Well that was humbling...

[John Waters]

Add 2 or 3 feet of fly line (depending on your delivery stroke) to 33 to hit the target's centre.

John

[Paul Arden]

so a 9' rod and 8ft leader means you are aerializing 33ft of fly line

Indeed. And with an 11’ leader it’s 30’ of flyline. Find a leader length that you can comfortably use for accuracy. Minimum 9’for me. Every foot you cut off the leader is one more foot off flyline to carry. Apart from which a very short leader is difficult to control and will often still have energy at loop straight.

The bigger question is what line are you using? It’s rare but possible to find flylines with head lengths of only 30’ which makes these tasks very difficult. You want a line where all your presentations are made with the head still being in the rod rings. In particular look at curve casts and aerial mends. Both are very difficult when casting into your running line.

I think the lesson is to use well balanced tackle. Don’t make the mistake of trying to optimise tackle to make a certain aspect of the exam “easier”, by for example using very short or very long leaders, short headed WF lines that are easier to carry. Because when you go to extremes to assist one part you make something else more difficult.

If you can’t pass the exam with a DT5 line on a 5WT rod then you are going to be borderline and difficult to examine!

Cheers, Paul

[jarmo]

so a 9' rod and 8ft leader means you are aerializing 33ft of fly line

Indeed. And with an 11’ leader it’s 30’ of flyline. Find a leader length that you can comfortably use for accuracy. Minimum 9’for me. Every foot you cut off the leader is one more foot off flyline to carry. Apart from which a very short leader is difficult to control and will often still have energy at loop straight.

I had not noticed this before, but interestingly enough, I just checked, and there is no max leader length in the test, only min 7.5'.

I launched my first ever "fast" rod this morning, another 9' 6wt. I admit that the 50' false casting task became a lot easier, given a closed stance / compact stroke. I also learned amazing things about hauling today. Well, not so much "learned" but "verified" what I had deduced at home/work/in my sleep this week. I will be posting videos at some point. There will be a lot more time for casting in a couple of weeks.

[RexW]

Jarmo, I agree, the tasks that require longer carry distances are easier with faster rods. But, I have been doing the opposite of you. I dusted off an older rod with a more medium action. It has been interesting to compare how different action rods perform with the different tasks.

It has been fun to compare rods and realize that I am developing the ability to tell a difference in how different rods perform different casts. But I still have a long way to go to be able to pick up any rod and automatically cast it well. When change rods, it takes me a little bit to adjust to its action. But, I'm learning.

[jarmo]

Jarmo, I agree, the tasks that require longer carry distances are easier with faster rods. But, I have been doing the opposite of you. I dusted off an older rod with a more medium action. It has been interesting to compare how different action rods perform with the different tasks.

I am slow by nature, and for me practising these tasks is a lot more fun with a "slower" rod. I prefer their feel, even when casting. And for actual fishing...

One reason for getting a "fast" rod was the same as your motivation for digging up that old rod: explore and learn their differences as casting tools. But as I said above, with a closed stance and a compact stroke, for me, this new tool makes 50' non-hauls so much easier. Surprisingly small movement is sufficient. In fact, my only problem atm is too large a movement / too much power on the forward cast, leading to fwd cast loops that are too open. Backcast loops are spot on.

(BTW, I was lying when I said this is my first "fast" rod. I had an XP back in the days, but I sold it because it was too "fast" for me.)

[Lasse Karlsson]

Non hauled casts with about 45 feet from foot to fluff.



Our minds tend to play tricks on us

Cheers
Lasse

[jarmo]

Lasse: I should have anticipated a response with that video... but I did not.

I will try to do a side-by-side comparison next week. I am on a spontaneous two-week fishing and casting trip. Basically claiming the village idiot title in a different location, like being on a sports field at 6:30 this morning for a casting session.