness our obsession with definitions) and prefer the term "delivery." When I demonstrate this I will say "stop" when I stop the rod, then slowly say the word "delivery" as I lower the rod tip down following the path of the fly.
That's it---hope it helps! I am looking forward to hearing what others do---I can always use more tools for the teaching toolbox!
Jonathan Walter
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[GH] Many years ago, on a Bahamas bonefish flat, Lefty Kreh caught me making that "last cast" fault.
His advice went something like this: "Don't use any more force on your final cast than you did on your last false cast.... haul faster." Then: "Let your haul be your accelerator."
Worked well. I never forgot that.
Gordy
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