Casting extremely soft rods - what changes?

[Lou Bruno]

So, after spending time practicing my hauling as well as reading up on the topic, I got out my 4wt 8ft 6in Diamondback IM6 rod. I matched the rod with Orvis 4wt DT line.
The rod in my opinion is very soft.
It's important to add, most of my practicing is with a 7wt fast rod.
Once casting with the 4wt, I realized how different and how many changes I had to adjust from using the fast 7wt.
One change especially...with soft light weight (4wt) rods I noticed I could not carry a long length of line. As hard as I tried my loops were not consistent.

Most of us understand, or think we do what we need to change with our cast when casting light, soft rods.
For me it was very revealing, and highlighted the fact, a caster better know the casting basics.

I found this article worth the time to read.

http://www.sexyloops.com/articles/rodcast.shtml

[Lasse Karlsson]

So what did you change?

The less carry and harder to control loops is all down to lighter line, and bigger counterflex on the noodle, destroying what you have done. Not something you did to change from casting one rod to the other.

Cheers
Lasse

[Lou Bruno]

Lasse,
First the rod length is 8ft, not 8ft 6in.
For me so far I had to increase stroke length...more translation.
Concentrate on opening up my casting arc (found any amount of creep causes tails)..adding drift at the end of both forward and back cast helps.
Adjust acceleration for line length.
When hauling, start sooner..longer hauls.

Lou

[Lasse Karlsson]

So, first change is down to shorter rod, not softer. The shorter the rod, the longer the stroke to get similar results within reason. You move the rodtip ie. the business end shorter with a shorter rod, so need to compensate with a longer movement. Now if you creep and desperatly needed a longer movement to get similar results as with a longer rod, you loose even more and need to compensate with more force, and it gets almost exponeltially harder to be smooth when flexing that old bicep. So that one is also down to shorter rod, not softer
Try hauling faster and later, better results

Cheers
Lasse

[Paul Arden]

Hi guys,

When I first started competition casting, I had a training partner Jon Allen. Jon had won a particularly soft rod - the Avanta Classic - in a competition somewhere. It was 8'6, supposedly a 5weight and a challenge to cast, particularly with the DT5 that we used. It became our tie-breaker comp rod (and up until Jon gave me the rod as a gift, I would always win the tie-breaker, however for some strange reason after he gave me the rod, Jon would win!! )

In order to cast with this rod - and be in with a chance of winning - it was necessary to carry the full DT line to the backing knot - or even slightly more (with the risk of slicing your fingers on the braid - ouch!) and so that's basically what we did. To do this I found both a long smooth stroke with Drag to be the essential ingredient. The cast being Stopless 170 style. It's the same as I use with the MED of course, but the beginning of the Casting Stroke feels very noticeably slower.

We've had Fibreglass rods in Sexyloops' Shootouts that have been even more difficult to cast - totally crap actually and incredibly difficult or even impossible actually not to tail. When the tip attempts to touch the butt during the Casting Stroke - and can!! - then you have a real problem!

So to cast such soft rods use as wide an arc as possible, delay the rotation for as long as possible using Drag, and try to be as open as smooth as possible. Expect the tip to hit the ground on the backcast and possibly the forward cast too!!!

Cheers, Paul

[Lasse Karlsson]

Hi guys,

So to cast such soft rods use as wide an arc as possible, delay the rotation for as long as possible using Drag, and try to be as open as smooth as possible. Expect the tip to hit the ground on the backcast and possibly the forward cast too!!!

Cheers, Paul

As opposed to casting a stiff rod, where its as narrow as possible, rotate early, creep, and try to be as uneven as possible

Man, I'm looking forward to August now

Cheers
Lasse

[Lou Bruno]

Lasse
Hauling later and quick dips the tip....slow, and long works up to a point where I increase line length.

Lou

[Paul Arden]

As opposed to casting a stiff rod, where its as narrow as possible, rotate early, creep, and try to be as uneven as possible

Man, I'm looking forward to August now

Cheers
Lasse

Me too. My beard is getting longer by the day

[Lasse Karlsson]

Lasse
Hauling later and quick dips the tip....slow, and long works up to a point where I increase line length.

Lou

Doesn't dip the tip for me, must be doing something wrong then....
When the rodbutt passes perpendicular, it effectively makes the rod stiffer as the bend travels up the rod, hauling doesnt bend a already bend rod, it xan only ever make a small pip in a straight rod, not with a bigger bend. Instead it delays the straightening of the rod, for a longer straighter tippath...


Cheers
Lasse

[Lasse Karlsson]

As opposed to casting a stiff rod, where its as narrow as possible, rotate early, creep, and try to be as uneven as possible

Man, I'm looking forward to August now

Cheers
Lasse

Me too. My beard is getting longer by the day

So you'll step on it and fall in, must remember to tape that

Cheers
Lasse