Casting practice 14

[GH] This message (Casting practice 14) is out of sequence, since Casting practice 15 was sent prior to this.

[GH] Questions from Walter Simbirski largely related to teaching beginners and their practice equipment. My answers in italics. Lots to cover, here, since he has asked many good questions. I've kept this a separate message :

I have a question - when is it suitable to suggest that a student use a different rod/line combo for practicing? I know that one thing we

should check for when a student seems to be struggling is that their equipment has been properly set up. Do we ever, having checked

the equipment and found that it works for us, suggest to the student that they may find something else easier to begin with and how

do we determine what might work better for them? I supply a number of rods for my beginner classes and tell students to exchange

with the person next to them throughout the class so that they have an opportunity to find for themselves what seems to work.

[GH] Yes. Jim Valle made a point about this a while back when he suggested that the instructor should make a cast or two at the very least with the student's equipment and then tactfully make recommendations if needed. Exchanging rods between students may not teach them much at the beginner level, but it sure does later on.

I know that we should all aim for developing a style and awareness that let's us cast well with virtually any rod after a couple of

practice strokes but does that necessarily apply to a beginner? Is it better to help someone find equipment that works for them

[GH] Most beginners simply cannot do that very well. Never force them to adapt to equipment which is hard for them to handle. Having the beginners try different outfits after they have learned at least a basic casting stroke can work if they are given the chance to try several different outfits properly matched to fly lines. They can pick the one which "feels best" to them when they use them to do what they have already learned.

As a general "rule", beginners should start with a medium action rod not too heavy for the student's age and size. They won't be practicing long casts,yet, so they may do best with a short head floating wt. forward line.

The major tackle companies such as Cabelas and Temple Fork Outfitters have given this a lot of attention and have come up with inexpensive but well made rods suitable for early casters.

I remember a story you once told me about taking a lesson from Joan Wulff where you were provided with a number of rods

to cast and were given a few minutes to try each one. Each member of the class did well with some rods and not so well with

other rods. After the exercise Joan demonstrated casting with each rod and was easily able to adapt to each one. On the other

hand I also remember a story from one of her books where she described a rod that she was never able to cast well even after

repeated attempts. So if someone of that calibre admits that not every rod works for them then why would we assume that every

[GH] We should not assume that every student should be able to learn well with the first outfit they acquire.

The story to which you refer was related from my experiences at her school for instructors. Joan does, however, do that with beginning students. She writes:

"In the Wulff Fishing School curriculum, my favorite session is "rod testing," in which the students cast ten or eleven different rods, each for only a couple of minutes. we usually use trout rods for line weights #4 to #6 but we always include a #8 to get their attention. This session does more for understanding rod action than any lecture could ever achieve. By the time they reach the fifth rod, their sensitivity to the difference in actions has become apparent, and their casting improves accordingly.

Do all the students like the same rod? Of course not! The choices vary, depending on a student's gender, strength, height, hand size and personality. But while most students are beginners, each of them can easily say they like one rod better than another - because it improves their casting." *

When Joan gave up on that rod, she was already an accomplished caster. She was able to perceive both gross and subtle differences. She was able to cast with it, but it didn't suit her competition efforts.

As we go from beginner status to accomplished casters, we will sharpen our appreciation of what works best for given casting/fishing circumstances. We will eventually all pick our favorites... certainly not the same for all.

One way is start with what works for most beginners based on age and size and recommend change for those who seem to struggle with that choice once we determine that the equipment is a problem. I think Joan's way of doing it may be best.... but not all instructors or even schools have multiple outfits for the students to try.

I'm thinking in particular of people that have a hard time feeling the rod load. Today's message from rod manufacture's is that

the rod should be as light and as fast as possible but if I start with a light weight, shorter rod I would meet exactly that

criteria but I would probably find the rod to be somewhat difficult to feel and probably difficult to load as a beginner. My tendency

[GH] I don't agree with beginners starting with rods which are "as fast as possible". Why? ... because with those rods, everything happens so fast the student cannot appreciate what is occurring. Not super soft, either, because it is too easy to over bend those rods relative to the casting arc, so the beginner is likely to be plagued with lots of tailing loops. Light rods?... Yes. To reduce early fatigue.

I do best teaching beginners with a line which is one or two designations greater than that of the rod so they can get the feel of rod loading early in their game.

So back to my original question. When I find a student has brought a rod that they seem to struggle with I usually suggest

they try some of the rods I supply until they find something that they like the feel of and that seems to work for them. They

can make their own minds up if they want to go to one of the local shops and purchase a similar rod. But can we be more

scientific about it? Are there indications or clues that a student gives us to help steer them in the right direction for them?

Assuming, of course, that we agree that one of our duties as an instructor is to help the student get matched up with

[GH] If you send the student to a fly shop, the sales person may not really be qualified to advise and might prevail and sell him/her an unsuitable rod. The ideal way to do it would be for the instructor to help pick out one. That may, of course, not be a practical way to do it. We've all had students who bought rods unsuited to them or their learning situation... often a lot more expensive than necessary, only to have them soon replaced. This is a "downer" as well as wasteful.

We also tend to frown on the idea of over-lining or underlining a rod unless we have a specific reason for doing so. I also remember

a saying by Bruce Richards about rod rating and the AFTMA line system that basically says that the better you get at casting

[GH] As I stated, above, I like to slightly overline the rod for beginners so they can sense and appreciate the load without lots of line out of the rod tip which can be harder for them to handle.

Tom White did it differently. He often strung up the student's rod temporarily with heavy, inexpensive level monofilament ... then have them go through "circles, straights, and eights" as well as basic casting to have them get the feel of rod load.

Bruce is correct. Expert casters can get to the point of being able to cast using just about any outfit. They do it by being able to quickly discern rod/line mismatches and adjust by matching the applied force and (therefore) rod bend to the casting arc. Even super casters, however, will choose what combination works best for them for a given use or challenge.

One way of determining a caster's experience and expertise, is to hand him a grossly mismatched outfit and see how quickly he can adjust to it. Separates the sheep from the goats !!

There isn't a really scientific way of rating fly rods as there is with lines. This despite some companies using "strain deflection tests", "flexion profile standards", Modulus calculations, Fiber tensile property tables, etc., etc.

I have spent many hours trying to "rate" and label prototype salt water rods with Steve Rajeff. He was the expert. I was learning. We'd try different tip and mid sections on several alternate butt sections all carefully numbered until we got a combination which "worked well" for different casts with different line designations. After spending my first day doing that, I came to an interim conclusion that the main ingredient might well be, "a certain amount of witchcraft"!

Of course, the rod designers have some basic parameters to use for a start..... however, In the end, it boils down to the judgement of several experts as to what rod works best with what line designation for the "average caster".