Casting your lead to the horizon

[Tel]

Couldnt agree with HA more

 

An hour or two with a casting instructor will do more for you than hours reading books and watching videos, its all to easy to get into bad habits

 

And most importantly be SAFE when casting

 

Just phone sea angler at the phone number provided by HA

 

or e-mail

 

annehowlett@tiscali.co.uk

 

at the UKSF

 

you wont regret it

[spasor]

An instructor would be good.

But try this, if you haven`t already.

Don`t cast with the lead just touching the ground behind you. Lay it back another 10ft or so? If you use a mono leader, you`d be suprised how much `power` is absorbed by the leader when using the overhead thump. By the time the rod is at maximum power in the cast, the leader is at full stretch. Not, decompressing. As happens with a cast off the floor imediately behind you.

Some instructors will tell you, don`t cast with the lead directly behind the cast? If you`r right handed, have the lead 20 - 30 degress behind your left shoulder.

The whole idea is to have the line at full stretch before you exert maximum power ( or give it a good thump)!

Otherwise, all your effort results in nothing more than a decent flick?

[kentangler]

You don't say how tall you are or your build. A 13ft rod may be too long for you. I am 6ft tall, powerful build, and find a 12ft rod ideal. OK, i have been fishing a long time, and 100yds is a lob for me, but the strange thing is, I don't think about it much, it come naturally with time.I just lay the rod back without the lead touching the ground, gently lower the lead while my arms are extended and around to the right a bit to slightly compress the rod, and a smooth poweful cast without a sudden jerk should result in a fair cast, certainly at least 80 yards for a novice. I would go for a softer rod, a stiff 13ft needs a lot more power and heavy lead to make it work. I can cast 4 or 5 ounces 150yds without too much effort.

[Yakity - Yak - u.k.]

Hi CK,

 

Lots of sound advice there.

You say your useing a 4oz lead.....try a 5oz.

Will help the rod.

If your slamming leads out, remember to keep checking the tie to the lead, it takes a beating,

you can have the best leader knot there is, but most crack offs come from a chaffed knot to the lead.

Just a thought

 

Yakity.

[prozac bass]

http://neilmackellow.sea-angler.org/ this is the link to niels site and should hopefully give you a good insight into how to set up and execute a good smooth cas with very little effort..I myself have use the esprit and find that it loads the blank allot more efficiently with a 5oz lead and delivers the power band much better even with a very limited casting style..perfect rod to start with hopefully this will help..

[prozac bass]

Sorry but i have to disagree with kentangler.

I use a 13ft abu suveran xp and am only 5ft10 with average build.I use a penn 525tournimag mounted down buttloaded with 15lb red ice and a 70lb leader with a 5oz lead on the end of a clip down pennel rig and with a casting style that i have worked hard to perfect can comfortably hit distances inxs of 120yrds...I do pendulum cast but ONLY when circumstances allow,most of the time it's a tucked off ground style which i find works very well with suprisingly little effort.Work hard on technique and the rod will provide the power without having to put all your effort into the cast.

[Newt]

Hi prozac bass and welcome to AnglersNet.

[spasor]

I`m 5ft 10ins, thickly built. I use a 13ft rod with a f/s reel.

I can still snap a 70lb leader with a `wrong` cast. But that`s my fault.

No!! I can`t cast 2 big baits, plus an 8oz weight 150 yds!

But I can throw normal baits in excess of 100yds. If you need to cast further. Try buying a boat!

[rayscomms]

I always remember fishing at Sandsend near Whitby.

Now if you don't know you fish mainly from a carpark with the cars parked up against the sea wall (virtually). Most people were just doing a nice safe overhead thump BUT one idiot decided to be clever and pendulum cast. What a bloody idiot , he was good at the art but even the best could slip with the thumb and when you've got 20 + anglers kids and cars there well the consequences would have been dire.

Clear beach pendulum is great if people are about DONT DO IT JUST TO LOOK GOOD

[H.A.]

That's interesting Spasor .....

when fishing, we get obsessed with distance.

 

Sure, there are some times when you need it; but to quote an example the two England Ints which I 'umpired' a match between, did not cast more than 35 metres and yet scored 17 flounders in 3 hours.

 

Regarding distance, I have had a number of clients who I have coached to a 270 degrees (3 o'clock) aerialised ground cast and who can cast well over 200 metres with it.

 

Distance casting is no substitute for 'watercraft'.