Walter & Group........
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2008 2:45
AM
Subject: Questions on casting in
WIND
Tony & Group.....
Here is a little 20 question quiz on casting in WIND : -
1.) Tom White used to say, when teaching casting on a windy day,
"The bad news is that the
wind is blowing. The good news is that the
wind is blowing."
What do you think he meant by that ? Wind can
be advantageous or disadvantageous, depending upon what and where you want to
cast.
Yes, indeed.
Example: When casting into a strong head wind, "the bad news is that it
is difficult to make the forward cast; the good news is that the wind will
assist the back cast ."
G.
2.) Sometimes I preface my classes on casting in high winds with this
statement: " Where wind is concerned, I see
three stages in the casting career of a fly fisherman; the first where
he simply can't handle the wind; the second as he learns to handle the
wind; the third, when he can use the wind to
advantage.
Can you list some ways that the fly fisherman can use the wind to advantage
?
To cast farther
Manoeuvre to optimise a cast from a
boat
To stalk closer to a fish
To sometimes better see fish e.g. in
waves
To be able to use heavier lines/flies without
spooking fish
To access aggregated fish e.g. those feeding in
wind lanes, currents/flows produced or enhanced by wind, or on food items made
available by disturbed water on a lee shore
Agree
! The wind can help, indirectly, too as it tends to make fish less
spooky, thus requiring shorter
casts.
Wind
can be used to, "kite" the fly, not only in the direction of the cast, but to
one side or the other when obstructins would make this presentation more
difficult without it.
Wind from
in front can assist the back cast enough to make loading the rod for the
forward cast easier, too.
Wind from
behind can help actually hover a dry fly, as well.
G.
3.) What is the difference between the, "Lefty Kreh Wind Cast" and
the, "Thrust Cast" ? Name only
Yes. G.
4.) Briefly describe
the THRUST CAST and its use in as few words as you can.
To paraphrase Gary
Borger - “At the very end of the stroke, while the wrist is turning over to
form the line loop, the arm is thrust in the direction of the cast so that the
rod tip continues straight along the path of the line”.Makes for high line
speed so is useful for distance casting, particularly in wind and when roll
casting.
All should read his description of this for more detail.
You don't actually make the STOP until you, "run out of
arm". (Check out: PRESENTATION, Gary Borger, pp.
239-241. Also, see: THE NATURE OF FLY CASTING, Jason Borger, pp.
235-236. Also: Video - "Fly Casting With Lefty Kreh", Skills of
Flycasting Series, 1992."
This technique is hard to beat for gaining distance into a hard
wind when delicacy of presentation is not
needed.
Teaching it has its problems. Elbow injury is possible
with students who have not gained good control.... so should, I think, be
reserved for advanced casters. G.
5.) In the fly casting literature, what author described the, "Storm
Cast" ? Charles Ritz
Yes. His,
"HS/HL" technique is classic. (A FLY FISHER'S LIFE, Part II, pp.
38-53. G.
6.) You are about to take your Masters exam. The wind is
blowing 15 mph, with gusts. Your examiners have given you the choice of
making your distance cast :
a. With wind from in
front b. Wind from behind c. Wind onto
your casting arm side. d. Wind onto your line hand side.
Which would you choose ? Wind on the line hand
side. Good choice.
G.
7.) Now the situation changes. You are taking the same
exam. The wind is at 7 mph. The course is such that you are
given only two choices : a. Wind from in front. b. Wind from
behind.
Which would you choose ? Wind from
behind. True for most candidates, especially if the candidate has
developed a tight loop/ high loop speed back
cast. G.
8.) Why ? The advantage of the wind’s assisting
to straighten the leader would, for me, outweigh any detriment to the back
cast.
Agree.
G.
9.) You are fishing for tarpon from the deck of a flats skiff.
You are set up well for a salt water, "quick cast". A fish shows up 50'
down wind from you. Wind is blowing 20 knots.
BRIEFLY describe your cast. Make an off-vertical, high-trajectory roll cast to pull
the fly from the line hand. Throw a tight, fast, low back cast. Shoot line.
Make the delivery cast high to utilise the wind.
Yes.
G.
10. Same scenario ..... but , now, the wind is blowing 22 knots from
the position of the fish right to you.
Describe your cast. Use a high back cast to pull the fly from the line hand
(positioned close above the reel). Shoot line. Throw a tight, fast, low,
forward cast directly to the target.
A good way to
do it. G.
11. You are making a 50' cast directly into a strong wind. How
does this cast differ from a 50' cast to the
same target when there is no wind ? Significantly
higher line speed required for the forward cast. Casting plane must be
adjusted to deliver the fly to the surface rather than to a point above the
target.
