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Great post there Nick. As well as drills, slow motion exercises and experiments to try, I think providing games to play is every bit as important. I’m a big fan of the accuracy game because it’s fun to play, has many benefits for your fishing cast and the improvements over time are measurable.
For sure Matt. I don’t think many people realise just how significant even one line weight is. There is a 15-20% difference in weight. Even a complete beginner can feel that! Casting performance is much more affected by the line than the rod in hand. Going up or down one line weight has a massive effect on the rod’s feel.
I always find it interesting when someone says to me I tried a couple of your rods and I liked this one but not the other. Correctly aligned they should feel the same. If you are testing a rod you must ask what line is on the reel. That’s always my first question
In golf, they have what are called "demo days" where various manufacturers will bring club parts to a range for players to try. Today's technology allows techs to quickly change shafts so the player can experiment with shaft flex, flex point, shaft weight, length, different heads, lies, lofts, head weights and so on. Perhaps the same happens in fly fishing in some places, but there have been none in my area. Being able to try various combinations without having to buy lines and rods hoping for the best fit would be of great benefit.
Whether matching golf or fly fishing componenets, the importance of considering faults or tendencies under pressure is critical. For me, in practice my rhythm is slow and under control. On the water sight fishing, particularly on a slow day without many opportunities, with the wind blowing, boat moving, fish moving, my tendency is to get too quick or put too much energy into a cast. Plus, the rods I use have a very fast action. For these reasons, I believe, I prefer a slightly longer shooting head or rear taper on a shooting head. The SA Redfish lists a 31 ft head consisting of a very short rear taper where the SA saltwater line, which I have thrown for a long time, has a 5 or 6 ft longer rear taper. The longer rear taper configuration works better for me. (A number of years back, I had a friend who was a rep for SA so I got quite a few for free. I think it's important to note that anyone who must report expenditures to the WIC (woman in charge) is familiar with the importance of cost). Now throw in my desire to up my fly game for salt water trout, (bigger flies and long casts), and Cobia, (bigger flies with sinking tips, sinking lines and long casts off a rocking boat (I'm not into the short cast to chummed up fish)), all on different strength rods and my head starts spinning due to the multitude of options.
Nick, nice post on practice. One important aspect of practice is to include situational drills to simulate physical and mental challenges consistent with what the angler will face. I am working on different approaches to keep my rhythm more under control on the water. Some days are better than others. As in golf, visualization can play a powerful role in performance under pressure. For example, I am using a picture of a wall extending back and forth 180 degrees from my target to just outside my right side to my backcast target followed by trying to keep the rod tip AND line within the pictured wall. This visualization works quite well with tracking and accuracy for me. Regarding your mention of the mental side, mind set is everything. Mind set is a function of perception. Perception is a choice.....
Back to the technical side, I am intrigued about the prospect of going to a slower action rod which would force me to slow my rhythm. I have a couple options to try.
Phil Blackmar wrote: ↑Sat Feb 13, 2021 1:35 pm...
Back to the technical side, I am intrigued about the prospect of going to a slower action rod which would force me to slow my rhythm. I have a couple options to try.
If the "WIC" happens to be distracted, T&T sells a nice bamboo saltwater series (sextant) for just $4000.
On a more realistic note, McFarland Rods builds some very high end fiberglass stuff, including a saltwater series. His business has had some (health-related?) ups and downs but his rods and workmanship receive rave reviews.
Note: The Hardy Cup is/was a bamboo rod casting competition so that is probably not one of his fiberglass rods he's casting below.
Phil Blackmar wrote: ↑Sat Feb 13, 2021 1:35 pm...
Back to the technical side, I am intrigued about the prospect of going to a slower action rod which would force me to slow my rhythm. I have a couple options to try.
If the "WIC" happens to be distracted, T&T sells a nice bamboo saltwater series (sextant) for just $4000.
On a more realistic note, McFarland Rods builds some very high end fiberglass stuff, including a saltwater series. His business has had some (health-related?) ups and downs but his rods and workmanship receive rave reviews.
