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A near encounter today.

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Hornbeam
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A near encounter today.

#1

Post by Hornbeam »

I had to pop into nearby Hawkhurst (Kent) for some supplies this morning. For some reason, I thought of Ian Thomson, who used to be the resident casting instructor at Bewl Water. The thought was in my head when, blow me, I caught a glimpse of someone who looked like Ian, but it was hard to tell: I was in my car driving, and that person was walking on the pavement and wearing a face mask! Now I had not seen or spoken to Ian for several years, so a little later, I dug out his telephone number and called him. Sure enough, it had been him that I saw in Hawkhurst and we had a very pleasant chat and reminisce.

Several years ago, Ian Thomson and Michael Marshall founded something called The 55 Yard Club. At the time, my good friend, the late John Hatherell (sometime Chairman of Bewl Bridge Fly Fishers), and I were keen to seen if we could make the grade. The rules were pretty simple: one had to be able to put one's 'fly' (tuft of wool) down at a range in excess of 55 yards (165 feet or 49.5 m). I forget what other rules were specified, but it had to be with something that was recognisably a single-handed fly rod and there were certain restrictions on the dimensions of the line. Sadly, the qualifying events were few and far between and John and I attended only one, held at Ian Thomson's place -Pooh Corner, at Rolvenden.

The project was very interesting, though. I arranged for Barrie Welham to bring me back from the USA a Scientific Anglers T40, lead-core, tournament fly line. John Hatherell and I fiddled about with various experimental rods made from cut down spinning rods, carp blanks, etc., and we got out onto the grass and practised! Suffice to say, many of our experiments ended in abject failure. We did, however, eventually come up with some workable casting tackle and started getting some pretty good distances. In some of our practice sessions, we both crept towards and eventually exceeded the magic 55 yards.

On the day of the qualification, however, neither John nor I were casting well. Try as I might, I just couldn't quite make the distance. John had a stinking cold and was well below par. It was while I was taking a turn at marking the casts of others that John peeled out one fabulous cast. He hadn't realised how good it was and was about to retrieve. I had to shout and stop him in order to stick my little flag in to mark the distance. He was comfortably past 55 yards. I didn't make it that day (inches short) and I never had the opportunity of another attempt.

So what did I learn? The things I learned particularly were: 1) You do need to give it sufficient oomph to get there. 55 measured yards is a hell of a long way! 2) The trajectory must be right. If you don't aim high enough, gravity takes your cast to ground before sufficient distance is achieved. 3) The loop must still be tight and controlled to pierce the air efficiently. Of the three, loop control is easily the hardest to achieve if applying sufficient steam for really long distances.
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Lasse Karlsson
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Re: A near encounter today.

#2

Post by Lasse Karlsson »

Hi Tony

Nice cool story :)

Leadcore lines can be a PIA to cast, thats for sure!
If you get the itch again, try using something like the seatrout gear we use in the international competitons like the worlds. It's a floating head of max 27 grams, and it will go quite far in the right hands.



I think the BFCC still has that 55 yard badge :)

Cheers
Lasse
Your friendly neighbourhood flyslinger

Flycasting, so simple that instructors need to make it complicated since 1685

Got a Q++ at casting school, wearing shorts ;)
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James9118
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Re: A near encounter today.

#3

Post by James9118 »

Lasse Karlsson wrote: Wed Nov 18, 2020 5:07 pm
I think the BFCC still has that 55 yard badge :)

Cheers
Lasse
The badges go quite a bit higher these days...
badges.jpg
Funny enough Mike Marshall phoned Tracy just like week asking about when the next casting comp might be. He can still throw far despite being in his 80's.

James
Hornbeam
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Re: A near encounter today.

#4

Post by Hornbeam »

Hi Lasse,
You're damned right! Lead core shooting heads can literally be a PIA! I remember a couple of times I got things completely wrong and had that SOaB lash me across the small of the back. F***ing painful!

After my friend, John Hatherell died. Some of his fishing stuff was auctioned at the AGM of the Bewl Bridge Fly Fishers Club (I used to run that auction for about 15 years). I bid, successfully, for one of his fishing waistcoats (vests) which had his 55 Yard Club badge on it. A memento of a lovely guy and a super fishing companion.
Hornbeam
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Re: A near encounter today.

#5

Post by Hornbeam »

Wow, James! Are those distances beyond 55 yards done with single-handed fly rods?! Well out of my league! I never thought I was a great caster, but I could hold my own in 'ordinary company'. I qualified as APGAI in 1989.
Cheers,
Tony
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James9118
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Re: A near encounter today.

#6

Post by James9118 »

Hi Tony,

The longest cast made with a single handed rod at the BFCC to date was 209ft 8in, so just 4 inches short of the 70yard mark. All the others are targeted with double handers, namely the T120.

The BFCC still has a meeting in Kent, you should come along, no doubt Mike M will be there.

Cheers, James
Hornbeam
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Re: A near encounter today.

#7

Post by Hornbeam »

Hi James,
That would be most interesting and thanks for the tip!
Cheers,
Tony
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Paul Arden
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Re: A near encounter today.

#8

Post by Paul Arden »

That’s awesome Tony! I’ve always found the T38 a challenge. Mind you it’s one event I never have practised – instead I’ve always tried to work it out in whatever time limit is allowed! However I do have a rod so maybe I should get a line :D While wind obviously plays a part it’s less like a ping pong ball (to use an analogy of S Rajeff!).

Cheers, Paul

Cheers, Paul
It's an exploration; bring a flyrod.

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