Also .....
tight loop for the forward cast .....very tight loop not needed for the back
cast when a hard wind from in front.
As you
said ( in different words ) the casting plane has to be
changed: high trajectory (launch angle) for the back cast, lower
trajectory directly to tartet for the forward cast with 180 degrees between
them.
With a
head wind, the cadence between the forward and back cast is no longer the
same, as it would be with no wind ... shorter time for the forward stroke,
longer for the back cast stroke. (You point this out as you call for
significantly higher line speed required for the forward
cast.)
Another aspect
of timing changes. With no wind, the PAUSE as the back cast loop
unfurles is the same as for that of unfurling of the forward cast loop.
With a head wind, the back cast pause is longer than the forward cast pause as
one false casts.
G.
12. Now you need to make a 60' cast with a strong wind from
behind. How does this cast differ from the 60' cast made when no wind is
blowing ? Significantly higher line speed required
for the back cast. Casting plane should be adjusted so as to be lower
behind.
Comments for #
12 are the same, in reverse. G.
13.) You are about to make a 45' cast to a laid up fish. The
wind is blowing onto your line hand side at 15 mph.
a. What problem does
this cause ? Difficult to be accurate
b. What is your
solution ? Allow for the wind
Yes.
Compensation to the right or left is needed because of the
wind. G.
14.) There is a wind of about 5 mph onto your rod hand side.
How do you handle it ? Cast more horizontally or
Belgian Style.
Yes.
Another way to look at it, is that by casting horizontally, you place the cast
at the length of your rod away from you.
G.
15.) Now the wind picks up to 20 mph onto your rod hand side.
a. State the problem
this presents. Prospect of the fly hitting the
caster or rod.
b. List
as many ways of solving the problem as you can. (At least 6 ways
of handling this.)
1
Tilt the elbow so as to have the fly
travel on the caster’s lee side
2
Make a “Barnegat Bay” back cast
delivery
3
Turn your back to the wind and make
a Galway Cast cross body
4
Cast with the off
hand
5
Belgian Cast
6
Off shoulder Roll or Spey
cast
Yes. We can,
also:
# Cast with the tip of
the rod over the opposite shoulder (as you stated in 1.) ..... then, if more
distance is needed, we'll need greater stroke length and rod arc. One
effective way of doing this is to crouch a bit and cast with the rod literally
over your head. (When Joe Shedlock taught this in his class entitled,
"Skywriting", he told his students to, "comb your hair with your
reel".)
# We can use various
forms of the elliptical family of casts, too. (You correctly point this out in
5.). The common denominator, here, is a significant change of rod planes
between the back cast and the forward cast.
Example: Make your
back cast over your rod hand shoulder, then make your forward cast over the
opposite shoulder. If the wind is super strong, you can make your back
cast over your casting arm shoulder and your forward cast over your
head....... letting the wind take it over your opposite shoulder.
G.
16.) You are fishing from the right bank of a river for salmon, using
a 15' Spey rod. There is a strong downstream wind. What cast do
you choose ? Double Spey
Yes.
G.
17.) Fishing from the left bank; with a strong upstream
wind. What cast do you chose ? Single
Spey Yes.
18.) How do you determine which bank you are on in the first place ?
Face downstream.
OK
...... Another way to look at it is to face the other bank (looking
across the river), then point downstream. If you use your left hand to
do this, you are on the left bank. (I've actually had candidates get
this wrong on an MCCI exam !) G.
19.) When (if ever) would you elect to make a distance cast with a
small unweighted fly using a wide loop such that the fly leg of the loop is
high and the rod leg fairly horizontal ? If the
wind from the rear was so strong as to cause me to use a roll cast instead of
an overhead.
Yes. In
fact any cast, where you wish the fly to be, "kited" by the wind.
G.
20.) How do you do that ? Accelerate the
line on a high trajectory. Lower the rod tip at the stop.
That's one
way. Another way, is to make a forward stroke with increased rod arc at
the START of the stroke. This creates a loop such that the fly leg
(upper leg) is high, and the rod leg (lower leg) is fairly
straight. G.
The other way
of doing it, is to place the increased rod arc at the END of the stroke.
This is more useful for yielding a well controlled large loop as one might
wish for a weighted nymph or heavy Clouser fly .... it results in the fly leg
of the loop being fairly straight and the rod leg being
lower. G.
The former
method works better for using the wind to assist the
delivery.
Gordy
Take your time, and have fun with these questions !
Gordy