Anomalies in angling

I have great respect for the Americans in most things angling. They have been responsible for a number of significant innovations, especially in the field of fly fishing.

Plastic covered fly lines and shooting heads come to mind here.

However often, they do get it wrong.

Take carbon fibre as used in fishing rod construction for example. Right throughout The USA and even Africa and the far East it is known as graphite. This is completely wrong and often results in even highly qualified people talking about aspects of our sport that are technically incorrect.

Graphite is a form of carbon - yes, but it's structure is flat, flakey and sheet like. It does possess lubricating properties and is used in the manufacture of brake shoes and electric motor bushes. The term "Graphite" is derived from the Greek which means "to draw or write". Hence the use of graphite in the "lead" of pencils.

But Graphite is NOT carbon fibre. How carbon fibre came to be called this name is a mystery.

Next we come to this much bandied phrase -"High Line Speed". There are even rods which have HLS marked on them. This has reached the point where many fly fishers believe that the secret of distance casting is line speed.

High line speed is only a small part of the equation when it comes to the distance one can cast with a single handed fly rod.

What is more important are things such as air drag frontal area and line momentum, not velocity. You will find if you double the line speed you will increase the drag by 16 fold!

All this talk of line speed has resulted in some rather nasty things happening in terms of fly rod construction. They are becoming so stiff in relation to the line rating they are given that many anglers, especially beginners, are struggling to cast well.

I can refer here to Graham's experience with his 6 weight rated rod. When it was suggested he put a 7 weight line he did so, and voila, he was casting much easier and further too.

Back to line speed.

More important in terms of distance casting is frontal area and the ability to cast a tight loop!! Get this right and you will cast much further make no mistake. Get the idea of line speed out of your head.

Momentum and frontal area are far more important factors.

Well what can be said about that then!

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Just read the article you sent me Ed.

The advice in it is spot on and is similar to the tips you and Graham had from Hywell Morgan.

yes very good isn't it
I'll put a link on here ......

Here we are --here's the link:


http://www.flyfishsaltwaters.com/fly_casting_less_effort.htm

Did you notice Ed that the caster in the photos had a nice open stance and was watching his back cast carefully, not like those silly narks who advise closed stances.

They probably don't have trees behind them that advise the latter.

When I read things like this Swordsy a certain thought experiment devised by a guy called Albert Einstein springs to mind.

I wouldn't try it in reality though as it involves jumping off a cliff, holding a georgian window (doesn't need to be a bay window)whilst watching a coanon being fired.

A canon being fired - I blame my fingers they're typing of their own accord and they can't spell!

Seriously though Ron the thought experiment is relevant. If you fire a bullet (or a fly line) horizontally it will hit the ground in exactly the same time as if it was dropped vertically from the same height. Therefore the faster it is going in the horizontal plane the further it travels.

I think what you are implying is something that I alluded to jokingly in another thread which is something called the impulse momentum equation which states that the change in momentum is propotional to the product of the force applied and the time it is applied for. What a slow actioned fly rod does is apply a smaller force over a longer time than a fast actioned rod. This makes it easier for a beginner to cast effectively as timing is not so critical.

The interesting thing is that the speed of the tip of the rod when it is transferring energy to the line must dictate the distance of the cast. So does a slower actioned rod necessarily have a slower tip speed. Certainly if you cast the same distance with two different rods, and your technique is the same in each case, this implies that you are generating the same tip speed.

I'd certainly be interested to hear arguments against this!

A fly line being cast does not have the density of a bullet, so therefore it will not travel as far due to the effects of air resistance.

To make a fly line travel further you must cut down the frontal area and that means casting a tight loop.

The energy applied to the line is conducted by the whole rod, not just the tip. If you watch a good caster in action you will notice that the rod makes no sound at all. It is the line that makes the sound.

Remember line velocity is only part of the equation.

Yes Ron you're right. A tight loop will go farther than a wide loop. The good caster is transferring energy more effectively. But by definition a tight loop travelles faster than a wide loop. The tip speed may be the same but the wide loop suffers more drag so slows faster.

Unless you're casting with wind behind you :?)

Actually Sean to successfully analyse what happens when you cast a fly line scientifically is very complex. There are three main things that casting the line must overcome.

1: Air resistance, which is a function of frontal area.
2: Gravity.
3: Friction of the rod rings.

Good technique and timing is vital and the caster must learn to perform all these things in a smooth and relaxed style.

Remember the old golf analogy. If you try to hit the leather off the ball, look what invariably happens.

But I don't think you have many problems on this score Sean.

Another analogy I will make is cracking a whip. The whip crackers hand moves comparativley slowly. Yet the tip of the whip can reach velocities in excess of the speed of sound, hence the crack.

Still have lots of bad habits Ron

But I'm a really good flycaster LOL

Seriously though I do still have some problems. Too much force on the forward cast is one of them collapsing the loop and causing wind knots. This is of course the main cause of wind knots - not the wind

It's not the way you chuck it out but the way you pull it back.

That's is oh so true Keith.

But there are many guys who need learn to chuck it out as well.

There are two main causes of wind knots.

The first is no keeping your rod "in plane" when casting. The most common problem with many casters is that they twist the wrist on the back cast. This throws the rod out of plane and causes waves to take place in the line. You cannot execute a good forward cast by pulling at a wavy line. The line must be straight.

The other reason is what is called a "tailing loop". This is caused by not waiting for the line to fully extend behind you before you start the forward cast or "power flick" as I like to call it.

Concentrate also on putting a bit more beef into your back cast.

Casting long leaders can make your cast go totally awry. Here we come onto advanced casting techniques. It makes me laugh when I watch some casting demonstrators at shows casting beautifully with short tapered leaders.

I often want to get them to cast like that with 20 feet of untapered mono with three flies on it. This does sort out the men from the boys.