The fly actually doesn't cast too bad on my 7wt. Like you said you don't have to cast as far at night, but I can still make all of the casts that I want with this fly. I think it actually cast much easier than a popper of the same general size. All the body is are strips of foam x-wrapped to the top of the hook shank.

I am always happy to get together with a fellow fly angler. Your less than a couple of hours away, so I could easily meet you over there, meet in the middle, or show you around my neck of the woods. I also think that it would be fun to get together with as many of the Iowa faol members as possible.