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Maintaining line tension

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Lou Bruno
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Maintaining line tension

#1

Post by Lou Bruno »

Admittedly, this topic is one I thought I understood and took for granted when casting. Untill I noticed while practicing mends, during the forward cast while waiting for the loop to straighten how the rod leg portion of the fly line drops. Not only did the fly line drop but the fly/leader began the back cast with a significant downwards projection...at times ticking the grass before moving upwards.

My front and back loops weren't wide...in my opinion.

Lou
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Paul Arden
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Re: Maintaining line tension

#2

Post by Paul Arden »

I’m not sure if that’s lack of line tension, Lou, or just gravity. Maybe try throwing it a little bit faster so that it straightens quicker?

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Carol
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Re: Maintaining line tension

#3

Post by Carol »

Paul, speaking of line tension, how do you get more tension into the back cast on the initial pick up? Is it just adding speed, i.e., raising the elbow faster during the stroke?

And for the life of me, I can't find the recent video you did on the PULD where Ashley was filming you either at a pond or lagoon. Nick had sent me a link on FB, which is how I even saw it.

Thanks!
Carol
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Paul Arden
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Re: Maintaining line tension

#4

Post by Paul Arden »

Hi Carol,

Yes I haven’t officially archived those for example into the video section because I don’t think that the quality is high enough! They can be found here https://m.youtube.com/user/SexyloopsTV
The actual video is

I make the backcast really little more than a squeeze of the hand. Try for example to shock the rod and throw a tailing loop on the first backcast. It is possible to throw a tail but you have to do some weird stuff. Just shocking the rod as many of us do to throw a tail, only seems to send the line back faster (and yes the loop loses its smoothness). So do the same but with slightly less force.

I suppose the biggest problem I see on the pickup is the Lift combining with the Casting Stroke - or just a really wide Casting Arc - which moves the rod tip in a dome shape path and in turn opens the loop. As an extreme example 10-2! Or even 7-2!!!

So I think the key adjustment is smaller arc after a deliberate lift. It’s just a small wrist snap.

Sorry that doesn’t quite answer your question but it’s how I teach it. I also like to lift the elbow slightly to send the backcast high so that it straightens at or above the horizontal.

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Carol
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Re: Maintaining line tension

#5

Post by Carol »

Thanks Paul, both or the vid and the explanation of how you teach it. I've been lifting somewhat horizontally (arm movement, then when the rod tip has reached a certain angle, start the quick back cast on an upward angle, ending with my hand just in front of my face at about ear level. I am finding it hard to keep the entire movement smooth, that is, combining the lift into the stroke, but it's getting better and, as it does, the loop is getting smoother. However, it is weak. What I mean by that is, there's not much speed in it, not much tension in the lower leg. As such, it succumbs a little too quickly to gravity, and it certainly wouldn't "ring a bell."
Carol
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Paul Arden
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Re: Maintaining line tension

#6

Post by Paul Arden »

Hang on a sec! The completion of the lift is not determined by hand position, it’s about whether the line is clear of the surface. With 1m of line outside the rod tip this lift will be far shorter than 10m for example.

In both cases however my stroke that follows is very abrupt. The entire backcast stroke, if you like, is a “squeeze-stop”. With a short PUALD say 1m of flyline, the backcast angle is very steep. With 10m it is shallower but still up.

Try throwing a tail on the pickup. It’s been a very useful drill for me teaching CIs in particular how to make tight consistent backcasts, especially over grass where if they are not careful they forget to lift and you could drive a train through their first backcast. The actual cast is the same as tying to force a tail but less forceful. It’s still a 45 degree angle change but feels “wristy”. I might be able to make a video of that later today. But first I need to catch another fish :)

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Carol
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Re: Maintaining line tension

#7

Post by Carol »

So I just gave the ole flick a good try with 45' out of the rod tip foot to fly and, bam!, line tension on the back cast of the initial pick up. I couldn't quite tell, but I don't think the loop was exploding.
I had been doing a drill using a slow lift, then a regular elbow-lift stroke after that. Just wasn't getting anywhere with it. (Nick predicted that progress would be slow with that drill, BTW :ninja: ) With very little initial tension in the line, it must benefit from how the flick quickly imparts it. Used the same stopping point using the elbow lift on the back cast (ear-height, just in front of face), but got a lot more tension. :pirate:
Carol
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Re: Maintaining line tension

#8

Post by Mangrove Cuckoo »

Hi Carol,

I can hear Mac's coaching whenever you describe your casting.

In his words I think you might remember "lift and flick"? That "flick" part is somewhat synonymous with Paul's idea of attempting to create a tail. You really cannot do it too hard... at that point.

I suspect you may be a bit slow on the lift part. Watch the flyline as you lift. Look at where the flyine exits the water. Your goal is to continuously shorten the amount of flyline on the surface. If you lift too slow the amount of flyline on the surface will not shorten... it will just slide back toward you. Your goal, ideally, is to lift the line smoothly, but fast enough so that all (or most) of the flyline has been lifted off the water and only the leader and fly are still wet. That way, when you initiate the "flick", the leader and line are the only stuff being held by the water's surface tension.

Additionally, if you look at the flyline between your rod tip and the water, if it is pretty straight (ie not sagging from being too slow), it will indicate the direction you want to drive the back cast... the shorter the line, the larger that angle (up) will be.
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Paul Arden
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Re: Maintaining line tension

#9

Post by Paul Arden »

Good post Gary! I agree of course. The other thing I look for is the waterfall coming off the line as it exits the water. This is Peter Hayes teaching. Works perfectly for drawing attention to the lift, but only works over water of course.

For many years I argued that the CCI PUALD should be examined over water. It was in fact Lars who switched me onto this at an examination in Hungary where it was pointed out that none of the lifts would work on water. Same with Speys on the MCI in fact.

It really came to a head for me when candidates were given the choice of water or grass and chose grass. Also after the test I took (successful) candidates to the water to see their PUALDs and you would not have passed them!

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Lasse Karlsson
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Re: Maintaining line tension

#10

Post by Lasse Karlsson »

Dude, the CCI didnt have a PUALD task back then!

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