The practical side of considering loops as waves: Teaching and Self Improvement

[Graeme H]

Just thinking about Graeme's claims. instead of throwing the rod forawrd and taking a couple of steps, it's much easier to just use a shootinghead, and thin mono shootingline, and let go, tension should drop even more that way.

Cheers
Lasse

Lasse, cutting the tether is not instantaneous because that mono still needs to travel through the guides before all tension is gone. If you're not cutting it, there is still tension in the thin mono running line (friction in the guides) and it can't be monitored visually in the way I've shown it in the video above.

There is something pulling on the rod tip at the 7 second mark of your video - is that the knot in the mono leaving the rod?

Cheers,
Graeme

[Paul Arden]

Getting back to your wave hypothesis Graeme, surely it wouldn’t need “just enough” energy to unroll to collapse when tension is removed, but it would collapse no matter how fast the wave is propagating? I find even a little bit more allows the loop to unroll even though I can move faster with the rod. These are short casts of about 20’ of line.

Will have a look at the videos shortly. In the middle of cooking spuds.

Cheers, Paul

[Paul Arden]

Hi Graeme, if you look at your loops as they form the last one is different. Instead of trying to collapse the cast at the beginning of the stroke I simply pushed forward as the loop neared its unroll. The loop doesn’t open as it collapses.

Cheers, Paul

[Mangrove Cuckoo]

I am not fully involved in this discussion, but I can offer this:

When fishing mangrove shorelines it is much more efficient to have the fly track sideways along the shore than to retrieve it directly away. You present the silhouette of the fly along a longer path that way. But you have to cast from a position off the shore...if you cast parallel to the shore any snook that takes the fly will simply take it back home - you have to be able to pull them away.

So... a curve cast is required, and an underpowered curve works very well. The tough part is that you need to hit two targets... where the fly lands and where the curve lands.

To make it short: the fly is directed by establishing the fly leg trajectory, the curve is placed by sweeping the rod tip and collapsing the cast. The latter is done by pushing the rod tip forward and releasing the line... killing the tension.

Takes a bunch of practice! But it collapses no matter how much energy is in the cast originally. In fact, the more energy, the longer the track the fly swims along the curve.

[Lasse Karlsson]

Graeme, in the lost tension cast, the last cast has a change in trajectory to upwards, and appears to start before it has unrolled behind?

Cheers
Lasse

[Graeme H]

Do I need to take a whole bunch more videos? I chose one of half a dozen casts.

Or you guys can go out and play with it yourself. You've now seen it in action. Please go and experiment for yourselves.

[Graeme H]

And then once you have had a play, please remember the point of this video is to demonstrate that tension in the rod leg is an important part of the cast. It's not an academic exercise - it's a tool to be used during the cast and during teaching.

At least, it is for me. If you guys want to ignore it, feel free to do that. I couldn't care less.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Dirk le Roux]

Do I need to take a whole bunch more videos? I chose one of half a dozen casts.

Or you guys can go out and play with it yourself. You've now seen it in action. Please go and experiment for yourselves.

Hi Graeme

Thanks for this fascinating video. It is a pity that the sign on the black wall obscures what should be a very interesting morphing going on.

So, pretty, please, can you shoot one without the sign's obscuring?

Thanks!
Dirk

[Dirk le Roux]

Just a new variation on the dolphin nose.

And check the markers through the loop, it still propagates!

[Graeme H]

I love that Dirk! Casting a fish at fish!