Overpowered Curve

[Paul Arden]

Horizontal, no vertical, no horizontal. FFS!

http://www.sexyloops.com/flycast/overpo ... urve-cast/

[Neil Owens]

Possibly answered somewhere else, but I'm here now...

So I've been trying to learn this cast for ages and all my rod does is make the line gently curve around. Certainly not one of those 'bending the line around so it's pointing back at you' type casts you see the experts doing on yoooootube

But then I had a go on someone else's rod and 'bam' proper curves casts appeared! Pretty neat ones too!

So the rod itself makes a difference in the ability to make a curve cast. Or is it the fly line? Or both?

Why? My rod is a Greys StreamFlex GR70 8' #4WT with a cortland silk line and the one I could easily make curve casts on was an Orvis Recon 9' #6wt and no idea what line was on this.

[Paul Arden]

I don’t know the line, Neil, but I looked it up and it seems fine. What does your leader look like?

Cheers Paul

[Neil Owens]

Err - thin nylon line?

What specifically do you want to know? My leader is a 9’ jobbie that casts well on the water. I think it’s a stroft gtm

[Lasse Karlsson]

Is it a tapered leader or just level, first one makes curves easier, second makes them harder than anyone wants...

And it's not the rod or the line.

Cheers
Lasse

[Paul Arden]

Hi Neil,

Yes I was looking for the taper. If it’s thin and level it’s not going to happen. If the butt section is too short it’s going to be hard -same applies for a very long thin tippet.

One of the reasons that the line bends is because the excess energy from the loop straightening sends a wave back up through the line. This returning wave becomes your curve (hence the importance of loop plane - the curve-making rebound mirrors this plane).

The other reason the line bends is because of the weight at the end of the tippet (ie fly/lead/sock) flipping around. Generally Overpowered Curves are a combination of these two.

Cheers Paul

[Neil Owens]

Ah - right - ok. So the line is a Cortland 444 Sylk, the leader is a 9' 4x Stroft GTM tapered leader with a bit of fluff on the end.


Lasse - if it's not the rod or the line what is it?

And possibly further more - how do you get a rod/line/leader setup that does produce curves? i.e. I need X,Y and Z....

[Paul Arden]

Hi Neil.

Can you draw or describe the configuration of the line when it lands?

There are a number of common errors - one is putting in too much force at the beginning and hence right through the entire stroke, which can throw an open loop. Another is a backcast which is angled upwards so that even through the line kicks at the end of the forward cast, it collides with the water before it has a chance to kick around.

Have you tried it with a moderately short length of line - say 4-5m of flyline outside the tip?

I’ll google your leader now

Cheers Paul

[Paul Arden]

The leader should be fine. Long butt section and the diameter is similar to RIO Powerflex Trout. If the diameter was too thin or the butt of the leader tapers down quickly then this would be a problem. The front taper on the fly line is 10ft which should be fine - too long and it would dissipate the energy. So it brings me to either rod or technique with this rod.

Is the rod particularly soft?

Cheers Paul

[Lasse Karlsson]

Ah - right - ok. So the line is a Cortland 444 Sylk, the leader is a 9' 4x Stroft GTM tapered leader with a bit of fluff on the end.


Lasse - if it's not the rod or the line what is it?

And possibly further more - how do you get a rod/line/leader setup that does produce curves? i.e. I need X,Y and Z....

It's the three last keys, the leader and the caster, mostly the caster. And the fluff, make it small.

Rod doesn't matter, lines with short steep fronttaper, and leaders with slow tapers helps alot. Just try and take of your leader, and watch what happens. Even the longest front taper on a flyline won't disapate the energy good enough to not kick without a leader.
Most common thing is to rush the forward cast, and thereby robbing it of energy. Wait for a straight line behind you.
The two causes Paul lists are the next ones on my list.

Cheers
Lasse