“Slide-loading” and minimal contact

[Paul Arden]

Hi chaps,

Something I haven’t talked very much about is that I “slide-load” on my forward “Snakehead Shot”. I didn’t even know I was doing it until I analysed some video some years back. What it accomplishes (in my case) is to significantly extend line in the fly leg. (I don’t know how much more exactly and I need to measure it). Slipping line into the backcast is paramount here with quick shots.

I’m not sure how it happened for me, but I know about 20 years ago I played with this technique in my distance casting – along with Swoop and everything else i could find It got some interesting results but it was rather inconsistent. It always amazes me how little contact one needs to have with the line hand to the line. However I’m pretty sure it’s not an on/off switch and we should be teaching to apply tactile pressure while slipping line under control.

If you fuse together the slipped lift, slide-loading and the early release (in both directions) you get some pretty interesting results. We teach far too much contact with the line IMO. An exercise I would ask you to play with, is just how little contact time you need to make with the line hand. And then apply it to all casts; Spey contact I still can’t explain properly. (I haven’t had to break it down yet for teaching… well not very often!). However it transforms the cast. In fact it’s with the Speys where it gets complicated because it’s definitely not always an on/off switch.

Something to play with anyway!

Cheers, Paul

[Dirk le Roux]

Hi Paul

I often play with your Snakehead Shot. The dynamics fascinate me, especially why the loops don't tail all the time

To me it is rather a shoot-and-slide. Up to the line hand tug, I can feel the line still shooting backwards through the line hand while the forward stroke on the rod side of things is already far progressed. The Snakehead PUALD sequence feels to me like the line hand grip-and-tug very briefly punctuates longish back and forward strokes which have the line slipping/sliding/shooting all the time.

All the best,
Dirk

[Paul Arden]

Hi Dirk,

It staggers me how little contact time we need. I suppose the slide load on the forward shot is the same concept as on the slipped lift backcast. Where it gets interesting is applying it to aerliesed Speys. That’s a pretty typical freerisers shot here. It’s probably why I like freerisers so much. Every cast is different, and it needs to happen immediately and without thought. It’s really where spending lots of time just playing with the rod really pays off.

But it’s not just snakehead fishing of course. This stuff now is just how I cast when fishing for all species. I find I have a bit of time again. I’ll mark up a line and video what’s going on. I’m convinced we are shooting line pre RSP. I suppose it doesn’t tail because the rod is still rotating.

Cheers, Paul

[Dirk le Roux]

Footage would be great, Paul. I've been meaning to shoot that myself but my slomo phone got stolen.

Where it gets interesting is applying it to aerliesed Speys.

A demo while you're at it filming the timing would be great as well. I can guess but it's not clear when during the aerialised Speys you hit the contact.

All the best,
Dirk

[Paul Arden]

It’s not clear to me either It’s somewhere around the corner. But it’s not on/off contact. I’ll need to analyse and video it to see. Most of my guests chase babies and not free-risers so that’s mostly straight line shots. Another example is that it’s possible to slip line on the snake of the snake roll, but that’s also a controlled slip. In other words the tip is still pulling the line. It’s just that we slip at the same time.

Cheers, Paul

[Paul Arden]

I have actually video’d this now, with a zebrafied line (or is it zebrified? ). I’ll edit and post up as soon as I can. Several things I took away from this was that the line is indeed shooting while the rod is still bent during the casting stroke pre-RSP (as I had guessed) and that I do a LOT of slide loading on the forward stroke while shooting line backwards. I knew this too but I haven’t been teaching it extensively but I’m going to have to find a way of doing so now because I now think it’s far more important than I had originally thought!

Cheers, Paul

I’ll try to put something together for the Tuesday page or even a short clip on the server so you can go through frame by frame.

[Mangrove Cuckoo]

Paul,

I am looking forward to your in-depth explanation of these concepts.

I have tried your "Snakehead shot" technique, and found it useful, but only in a small percentage of cases. It does not seem to translate into my SW fishing very well. Maybe I don't understand it completely, but it seems to require that the boat is stagnant so that the line and fly can lay on the water prior to starting the back cast. Most of the SW "quick casts" are made from a slowly moving boat - someone is poling while the other is the angler on the bow. There can only be so much line outside the rod tip or it gets under the boat or catches weeds due to the boat movement. Also, the fly is held, not in the water, for the same reasons.

I still need a roll to get things up and moving before the backcast is begun. It still can be done pretty quickly, but not as fast as your modified PUALD snakehead shot.

I am also curious to see the advantage you find in slide loading... I don't doubt it, I'm just skeptical by nature.

[Paul Arden]

Hi Gary, it’s all about getting line in the fly leg, starting from 1-2m of flyline outside the rod tip, slipping line on the lift and shooting as much behind as possible. Where slide helps is that it lets you extend the fly leg, which in turn allows you to shoot more on the forward cast. Generally shots are 30’ (close) to around 60’(long). While it’s possible to hit 24 metres with one backcast and starting with 2m of fly line outside the tip, even this PUALD shot doesn’t get the fly there quickly enough.

So basically there is no time for false casts. Shots are usually 2 seconds or less. (2 seconds is a “sitter”!)

Here fly in hand doesn’t work and is far too slow. But the boat is normally moving on the thruster. The line is being constantly repositioned (managed) waiting for the shot. It’s a Popper (must be, otherwise you have problems with the fly sinking). The fly line and leader needs to be straight with no slack, approximately in-line to target (of course with free-risers making change of direction is a key skill). With babies length adjustments can often be made with this line “anchor” (?) prior to the shot.

Cheers, Paul

[Graeme H]

Something I found very useful when learning the Snakehead PUALD (and teaching it) was to use a textured line. The sound of the line slipping through the guides throughout the casting sequence was very important to help with the timing of touches and releases with the line hand.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Paul Arden]

That’s an an interesting idea Graeme. I’ll have a play with that. Maybe another way looking at the cast is:

Lift, minimal contact with line hand (can be zero)
Contact with line hand when you would normally late haul, early release.
Minimal contact while line is shot
Minimal contact at the start of the forward cast (Slide)
Contact with line hand when you normally late haul
Minimum contact during shoot to a checked turnover.

We tend to teach on/off with regards line hand and shoot, when it’s possible to slip line and still create friction.

It has to become totally natural. Because if your default is to make contact with the line when you need to be slipping line then that’s what you do when the fish appears and the fly lands short.

How long did you practise it before you came?

Incidentally I was playing around with longer pickups because I often do these for long babies shots. Something I noticed is when I’ve extended to about 10m is I cannot lift cleanly with the popper and at the start of the backcast, and the fly is usually under water by a few inches, as opposed to at or above the surface. This really makes life difficult on the backcast.

Cheers, Paul