Note: The Hardy Cup is/was a bamboo rod casting competition so that is not one of his fiberglass rods he's casting below. The cast was 114' 11" with a 6'11" Sweetgrass Bamboo rod.
5 MED??? IF so, that's very impressive....I have three low end bamboo rods from the 1950's that belonged to by grandfather and father.....Line is going to be hitting them soon....
Many moons ago I used to work for a tackle importers in the UK, Phil. We were bringing in Redington, Scott, Rio and a bunch of other stuff, much of which was new back then.
I cleverly shifted my job from sales manager to events organiser and we supported shops with road days where we would visit the shop so that their clients could cast the gear, try different lines, rods, get a free casting lesson etc. Great fun! But unfortunately they started losing money and sacked me. 1997-8. That’s the last time I held a “full time” job. It was great for me though; I learned more about instruction in those brief few years than I would normally learn in about 10-15.
I think it’s very hard to buy well-matched tackle without good advice.
Paul, I would agree. In golf it's hard to find truly good advice that isn't flawed for personal gain or influenced by personal style. Even with quality advice, I would think for a good fly caster, the puzzle would not be complete without personally trying combinations.
In golf, there is no way I would buy a set of irons or woods without trying them out first. For irons, I look first to my flight and trajectory with the clubs. Do I hit any bad shots out of the blue? Next is maneuverability; can I make adjustments to the flight easily. Next is the feel of the ball off the face followed by the feel of the sole in the ground. Then I challenge imagined trouble to simulate situations on the course. My lengths and lies are already determined, the last item would be looks. Looks don't trump performance.
It's a challenge for the fly fishing industry. For example, the redfish line I didn't like was a 7wt line put on a 7wt rod. I wanted a 6 wt line but they don't stock that weight so I couldn't try that combo. All the work I have done with my stroke under your guidance has left me liking underweighted lines more than overweighted for the type of fishing I like. Give me a hook up on a single fish in 8" of water 90 feet away and I'm happy for the day. The short quick flops don't do as much for me as the long shots....
I want to try your HT sometime. Our bay fish may die Monday night during a terrible cold snap which is underway. If that happens, I will be forced off shore and your 12wt HT sounds like it may fit my needs. I want to make 100 ft casts with large flies and a minimal of false casts then have enough power to horse them away from the oil rig in 50 ft of water. The fish may weight as much as 75 lbs or more but most are in the 15-30 lb range.........
I agree with you their Phil. What is really important however, when testing any rod, is to realise just how influential the line is. Not just weight (predominately) but taper as well. Ideally you would test with the line you intend to fish or a range of lines. Imagine a golf club hitting everything from a ping pong ball through to a football. Or even a shot putt!
HT12. That’s work in progress. Certainly not a finished rod. I’m getting mixed messages on it and it’s quite possible it’s only finished when I’m living on the Salt. There is actually a prototype in the States (with Gary) that was going to be returned to me for a sailfish expedition... until we found out the US International courier charges If you have a use for it and you want to trial it I can have it sent your way! That could be very useful for me too
Thanks,
Paul
PS the only rule with this rod is you must treat it rough. If you can blow it up then this is much more useful information to me than just catching a few fish
Paul Arden wrote: ↑Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:56 pm
HT12. That’s work in progress. Certainly not a finished rod. I’m getting mixed messages on it and it’s quite possible it’s only finished when I’m living on the Salt. There is actually a prototype in the States (with Gary) that was going to be returned to me for a sailfish expedition... until we found out the US International courier charges If you have a use for it and you want to trial it I can have it sent your way! That could be very useful for me too
Thanks,
Paul
I'm honored you would trust me to test a rod for you. I would really like that if we can work it out. l can certainly test the rod's capabilities relative to what I have and to the type fishing I intend to do with heavier rods. There is no hurry on my end as I won't begin hunting the Cobe's until April. I'll be glad to pay the postage to get it here and then back to Gary...Recommendations on lines would help too.....
