up grade to MED?

[Lasse Karlsson]

Hi Pom

Thanks again

Getting loops on camera, all about lighting and background.

Overcast and background matches colour of line, invisible...


Sun on line, and background is a contrasting colour to the flyline, shows up ....




Same mobile phone used to film both clips

Cheers
Lasse

PS. When carry goes great with the DT, the turn around thing goes out the door

[Paul Arden]

Gold is half up I believe. Very different line to cast. DT is a good option. For all purposes a long belly is a DT until you’ve got it out the tip. Yes you can save money by buying a cheap DT and it will work. But also many are sticky or rough. At some point if you really want to train casting then I recommend the MED. For two things: 1 is it allows you to work on carry. And 2 it’s one of those lines that behaves as a benchmark.



Cheers, Paul

[whinging pom]

Mr Mangrove Cuckoo esq
It sounds like it’s a bit beyond my abilities to the reap the benefits of such a beast.
Sadly on this side of pond, like many great things you get in the states if we get the brand say like Rio or Courtland the selection is seriously limited.

only way is to get them imported and smacked by the customs man.
It’s nigh on impossible to even get a double taper in the UK now though all the big US companies have them in their ranges, not here.
I think we have barstool and the dreaded Maxcatch selling DTs in the UK . So not much choice in finish and selecting belly length.
We could at least have got them from some of the big European suppliers in the past , but since Brexit we get hammered for charges that way too … really hammered. I recently bought a 280 quid reel from Europe at got hit 80 quid from customs and excise.
Hey ho , we’re alive, life’s a gas, there’s food on the table the fish are always rising . There’s worse dilemmas in life.
Pom
Ps Barstool is A.i.r.f.l.o for some reason it changes in draft and preview … barstool is about as mythical and foreign to me as this backing knot that you mention… is there really such a thing, I can’t imagine!

[whinging pom]

Lasse
I get you on the contrast. Being England Blues skies usually as mythical as Mangroves backing knot that apparently I also have living on my reel somewhere in the shadows of disgrace!
Our default sky setting is endless oppression mundane Grey.
I live in a flat area and flat horizon , being an ex photographer though I should really take a tripod and get the camera angle higher so the cast is below the tree and cottages line.
Thanks again for the tip and more videos it’s always an education.
€20.50 ching!
A grateful Pom

[Lasse Karlsson]

Gold is half up I believe.



Cheers, Paul

Target weight is high end of a standard 5 for the 5.
Half weights are nonsense, the gap between lines are smaller than the range allowed within a weight

Cheers
Lasse

[whinging pom]

Paul ( the governor) at last !
Some one saying Buy it!
Now I can spend the money and blame you!
To be honest going back to the mangrove answer the choice of DTs in the uk is so lamentable and getting one vibrantly coloured for a practice line with a long belly of any quality is going to be pot luck. I’ve been sucked into the Google hole so many times finding a huge variety and they are all stateside of the pond and you find you’ve lost hours and no nearer splashing the cash.
So I’ll pay the money and if it’s a mistake I’ll just whinge away that Bloody Paul Arden made me do it!!
ThNkyou
Now about leaders for distance …,, ?
Pom

[whinging pom]

Target weight is high end of a standard 5 for the 5.
Half weights are nonsense, the gap between lines are smaller than the range allowed within a weight

So Rio gold is a bit porky for a standard five weight ? Yes ?
And does that mean with the distances I’m trying to control it’s making things harder to manage? ( please at least give me that excuse!)
Pom

[Lasse Karlsson]

0,4 grams over 9,14 meters or 6 grains over 30 feet.

Can't give you that excuse, sorry...

Here's something to try, lay 55 feet of it straight behind you, with the rod tip pointing in the lines direction, make a forward cast with a haul, and let go.
It should fly, if not look at what happens.

Cheers
Lasse

PS. DT, look at pitsford pirate for vibrant colour

[VGB]

The Pirate lines are only in #4 and 6 at the moment, although it’s always worth dropping Rich a line to see when he’s getting more stock. I did notice that the nice Mr Merigan is selling a Sage 3000D reel with a MED at the moment, for a bargain price

[James9118]

FWIW... I recently cast a Ballistic Pro flyline for the first time.

My impressions:

The line definitely flies nice. The full head seems heavier than other long belly lines that I have cast, but I did not put it on the scale, thats just how it felt. So that may just be due to a different profile. The transition between the back of the head and the running line is extreme. There is no need for marking the line as that transition is easy to detect when stripping in. While I did not cast it long enough to really play around with carry, I suspect I would have trouble trying to carry much more than the head since the running line is so thin. What I did not like about the line is its length. I really don't like to have to deal with the backing knot and when backing tangles abort good casts it really frustrates me. I would gladly pay a few more $ for a full length flyline like the good ol' GT125. I wish I had stocked up on them when they were available.

So... I'm not immediately running out and buying one, but I did find it interesting. Even more curious is that the line is available in heavier weights and with a tropical coating! That may have some interesting applications down here.

Hi MC,

The Ballistic line probably feels heavy because you're getting less slack with it compared to the MED - I've weighed a lot of them and they're all well within the AAFTA range and in fact slightly lighter than the MED at 30ft.

Interesting that you mention the rear taper - there are in fact two designs, one with a short rear taper and one with a much longer one. Interestingly this difference isn't advertised and I don't think you can specify which one you get (they come from two different factories; Rio and Cortland). I can carry both designs at the backing knot - they don't give the best results from this though. I will say that the short rear taper version is more sensitive to getting the correct carry than the other one, however once you've worked out the exact sweet spot the line really flies.

I used the Ballistic #7 to set the BFCC record (150ft) - generally if I add 100ft to where my backing knot lands I get a good estimation of where the fly is. So I reckon the backing knot landed somewhere near 50ft for that cast - it's just about managing the backing as you would the running line.

I'll also say that, for me, I find the MED in a #7 too heavy when I get to the optimum carry (I'm a bit spindly). As such unless it's flat calm I'd favour the Ballistic for #7 distance. I think I'll also be looking to get the tropics version for an upcoming trip.

Cheers, James