The previous thread on "Casting II " started me thinking on the very first problem I often observe with brand new casters receiving their first instruction.
The senerio goes like this - The instructor takes the rod and lays out a bit of line on the water or grass to get started and hands theh student the rod with the tip pointed down, telling him that is the position at which to start the cast. At that point the instructor may say a few more words of instruction during which time the student unconsciously raises the rod tip to 45 degrees or more thereby introducing several feet of slack line between the rod tip and the line laying on the water/grass - the cast is already doomed to failure.
Now the student lowers the tip to ground level and starts his first cast - trouble has started. Now the rod doesn’t start to move the line until it is past the 45 degree or whatever point the student had inadvertently raised the rod tip- have take out that slack first! Now to get the line moving and into the backcast the beginner swings the rod almost to the horizontal position on the rear stroke. Result - complete loss of control, wide open loops, and no distance. All because he raised the rod tip between being handed the rod and starting his cast.
I have seen this happen time and time again, some times several times in a row with the same student.
From a multitude of small errors, IMHO (very humble before the experience I find here ), slack in the line before and during the cast is the #1 problem. There is not a #1 reason, … it’s the a major problem.
I HATE teaching casting on grass, … much more prefering a pond with a grassy area for back casts. But I need to quite often to be able to walk out infront and straighten the line for a smooth pickup.
Many newcomers have “trouble” as soon as the line isn’t STRAIGHT out front for the “pick up” of the line. We’ve all seen it (and done it) … The line is a bit off centre and crooked, … you (they) go to lift the line with the start of a back cast and the fly comes ‘a whippin’ back towards their FACE!.
Gradually apply acceleration and power helps to avoid (again, … imho)this as we “feel” that something isn’t right.
I’ll often teach a roll cast FIRST. This way, someone can see how to get the line out straight.
Christopher Chin, Jonquiere Quebec
[This message has been edited by fcch (edited 09 July 2005).]
Allowing flaws to become ‘learned’ is criminal. It is, in fact, teaching flaws.
As the late Dave Engerbretson mentioned many a time: In spite of popular opinion, practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice does. The former merely makes one very proficient at making and repeating the mistakes.
So long as instructiors assume that students understand what the instructior ment, rather than what he said, the scenairo that Jim layed out will repeat itself over and over. The student is performing exactly to the instruction he recived as ‘he’(the student) understands what the instructior said. There is absoutly nothing abnormal about haveing a rod tip at several feet above the ground if your ‘casting’. In fact haveing your lure laying in the grass below the tip of your rod would likely cause a great deal of distraction in lifting the rod tip. Most any fishermen knows that. But fly rod instructiors just keep insisting on following the misguided notion that students are a blank sheet of paper. Devoid of thoughts, experience, opinions or inturprative skills. Likely you’ve heard this befor, but hear it again and try to understand, “Words mean things”. Unless and untill the word ‘casting’ means the same thing to all types of fishing tackle. Which of course it never will. The operation of a fly rod is fundamently different from the rest. The first problem is in the mirror and manifested in the student.
Hummmm…so it’s best to see the Instructor in action,before assumeing he’s qualified to actually teach then???..Sounds as thoe when my step son is where I feel he needs to be…I need to consider,alot…
Beyond the rod and the where,how ect. ect. ect.
“I’ve often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before” A.K.Best
I was teaching someone to cast yesterday. As always I talked about his other experience in spin fishing and I also asked him to demonstrate in slow motion the trowing action for a ball (which is not much different than spin fishing movement). There was wrist bend and the arm extended far in front etc. I then pointed out that these habits are NOT flycasting. The movements in fly casting are not hard, but in most cases the new caster has many years of arm action that must be unlearned. The hardest thing is not teaching casting, it’s UNteaching all the other thowing history.
), slack in the line before and during the cast is the