Casting Accuracy And Perceived Distance

[Wildfisher]

With Haresear and myself going off to New Zealand for 4 weeks next February I have been gathering advice from various quarters about fishing techniques etc. It?s  mainly sight fishing and the emphasis seems to be on spotting fish then very accurate casting. Alex and some others, principally Chris Dore ? a NZ  guide have  advised me to practice as much as possible.  Chris suggested spreading dinner plates, or similar targets out on the grass at 30 and 50 feet intervals  then practice accurate casting to them in calm and windy weather. 

This I have already started doing and have caught a few nice plates, all of which were safely returned to the crockery cabinet.

So far a few things have come to light that may  not have been otherwise  obvious. 

Firstly distance:  a target 30 feet away is not very far - I am normally casting considerably further than that without even realising it. It?s worth measuring these distances to get a grip on this rather than just guessing. So what? Well, choice of line weight is very important in this case. If the target is only 30 feet away (very common on any river) and you are using a 9 foot rod and a 12 foot leader, you are only fishing with 9 feet of line. Loading your rod might be easier with a heavier line. With the  above set up the target has to be 51 feet away in order to have  the  30 ?specified? feet of line that  your rod is optimised for beyond the top ring.

Casting to small specific targets rather than roughly at an area of water (we don?t practice casting to real rises do we? ? we fish in that case!) focuses the mind and highlights problems. It was soon obvious to me I have a fault that usually  ends up with my fly landing to the right of the target. My back cast seems OK as far as I can tell, but I have a definite bad habit of turning my wrist and forearm  out on the forward stroke and ending up with the rod tip pointing right of target. Not surprisingly that?s where the fly ends up.

When I last spoke to Magnus about casting practice, casting days etc he considered it more profitable to practice on grass rather than water where there may be more distractions and objective analysis of your performance is perhaps not  as straightforward. I reckon it?s  worth a try if you have the space to do it.

[haresear]

Practice really does make perfect.

Sounds like your problem is in tracking, Fred. I know I have a bad habit of flinging my rod out to the side on the backcast. That only became evident when I set up a video camera when practicing. As most digi cameras have that facility nowadays it can be easily done. Video yourself casting at the camera as well as from the side and the back. That should show up your faults.

Ignoring wind issues for a moment, if your rod tip is vertical on both the back and forward casts, then the fly line can only travel in one plane and must be more accurate than if your tracking is out. This becomes really critical when casting a weighted fly, as any deviation from the straight line path, will result in the fly kicking out to one side or the other.

Apart from using the video, you can check for this by casting along a straight line, such as on a football pitch. Make your backcast and just let it fall behind you. If it is off to the side of the line, then your tracking is out (or it is a windy day

I don't have the room to practice at home unfortunately. If I did, I would do it much more often.

 
Alex

[The General]

Yes my ceiling is no high enuff either.


Davie

[Wildfisher]

Go down to the local park. You'll have to put up with dogs abuse form the neds, but it'll be worth it........................

[Clan Ford]

Oh for the time to be able to practise my casting - think I'd prefer to practise while fishing but I suppose if your going to blow a wadge to head off down under then you might regret a wayward cast at a trophy trout :roll:

Norm

[rabbitangler]

Try this link Fred

http://washingtoncouncilfff.org/NWFCE2006DanishCastingGames.htm

we tried it at sexyloops meeting in may and it was surprising how difficult some of it was, though its a far better reflection of real fishing casts than the balls to the wall shootout that was the main event.

Peter

[shanksi]

Go down to the local park. You'll have to put up with dogs abuse form the neds, but it'll be worth it........................

Remember to clean your line after practicing in the park as it will probably be covered in dog sh*t.
Have to admit we used to practice casting in the spare ground across from the house but haven't done it for ages, might be time for more practice.

shanksi

[rabbitangler]

How big were the casting rings Peter?

Ardbeg

Kids Hula Hoops, the stances were ropes & canes for the bars/posts, very cheap to set up - reusable and effective.

[haresear]

Sopunds like a fun and very useful ecercise Peter. I tried casting with my left hand today....I have a long, long way to go.

Alex

[johnsd]

Alex (casting along a straight line, such as on a football pitch)I know one that,s available midweek in Ibrox :roll: :roll: :worms :makefun