Performance Outcomes

[Paul Arden]

Competition is another level, Bernd. Even Rick struggled to throw 120 in competition, when in practise every cast, and I mean at times every cast, was over 120’.

It’s just learned technique. It’s not physical build, it’s not something you are born with, it’s just putting the pieces together to learn to throw 120. And there are a lot of people who have done that. You can see it in their technique.

I also know guys who don’t compete who have learned to do it.

For example there is one guy who I’m training at the moment north of New York. I looked at his cast and I thought bloody hell where did you learn this? Sexyloops videos. And he’s a 120+ caster. If he ever decides to compete he would be very good indeed. Down in Tassie there is another. Our good friend Zuie. In fact there are 5 or 6 in Aussie. About the same or slightly more in the UK and so on.

Not with your method of measuring averages however. That’s not how I measure it. I’m looking at longest casts, no wind. But not fog or rain either

Cheers, Paul

[VGB]

Anyway a 70’ cast somewhere like this is a problem

15AC4627-3152-4D7B-935D-E6C2FD58EF9C.jpeg

Nice and straight, so no need for presentation casts

Me when I fish stuff like this I don’t lower the rod at the end of the cast, keep the arm raised and raise it further to keep the leader off the water. It’s really difficult to cast the fly and leader only without pullback. Like flicking paint off a brush.

I don’t do it that differently but I’m happy to have a puddle of leader near the fly, even banging the fly into rocks to cause it. Longer leader, maybe 12ft and longer finer tippets than your single fly set up works better for me, I’ll use the 9ft with the short #3 rod and line set up. I don’t do the reservoir stuff very often, even though I have Chew and Blagdon on my doorstep. Too much prior planning required, I prefer my knife fight in a phone box stream fishing.

Regards

Vince

[Bernd Ziesche]

Competition is another level, Bernd. Even Rick struggled to throw 120 in competition, when in practise every cast, and I mean at times every cast, was over 120’.

Hi Paul,
According to what I have seen, there are some casters now, who can hit 42 to 44m constantly in their training when having proper tailwind and casting in the best direction relative to the wind. The same results I see in the tournaments then. Having said this, serious wind hardly is staple. Standard deviation mostly increases.
What you can see in the results Lasse put up here was, that many casts were very close together. 31 to 33m. No wind = less deviation. Still 4m missing for a 120+ cast. I don't think you saw many (if any) 120+ casts in the warm up that day either.
I think a perfect tailwind adds about 10m distance (for those who can still handle the bc).
37 to 39m in no wind would then be 47 to 49m. Yes, has been done in training. But it's 1 out of 100 for less than 5 on the planet, I think.
I agree, that comp. doesn't help to increase caster's avg.. Still 120+ in no wind is a hell of a mark in training, too.
Can you demo 120+ on point in no wind?
Cheers
B

[Paul Arden]

Hi Vince,

Of course the leader length is proportional to rod length. A rod and a half length is pretty standard. Twice the rod length I consider “long”. A rod length would be short.

I do think there is much to be learned by just casting the leader. A) we learn about pull-back and B) that tapering the leader is preferable for most circumstances!!

In my late teens I used to drive the Land Rover over to the West Country for a month each year and camp and fish the Dart River amongst other things. I used to enjoy that sort of “intimate” fishing. A hell of a lot of pocket water there!!

Cheers, Paul

[Paul Arden]

Yep as I wrote Bernd, 2010 was not just flat calm but also raining. And it was 2010. That was the first year of the WCs, thirteen years ago.

I’ve always said that 120’ is the mark. I don’t think that has changed much. But Bernt has thrown 40m indoors. That’s pretty serious. That’s 11’ further than a 120’ cast. Now Bernt is an outstanding caster but I don’t think he is throwing more than 11’ further than everyone else. I don’t think it’s unthinkable that there are 60 people in the world casting within 11’ of Bernt. He’s certainly not throwing 11’ further than me, I know that!

Cheers, Paul

[VGB]

Hi Paul

Of course the leader length is proportional to rod length. A rod and a half length is pretty standard. Twice the rod length I consider “long”. A rod length would be short.

Just for a change, I don't entirely agree If you take your 20ft leader as an example, it is much easier to control the cast with 20ft of line out than with no line, regardless of the rod length. I think the rod/leader length thing is mostly aimed at people being able to net fish without taking the line/leader joint through the tip top.

Like you, I warm up with leader only casts and extend the line from there, I think it focuses your attention on technique, instead of "how far can I throw the bugger?". Dartmoor and Exmoor is only a couple of hours drive for me, so I am a regular visitor but they are warm ups for fishing trips in the Alps, where Malik routinely kicks my arse and I have another head scratch.

Regards

Vince

[Paul Arden]

Hi Vince,

Yep a small needle knot is imperative! Something else I discovered, that totally shocked me, is how many anglers don’t know to check the shoot and instead just let go of the line. You certainly won’t get a long leader to turn over with that approach.

I think it’s a really good exercise to have someone just cast the leader. I think one of the major lessons that many anglers would learn from, is close range fishing. I actually believe that the single biggest fishing fault is casting too far.

https://www.sexyloops.com/index.php/ps/ ... 520-071825

Cheers, Paul

[Bernd Ziesche]

That was the first year of the WCs, thirteen years ago.

But Bernt has thrown 40m indoors.

13 years ago, yes. At that time very few casters knew why they struggled to straighten such a long carry on a MED5 into a serious tailwind. This has changed a lot, no doubt. Obviously once you can handle the carry into the wind, you go from 30+m to 40+m. HUGE difference by yet small changes. It's not that we all were lousy distance casters 13 years ago, but a long 5wt. head into a strong wind is special and asks for some adjustments.

Casting in no wind however straightening the carry was much less of an issue according to what I saw. Here I saw less of a dramatic jump in distance by slight adjustments. Yes, more specialized training into this particular disziplin raised the avg. bar among the top opponents. But I don't think the avg. was raised anywhere near 6 or 7m.
I still don't see much results 120 to 130 feet in no wind. Not even in the top tournaments.

140 feet is fantastic. Huge achievement! How many casts was it to hit this one?
And how does it look in other indoor places? Anything near this by others?

120 is a hell of a mark in no wind, indoors and outdoors. Nothing more to say about this for me.
I love to follow the results of all tournaments and see changes in technique. Biggest jumps didn't come in no wind....
Cheers
B

[VGB]

Something else I discovered, that totally shocked me, is how many anglers don’t know to check the shoot and instead just let go of the line

I didn't. After learning on stillwaters, it took me a long time to rid myself of the engrained habit to just release on the line entirely on the shoot. Once you get it, checking then releasing gives you more presentation options.

I think one of the major lessons that many anglers would learn from, is close range fishing. I actually believe that the single biggest fishing fault is casting too far.

When you handed me your #3 prototype at Brentwood, you noted that I was the first person you'd seen cast it short from the get-go. It's odd, learning to cast further and faster, but then having to be reminded to dial it back, I still need to give myself a talking too at times.

Regards

Vince

[Paul Arden]

Hi Vince,

Yep. I cast all rods short from the get-go. You certainly see some bizarre rod testing at fly fairs. If they fish like that then the mind boggles.

I always checked the shoot, even on Stillwaters. That’s why I was so surprised to see people not doing this and why it has to be taught from very early on.

Cheers, Paul