Waypoints

[Paul Arden]

Hi Dirk,

I’ve been finding myself more and more using the term “waypoint” when discussing aerielised Speys, Snaps and Snakes.

What would your definition of “waypoint” be? For me it’s an awesome term and right on the money.

Cheers,
Paul

[Torsten]

Hi,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waypoint
"A waypoint is an intermediate point or place on a route or line of travel, a stopping point or point at which course is changed"

Don't know if this helps

Torsten.

[Paul Arden]

Thanks Torsten, I’m curious about the physics of a waypoint formed as a Snap compared to a simple tip path change of direction. For example an aerielised Snap Single Spey vs aerielised Single Spey.

Cheers, Paul

[Dirk le Roux]

Hi Paul

Back when I first used the term, I defined it as "A bend in the line, purposely placed before or during a stroke to influence the line's flight path to benefit the cast". I would nowadays add that a waypoint’s timing precedes a stroke acceleration.

Playing with Torsten's reference, something like "a point at which the line's course of travel is changed" can also work.

Snaps are good examples, where the fly side of the line goes to and rounds the snap bend before heading in any subsequent direction.

A point I made back then was that a waypoint provides an apparent origin for dynamics occurring downstream of it. That way you can get the horizontal delivery of a steeple cast to largely behave as if the backcast was 180 degrees opposite, extending the steeple cast's range without tailing. Just a few other scenarios where I use waypoints are:
• To counter loop slant on a Belgian/Oval/Gebetsroither forward cast – send a little waypoint bend behind you just before accelerating into the forward stroke.
• Ninety-degree direction change during an overhead cast, with limited room behind – drift from the backcast (which becomes effectively a side cast) to place a waypoint behind you and opposite the new target, then accelerate into the delivery stroke from there.
• Picking up line over vegetation while minimising chances of hooking obstacles – place a pronounced hump from a vertical lift of the rod tip and accelerate into a horizontal stroke from there. The result has the fly end of the line climbing toward the hump rather than just dragging across the vegetation.

Despite an online search, I am not quite sure what exactly you mean by the Aerialised Single Spey or Aerialised Snap Single Spey. I have experimented with setting waypoints as aerial anchors in a variety of Spey casts but am not sufficiently grounded in Spey to have knowledgeably tested the limits of aerial vs water-kiss anchors.

For me, making waypoints in casts feel akin to making snaps. Almost like taking a little breath before a surge in movement.

Dynamics? To me, a most prominent feature is that once a waypoint is made, it is not going to easily disappear from the cast’s layout.

All the best,
Dirk

[Mangrove Cuckoo]

• Picking up line over vegetation while minimising chances of hooking obstacles – place a pronounced hump from a vertical lift of the rod tip and accelerate into a horizontal stroke from there. The result has the fly end of the line climbing toward the hump rather than just dragging across the vegetation.

Dirk

I will have to think about the other "waypoints" mentioned but that one above is a favorite of mine! I particularly like to use it to pick up poppers when casting with wind directly behind. That hump mend will travel down the line and lift the popper like magic, and then the popper will even hover a bit, allowing for a nice low backcast into that wind.

Recently, I found another use for it. We have a fish called a redfish that will eat a popper cast into a shore, but it is much less aggressive than say a snook or tarpon. And if you let them stalk the popper for more than a few feet, they seldom commit, unless there is competition. A big bulge in the water behind the fly is often all you get.

The answer is to take the popper away quickly and replace it a few feet off to the side... maybe more than once. But, how do you take a popper quickly away without making so much noise that it scares the hell out of that fish and probably birds 100' down the shore? Answer: that hump lift followed by a snap.

I will have to scratch my head a bit before this "waypoint" idea gets clearer.

[Dirk le Roux]

Hi Gary

That's a great example!

Humps, snaps, pre-stroke mends, waves in a dry fly pick-up, what else? To me, they become waypoints when I employ them to achieve two things - 1) For the line on the fly side of the waypoint bend to first head there (as with your popper), and 2) for the line on the loop side of the waypoint bend to behave as if it actually originates from there (enabling downward directing of a backcast immediately from a pick-up).

So, the going to and coming from is just like the travel sense of the word. The term provided me with a framework to make casts I previously thought were not possible.

All the best,
Dirk

[Paul Arden]

Hi Dirk,

it’s an excellent concept and simplifies quite complicated casting challenges. Since you first brought it to our attention I’ve been playing with it considerably. Excellent uses listed above!

Ok so aerielised Single Spey is I think self- explanatory. It’s a single Spey without an anchor. Less “dynamic” for want of a better word than a kiss and go anchor which assists in stabilising the D loop. Consequently if distance or easy casting (less acute timing/force application) is required then the water anchor is the way to go. However if stealth is required (or for that matter a fly that you don’t want to anchor lest it gets stuck (for example a Popper) then an aerielised “anchor” works just fine. Ie a waypoint!

However if instead of a lift for the Single Spey, we make an aerielised Snap (snapping over the lifted line instead of under) this pops the line into the air where upon the line can be swept back under and repositioned into the same forward delivery starting position. This Waypoint offers more resistance despite being aerielised and in the same position as the first one.

I’ll draw some art…

In this particular case there are three waypoints in the sequence. What I find interesting however is how much more control the snapped lift gives.

I’ll shoot some video if the art doesn’t work

Cheers, Paul

[Dirk le Roux]

Hi Paul

I am tempted to say it's your best work yet! I think I understand both your Aerial Single Spey permutations.

In some scenarios, more snappy waypoints are just the ticket for more precise outcomes. And those do seem to provide more resistance/stability. In other cases, such as the steeple cast waypoint, I like to make them more subtle, in a way sneaky.

All the best,
Dirk

[Paul Arden]

Thanks Dirk, I’ll incorporate that on the Steeple Cast. Incidentally the hump on the lift can also be used to pick up a longer length of line. The chap who first taught me, Henry Lowe, called it the Dynamic Lift (I thought Flick Lift more appropriate, but Hump Lift is even better). I’ve always liked it because you can pick up a long line and yet still make a side backcast.

Brilliant use of it Gary to pick up Poppers!! Thanks!! Kind of the same thing can happen with Giant Snakehead incidentally.

Cheers, Paul

[Graeme H]

Answer: that hump lift followed by a snap.

I like that explanation.

My answer is very similar and achieves the same thing, and that is a tiny snake roll lift. I find that an easier motion to produce than a straight lift making a hump, but in the end, it's the same thing.

Cheers,
Graeme