OK,
I got Mark Sedotti’s email address from Scott and I emailed him. Who knows, maybe he’ll answer. He does post here sometimes I guess. Of course, I’ve emailed a few other guys who post here and never gotten an answer. Maybe they don’t answer flakes!
(But I just love the internet!)
[This message has been edited by BigFlatBrook (edited 13 April 2006).]
JC and I watched Randi Swisher at an indoor competition some time back, and he was carrying an amazing amount of line in the air, probably 85 feet,(with a 5 wt rod) and I kept thinking “let it go” but he didn’t!
I later learned he was watching his forward loop for an ‘exact’ look, and when he had it that was it. This was standard fishing gear, not a shooting line or head.
I think a lot of good casters can aerialize that much line, but to keep it in the air for more than one or two casts is another matter.
LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL
On the same topic, Randi won that day, beating out Tim Rayjeff…I don’t recall the distance.
LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL
LF,
“This was standard fishing gear, not a shooting line or head.”
Do you know if it was WF or DT?
WF seems to be the standard in these competitions. And so you know, the leaders are all the same too…
LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL
Mike, interesting question. And the answer is, it all depends… The first problem is that a typical fly line is 90 ft. long and that is about the limit of what the best casters can carry with 9 ft. rod (long rods carry more line). So, the real problem as posed isn’t so much with carrying backing, but with getting to the backing in the first place. Lets shorten the line to just 75 ft…
If the line is shorter than the caster can carry then yes, it is possible for a good caster to carry a whole fly line and some backing, but there is a limit. It won’t be possible to carry more than before (90 ft.), it is the size, shape and speed of the loop that determines that. The loop must be moving fast and it must not have much wind resistance (tight, tip pointed, top and bottom legs parallel) for a long line to be carried.
In essence a WF carried into the backing becomes a long shooting head. Shooting heads can be carried with considerable “overhang” by talented casters who are able to throw very good loops so the line stays very straight. Slack kills casts made with long line carry and it require exceptional skill to carry a long line with little slack.
So, it can be done, but rarely, if ever, is done because 90 ft. is about the limit of what most very talented casters can carry (and I mean the top 3-4 casters I know)and they will most likely cast farther carrying a bit less.
Bruce
Got a real nice email back from Mark Sedotti. He says that the Somerset cast was made with a Scott STS 9 weight, a Corland LC 13 lead core (30 feet), and Cortland braided mono as a running line. But he uses other setups, as well.
Also that he has about 2 feet of overhang when he false casts. I remembered more than that but memories are what they are.
And the fly was not a 7" bucktail, but a 10" synthetic that he calls Sedotti’s Slammer.
He calls the cast a “Sayonara Sling”, and that his longest Sayonara Sling was 172 feet with an 11 weight.
What is braided mono? In the world of spin fishing that seems oxymoronic
It was new to me also. But if you google on it, you’ll find a fair amount of information. Cortland says it was designed to resist tangles. Apparently, some people use it to tie extended bodies – damselflies, to be specific.
I believe when Mark Sedotti was demoing that cast he was also demonstrating a technique he came up with whereby he married his forearm to the rod [rotating his wrist in a way I don’t remember] and thus created a longer lever…as I said earlier he was presenting some unconventional techniques…and proving them with the casting.
Thanks for pursuing that.
Braided mono is a line made from - braiding mono (which is not the same as furling)
It is used commonly for leader butts and for shooting lines, and for making loop connectors. Also extended bodies as previously mentioned. Maybe other uses that I am not aware of also. It comes is various strengths and colors. 35lb braided mono, for example, is braided from lighter strands of mono to get a composite total strength. Cortland and Gudebrod are two manufacturers.
You can also use it to join two sections of a broken flyline.
It casts pretty well as a shooting line but it does blow around a bit in the wind, its inherent stretch can impair long distance hook sets, and it can be rough on the hands.
He said the braided mono resists tangling, and that was an important attribute for casting demos.
Also, that he was starting to use the Frog Hair shooting line and that he liked it, but couldn’t say how well it fished but would be finding out soon. He liked it well enough to recommend trying it.
Sounds like he was shooting…
was there a breeze behind him…118ft. Fantastic accomplishment!