The Board

Hi everyone,
do we all agree that:
a) loop shape
b) line speed
c) trajectory
are the main three key figures to control in fly casting?
Greets
Bernd

+Direction
Or do you include that in trajectory?

\\/Joakim

nope ! controlling slack is the most important because without that, nothing else works well

Hi Joakim,
yes, trajectory includes direction here. Trajectory can go upwards, downwards, left, right and everything inbetween.

Hi Marc,
my main target is to get the fly to the fish.
Since my fly (mostly) only offers very small weight, I use the fly line to be able to cast the fly.
In order to be efficient in that, I want to learn how to adjust the BIG THREE.
If I can adjust line speed, loop shape and trajectory, I can match my cast to most fishing situations.

In order to adjust the BIG THREE it of course is one of my 6 key elements to control slack line. In fact it's the first one I start to teach here.
I don't think any of the 6 elements I teach to finally adjust the BIG THREE is more important than any other of them. This is because if you miss just one, you arefucked up in a lot of fishing situations.

But I do like the idea of having two questions in mind when reaching the water:
1. Where is the fish?
2. How do I have to adjust the BIG THREE to get my fly to the fish?

For example:
- heavy front wind at the coast and Sea trout far out

I need highest possible line speed, tightest possible loop with a straight fly-leg and a horizontal trajectory.

Yes, keeping slack line to an minimum is included to hit those THREE...
Makes sense?
Greets
Bernd

Bernd Ziesche wrote: Yes, keeping slack line to an minimum is included to hit those THREE...
Makes sense?

yes, that makes perfect sense !

Yep, I can agree with that.

c) should maybe be direction.

trajectory |trəˈjektərē|
noun ( pl. trajectories )
1 the path followed by a projectile flying or an object moving under the action of given forces

direction |diˈrekSHən, dī-|
noun
1 a course along which someone or something moves

trajectory fits best

Hi Bernd,

I still like Bill's "5 Essentials".

Regards,
Tony.

Hi Tony,
me too! I think I should add further explanation here.

I always tried to structure the whole process between arriving at the water until the fish takes my fly.

Again, my first question is always about where the fish is.
Then I make a plan about how to get my fly to that spot. From the pure casting perspective that means:
How to adjust the BIG THREE.

I came to the BIG THREE because many students did not think about them at all. Even those who were aware of the 5 essentials mostly did not!
Very often I find people simply not adjusting their trajectory to distance, wind and surroundings. Also I very often find people using way too much line speed, almost no adjustments at all when changing the situation.
About loop shaping I think the 5 Essentials are too much focused on just the tight loop. But to me it is being able to shape the loop in different ways adjusting it to the situation that characterizes the true good caster.
In order to put those three key points into a spot light and to make it as easy as possible not to overlook theese three huge trees in the middle of a wood, I start my lessons with a short explanation about the BIG THREE. This has worked very well for me for quite a while now.

The next step is to offer a set of 6 essentials which is similar to the 5 Essentials by Bill and Jay.
I added "rotation at the right time" since this is a very important tool in order to NOT ONLY shape tight loops but those loops you may want to. Also I cut off the SLP as a stand alone essential, because it refers to only the tight loop.
Then I added "keeping the rod in one plane" (during the whole stroke) since that is a very common mistake for a high percentage of students.

So the BIG THREE are not about dropping of the essentials of fly casting (no matter if one likes the 5e set or a similar one). It is about giving them a bit of an extra focus to what for we will use them on the water.

The feedback I got during teaching this little extra focus was about more adjustments. It seems to really help to make the students aware of how good it is to really adjust your cast to EACH situation instead of being able to cast a tight loop in quite high line speed. Even though this may match for a high percentage of fishing situations.
I think too easy we get used to an average size of arc + stroke + force application and then use it for almost all kind of line profiles, line length and situations.

Greets
Bernd

anjill wrote:Hi Bernd,

I still like Bill's "5 Essentials".

Regards,
Tony.

I do too. But things start getting sticky if you want something to be open or not so straight.
New board. I like!

Edit - Bernd got there first!