Tailing loops: In depth understanding

I've been asked a question about the likely new requirements on the MCCI exam with regard to the three different methods to be used by form tailing loops.

Understand, the MCCI Testing Committee came up with this last year. This new proposed requirement was met with general approval by the Casting Board of Governors, but no formal ratification has yet been made. I have a strong feeling it will be implemented once a formal vote is taken along with some other changes.

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I. The common denominator of tailing loop formation is concavity of the path of the rod tip during the casting stroke or (uncommonly) between strokes.

II. The most common reason for the concavity is application of power as a spike of acceleration during the stroke which cannot be maintained or exceeded to stroke completion at loop formation.

III .On uncommon reason for the concavity yielding a tailing loop is an angle between the trajectory of the back cast and that of the forward cast of less than 180 degrees without change of rod plane.

Three methods of casting which commonly yield tailing loops should be mastered by MCCI candidates, since these are the ones most often noted with casting students.

a.) CREEP .. Creep shortens the available stroke length, rod arc and tip travel for the length of line carried and the distance of the cast. Sensing lack of sufficient load, the caster applies more power during the stroke than he can maintain. The rod tip bends down and then returns prior to the end of the stroke yielding a concave rod tip path which translates into a wave in the line after loop formation allowing the fly leg of the loop to cross over the rod leg.

This is the save mechanism as described in a.) with the exception that the stroke, rod arc, and tip travel are diminished even though there is no creep.

c.) SUDDEN APPLICATION OF POWER DURING THE STROKE, WITH NO CREEP AND THE CORRECT STROKE LENGTH FOR THE LINE CARRIED.

This one is pure spiking of power during the stroke. The caster creates brief rapid acceleration of the rod which he cannot maintain out to loop formation at the end of the stroke. The fact that this acceleration cannot be maintained results in the bent down rod tip bouncing back up before the stroke is finished ..... ergo a concave rod tip path.

It isn't simply, "too much power during the stroke" . In fact, if the caster were able to maintain or increase the acceleration which that power produced, there would be no tail. The real culprit becomes the inability to maintain that acceleration allowing the rod tip to bounce up prior to the conclusion of the stroke at loop formation. It is this which results in the concave rod tip path.

It is likely that the MCCI Testing Committee will require candidates to perform, clearly, all three of the above : a.) , b.), and c.). The mechanisms yielding the tailing loop will have to be so clear as to be obvious to the examiners.

This and other changes in the casting portion of the exam have yet to be ratified and approved by the entire Casting Board of Governors.

In addition to the above, the examiners may elect to ask the candidate to form a tailing loop on the back cast.

Whether the Committee and the Board will accept an alternative to one of the three methods of making a tailing loop described, above, I don't know. :-

d.) CASTING WITH LESS THAN 180 DEGREES OF TRAJECTORY (LINE PLANE) BETWEEN THE BACK CAST AND THE FORWARD CAST. ( III, above.)

One caveat is that this won't yield a tail unless the rod plane (orientation of the rod from vertical to horizontal on either side of the body) remains the same for both back cast and forward cast.

EXAMPLE: A high trajectory back cast followed by a horizontal (straight forward) or high forward cast all accomplished in one rod plane (usually vertical.) It isn't a common fault yielding a tail very often since most casters do change rod planes at least a little between back and forward casts.

(This is an interesting one to consider, because to make the tail, the caster has to have good rod tip tracking. This is one reason why it is rarely seen with beginner casters.) (Check out: CASTING ANGLES, Mac Brown, pp. 94-105 ... including his, "Box diagrams." )

One other mechanism which can yield a tail is described by Lefty Kreh and Ed Jaworowski. This is the pushing forward of the rod during the stroke with insufficient rod arc. The rod tip doesn't dip down at the end of the stroke, so the fly line runs into the rod tip or into itself. Most of us feel that this is not the way most students make a tail which is why it likely will not be included on the exam. (See, THE CAST, Ed Jaworowski, pp. 202-205) also: (Advanced Fly Casting, Lefty Kreh, pp.56-69.)

Another mechanism for making a tail is one which we see with poorly informed CCI candidates, occasionally. The candidate tries to accomplish the task of purposely making a tail on the forward cast by shoving the rod tip right up into the path of the oncoming line. This will form a tail, but won't pass the exam, because it is not a mechanism inadvertently used by students to form their tails. For that reason, it shows no basic understanding of tailing loop formation and is worthless as a teaching exercise.

The, "cures" for tailing loops is to teach the student to avoid the mechanism which produced it. To do that, the teacher must understand the method by which each student is using to create the tail.

"Bandaid" cures which sometimes work, but don't yield any real understanding of the problem .... and often result in a return of the fault and more tails include:

1.) Simply have the student increase stroke length without having him understand the principle of matching stroke length, rod arc, and tip travel to the length of line carried and the casting distance.

2.) Having the student dip the rod tip down farther than necessary at the end of the cast. That way, the tail may well not complete itself sufficiently to make a knot or tangle. This opens the loop and makes an inefficient cast.

3.) Teaching the student to cast more smoothly. (This one isn't just a bandaid fix, but often gets to the crux of the matter.)

Only by being able to describe and perform the tasks, above ( a.), b.) & c) , will the candidate show an in depth understanding of the tailing loop problem, as I see it.