Fixing low backcast trajectory

[Paul Arden]

Cross-posted Matt! Just out - will answer in a bit

[Boisker]

That’s really interesting Paul... at least it’s not just me

It’s not an issue, I can straighten up easy enough... just needs a few more weeks practice to set it as routine

[Paul Arden]

Well I don’t have that. I do have a knee injury that’s taking a long time to heal. It’s been a problem for about 18 months now. After running I can’t run for a few days (was much worse) but for some reason cycling causes it to recover quicker. Consequently most of my training is on the bike but it’s frustrating because I prefer running On the other hand I’m now much faster on the bike...

[jarmo]

Right got it. Ignoring shoulder problems for a moment, that’s the single biggest tracking fault I see. Virtually every caster has it, even at comp level. When I first discovered I was doing it, I had thought I was casting straight. And the interesting thing is when I look backwards and pick a target that I think is directly behind me, when I actually measure it (more on this in a moment) I find it’s 20-30 degrees off.

If a student has a tilted rod plane, how do you fix this? Should his/her “tape” be some meters to the side so that the tip travels over the tape on both fwd and bwd casts?

[Lasse Karlsson]

Right got it. Ignoring shoulder problems for a moment, that’s the single biggest tracking fault I see. Virtually every caster has it, even at comp level. When I first discovered I was doing it, I had thought I was casting straight. And the interesting thing is when I look backwards and pick a target that I think is directly behind me, when I actually measure it (more on this in a moment) I find it’s 20-30 degrees off.

If a student has a tilted rod plane, how do you fix this? Should his/her “tape” be some meters to the side so that the tip travels over the tape on both fwd and bwd casts?

If the rod plane is tilted, and one is checking tracking casting along a tape, then yes, it should be under the tip not the caster! Quite a mistake many do is standing on the tape, and the rodtip moves two meters to the side, and they then have to make a tracking mistake to get the line close when dropped

Cheers
Lasse

[jarmo]

If the rod plane is tilted, and one is checking tracking casting along a tape, then yes, it should be under the tip not the caster! Quite a mistake many do is standing on the tape, and the rodtip moves two meters to the side, and they then have to make a tracking mistake to get the line close when dropped

Thanks, I thought so too.

I first made the student pick targets, but it did not help: that made the rod tip first curve out and then back in. So I started moving him away from the tape. But it felt a bit weird: if the rod plane is at a 60 degree angle instead of perpendicular (90 degrees), with a 9' rod, neglecting bending, the distance from the tape is around 1.5 meters; with 45 degrees it is around 2 meters, the number you also mentioned. I think the moment of maximum weirdness is at pickup.

But we focused on smooth power application soon after that, so I can return to this tracking issue later.

[jarmo]

It’s measured feet to fly? 9’rod, 9’ leader? That’s only 32’ of fly line. I certainly wouldn’t be opening up for that... must be the softer rod!

Hi there.

After experimenting for a while with different ways to apply power, I agree that opening up at 50-55' is not necessary, even with my setup.

It is an excellent task for exploring stances and strokes.

[Paul Arden]

Sorry I’ve been down the lake. To fix tracking I teach to draw back straight from the fly. Emphasise the start of the stroke. There are always two targets. Just catching up and will post more tomorrow

Cheers, Paul

[Paul Arden]

Ok if the caster has a tilted rod plane then get him to throw vertical, 1 o’ clock, 2 o’ clock, and 3. Then vertical, and I would do 11, 10 and 9.

Mostly the problem is not only targets but curving the tip path.

Cheers, Paul