[sean]

So this week I was able to get out 4 times for 1 hour sessions. Already seeing tremendous improvement with my long line casting.

Since my Loomis grease liner is on a west coast show and tell trip I have gone back to my 1510-5 T&T and the new 9/10 grandspey. I am able to cast the whole head and shoot about 10 feet of line but am having an issue that once resolved should get even more line flying out there.

I am having a tough time getting that nice anchor point with just the leader and a few feet of line splashing down. Instead the line is coming down about 15 feet up the line and am am getting a lot of stick which I think is affecting the tightness of my loops. They are a lot more open than what I get with a shorter line. Seems my loop size is directly proportional to the amount of stick I get. I can stilll turn the line around but it comes at the cost of having to hit my forward stroke harder than I would like.

I am a big fan of a relatively flat lift and back stroke like Simon G talks about in his advanced casting sections of his new book. I am thinking it is just a matter of getting my hands higher at the end of my back cast??? What do you teachers out there think?

-sean

 

[Klem]

Try a little

Sean, try a little more applied effort during the "circle-up" stage of your casting stroke. Make sure your rod tip is going UP ( not straight back or even down) to the Key psoition. Assuming you have the anchor where you want it, the energy you give the circle-up move will help you keep line stick to a minimum. Also as you lenghten the line to be cast, two other elements must happen: 1. the stroke lenght is a tad longer; and 2. start thinking the timing of your forward cast earlier (not waiting for your anchor to settle before the forward cast but rather mentally begin the forward before the anchor hits the water). This timing is critical. Both of these steps helped me. My .02 Klem

 

[J. Lee]

Sean, I don't think you have problem in casting less than 90' 9/10 GS with T&T10150-5. As you already figured out, you are able to make long cast-100+, with under-rated line for a rod ( for example, line 8/9 for a rod 9/10/11) but not with over-rated line for a rod. With line GS/ XLT, your final goal is to handle the 95' whole head- lift and sweep to D loop, which may requires a lot of practice. When I choose midspey or GS/XLT line weight for a rod, I do single spey with the whole head out ( in your case 95' out)- when I lift and sweep to D loop without feeling too heavy, I know the rod is suitabe for the line.Maybe, T&T10150-5 is better with 8/9 GS if you want to cast 110+. Last year, I fished with 8/9 XLT and GLX 9140-3. I found making a long cast with double spey with ease but not with single ,especially with weighted fly. I don't know why you want to fish with XLT line. I will tell you my feeling about this line. XLT is designed to cast longer distant, for fast swing, for shorter leaders, for smaller flies/dry flies, for longer rods ( preferably 15'+) and lastly to make you better spey caster- this line is just perfect for summer-run steelhead or atlantics, but bad for the other seasons.

 

[highlander2]

Sean

Interesting you should post this as I am working on this same thing this week. It seems that slow lift into a moderatley flat V- loop works well for casts under 100' for me but once over that 100' mark I needed to make a slight adjustment. Working on a ascending V-loop with only the leader and a very short portion of the line touching down seemed to do the trick. There is a very fine line between hitting the anchor dead on and skipping the whole mess behind you, its sort of a touchy feely kind of thing at first but when you hit it right very lttle effort is needed on the forward cast. Key was taking that flat lift and rising the rod just a little more than you think you need and just as you start to feel the load go into the forward cast. pretty new to the ascending v-loop concept but have to admit it makes perfect scents when you want to make casts in the 150' plus range or make 100' casts a whole lot easier with a long belly line.

 

[speybum]

Sean,

I try to learn something new each time I go out to practice.

On of the biggest problem with casting longish bellies is getting the whole head going is to keep it going.

Two schools of thought here but one basic idea, that is to try to keep your D-V loop centered.

I watched Dana concentrating on this the first time I saw him cast.
If your D-V loop wanders to one side or another it lengths the path the line must travel and this will cause the line to choose a lower flight path.
If you watch a good long line caster’s video in slow frame you will notice that once the rod tip starts up (Even ever so slight the rod tip must keep be in a raising path) it nerve comes down even through the direction reversal.
This will help getting that ascending D-V loop to gain altitude and maintain it.

Here is where the two schools of thought come in Power strokes..

A. Power though the entire circle up to the firing position.
B Power on the inbound leg and glide to the firing position.

Both of work well and will cast a long belly line into the next planet.
Just a couple more things to look at.

My $.02 worth.

 

[speyrd]

Spent some time with Steve And Way a couple of week ends ago and a couple of things they stessed were, body rotation and a low slow flat lift. By starting with a low rod you can end higher and avoid line stick. For body rotation, start by bending at the waist at the start of the cast, as the rod is brought into position turn you head, your shoulders will move back, and look at the rod. This adds to stroke length. Start you forward cast by using body, shoulders, arms and finishing with the wrists.
Some of the more obvious, widen out your stance by moving your feet a little further apart, a little more acceleration with the bottom hand to help fire the "V" loop backwards. Quicken the tempo of you forward casting stroke so you can end with a hard stop. The casting of a long line is done with the line in constant motion, the forward cast should start when you feel the rod loaded just before you see your anchor landing, some one else mentioned this.
Steve ends his forward stroke with the rod almost parallel to the water as he almost does the complete cast with the top hand. Long arms long stroke. Hope this helps.
Leroy.......................