Thumb; Wrist twist / 3-point grip

FWIW, I think Lefty is spot on with his analysis of Dan's issue. I'd lay a dollar that (on his long distance casts) Dan is turning the reel out to the side a bit at the stop of his backcast, and then rotating the rod coming forward until the reel is in-line with the target at his forward stop. You get that little hook to the side opposite your casting hand if you load the rod with the guides facing one compass direction, and then unload it in a new direction. That's what the overhead curve cast is all about. You can have SLP tracking and still get a curve if the rod unloads somewhat "centrifugally" (if that's a word). Twisting the rod at the stop, I mean. You know all that, I'm preaching to the choir. Sorry. The reason that Dan doesn't see it on his shorter casts is that he never turns the reel out on the short casts due to the very limited translation I'm sure he's using with a short line/light load. Typically, the amount of translation and horizontal rotation (elbow, shoulder, spine, or hips) increases with Lefty-style casting, as the distance increases. It takes great concentration and discipline from a caster to ensure that the rod stays in plane both in terms of tip tracking and axial rotation of the rod blank. One of my own casting "gimmicks" is to go about 100 feet out in front of the caster (or a distance that I know they can't reach me with a cast) and then have them cast. I tell them that at no point should I be able to see their casting thumb. It should remain hidden behind the cork from me the entire time they false cast, and only when they present (dropping the tip) as the final loop is unrolling should I be able to catch a glimpse of their thumb. It works.

I'd like to point out that the thumb-on-top grip can work when casting in any casting plane. For me and many others who fish the salt a great deal, it works best with Lefty's low-elbow-on-the-shelf / off-horizontal rod plane style.

Joan Wulff advocates and teaches this grip despite the fact that her "default" style is elbow-forward / vertical to off-vertical rod plane. For this and other "grips" including her "screen-door handle" analogy, see Joan Wulff's FLY CASTING TECHNIQUES, pp. 15-18.

Gary and Jason Borger prefer what they call the "Three-Point-Grip". One of their reasons is that they feel that the use of the thumb-on-top grip can more easily lead to twisting of the wrist, especially on the back cast. We must remember, however, that they are using an elbow-forward vertical to off-vertical rod plane style most of the time. Gary had pointed out a long time ago that their 3-point grip has an additional advantage of making it less likely that a beginning caster will use an out of control wrist on the back cast to stop with the rod tip going back and down.

I note that with this grip the effective rod length (Chord which subtends the arc of a fully bent rod.) becomes a tiny bit greater due to the reel crowding position of the hand. (Heel of the hand back near or on the reel seat.)

The 3-point grip doesn't give us the thumbnail as a point of reference. Many casters prefer it. With my personal style, I can't deliver with quite as much power as I can with the thumb-on-top grip and I can't control twisting of the handle quite as well.

To see this grip well depicted, check out the description and diagrams on pp. 42-51, NATURE OF FLY CASTING by Jason Borger, and Gary Borger's PRESENTATION, pp. 204-206.

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The sketches were just standard .gif file format from Abobe Illustrator and if you had trouble opening them you could have saved them and inserted them into Power Point or the like. Anyway I’ve done that for you and included a full set as a PP show so even if you don’t have power point they should appear OK.

Best wishes,

Ally Gowans

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For you new Group Members:

Bob Rumph of our Group is a true expert on fly fishing and fly casting books. Some of these have become hard to find. Still others are available by some book dealers at exorbitant prices.

Bob is coming out with his list of available books, soon. His prices are reasonable.

Gordy

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