longbellycaster

2012-01-23T17:35:00.001-08:00

Here is DRANO St Pierre making a cast

2012-01-19T18:07:00.000-08:00

SNOW!!!

and COLD!!!

It snowed more today-8-10 inches and snowdrifts about 2 feet.
It's 11 degrees right now-not much fishing or casting here.

2012-01-15T16:25:00.000-08:00

I added Brians new site to my list.
Here are some shots of him in action.

2012-01-15T10:10:00.000-08:00

SOOOO-I GOT MY TERMINATOR---WOOOO HOOOO!!!
And it is SWEET!!!!
Did a lil team casting yesterday-kinda crappy out but good non the less.

I also got to see my lil sistor WILLA WOO WOO

Tried lines from 960 to 1030 grains on it-it liked them all!
Big thanks to the CF Burkeimer crew for a beautiful rod.

Let the serious practice begin.

2011-12-25T19:51:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year form coach Ali and me.
We're both stuffed from a BIG dinner.

Not much fishin lately-my local river has tough conditions.

2011-12-15T17:47:00.000-08:00

I finally got to do some casting last weekend.
Went down and saw Aaron for day on the river,been a while since Id seen him.
Sunday Gene,Brian ,Charles and I did some comp practice and compared lines and rods.
The new Champ 15/16 seems to hold a LOT of potential.
We also worked a lot on the snake roll casts.
I will probably not be able to practice as much as last year,we'll see.
I was a bit rusty!
Ill try to put some vids/pics of Sun asap.

2011-12-07T13:59:00.001-08:00

I love this pic Cookie Monster took last year.

This is fishin-fiends,cigar,T-shirt and lots a fishies.

Not much of anything going on now-still some work to be had here but my casting spot is iced over.

I may go to the Seattle area to cast and see friends this weekend-kinda goin stir crazy now!

Coach Ali is doin good.

2011-11-16T16:51:00.001-08:00

Winter is here-BRRRRR

Ali out in the snow

I'm waiting for some decent weather-Time to start practice for Spey O Rama.

2011-10-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

Some pics from my last trip to the promised land.

Home made apple pie from the orchard where I live-YUMMY

That look is "this is yummy"and at the same time"try to steal my piece of pie and this fork and you will become one"

I can't wait to get back.

2011-10-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

I've been asked a lot about Mean Gene's Gonzalo fly,well here it is.
Gene and Gonzalo are going to hate me but this fly is too good to be kept secret!

Mr 175,Drano and I fished last weekend.
It was good to fish with da boys.
Mr 175 and I talked A LOT of trash!

Cigar smoke,last light steelhead on the Gonzalo.

A couple victims of Dirty Blond Surrey Girl.

As I write this I'm creating some Brunette Surrey Girls to party with the Dirty Blond Surrrey Girls.

I've come up with a new outlook on the back cast-watching Draino and Mr 175 casting was helpful in checking my theroy.

I'm going to polish it a bit then I'll do a short write up on it here.

Gotta get back to fishing!

Ali saying "where the heck have you been?" and "I'm hungry you big ape"

2011-10-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

As long as I have the weekend off I'm headin to da Clearwater again.

I went out in the orchard and picked Mrs.Red Shed a bag of red & and a bag of Gala apples.
My secret stash of SUPER REDS needs another 2 weeks or so of gestation.

I cleaned up and greased the Billy Pate and I might even fish the 18 this weekend.

I'm trying a new Airflo red Miricle braid behind my normal fishin line-Nextcast Fall Fav 9/10 70 on the 17.

For the 18 I''m gonna fish a Nextcast Champ 15/16 cut at 76 feet-should be interesting.

2011-10-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

Fishing time.

Daisy saying good morning.

Crazy Eyes saying YEP YEP YEP.

Daisy and Molly

Maggie and Daisy.

Da Fishies-OINK OINK

Cookies reel on his new Clan that he DE-VIRGINIZED today.

2011-09-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

I actually went FISHIN-I even got some LOVE.
First I've cast my 17 in a while-WAAAAAAY different than the comp rods.
Wenatchee opened up finally-I really like that river.
Kinda itchin to practice too but work is busy again and I need the money.
Going to fish in the morning and then get back to work,what a screwey year,usually work is slowing down and I get to do more fishing this time of year.
Not this year.

Pool and hot tub got Shotcreeted.
Now forming up water features and getting ready for tile beds.

2011-09-27T11:05:00.000-07:00

I sit here finishing up my first Surrey Girl fly for fishing this year.

I got some pics from Brian Styskal of the Burkhiemer hosted trip to the Bear Claw on the Kispiox that Kerry and Brian did.
Sounds like they hit it perfect and got good conditions.

I miss the Kispiox,I love that river

2011-09-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

Clave was great.

It was nice to to see many of my Clearwater friends.

Comp was strange-Great conditions for it.
Gene aka Mr 175 won the 15 and I took third.
Gene said he though Mr 160 was a girlie boy name and wanted a new name that was more masculine

For the 18's brutal head winds with very low scores-I got second.

The Officials boat.

2011-09-20T20:07:00.000-07:00

Workin TOO much and castin TOO little-OK I'm ITCHIN to go fishin TOO!

The SHOWDOWN!!

Ali and da local puppy.

2011-09-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

Well it's Steel head TIME.
The monthe of Sep has been the start of my fishin season for the last few years.

I'm hoping the Wenatchee opens this year-last year was good.
Some friends just got back from a Steel Head trip.

Early am on the Columbia.

I actualy practiced today during a long lunch break.

I did not focus on anything,I just wanted to fling some line around.

Red Shed clave is soon.

In 10 days I'll be back on the Clearwater.

2011-09-11T19:19:00.000-07:00

Not much casting lately.
Because of this.

Upstream.

Downstream.

Think this swimming pool and hot tub will have a view?

The lookout.

2011-09-07T18:53:00.000-07:00

First real day of work in a couple of months today-a swimming pool and hot tub combo.
This job site is 2 minutes from my casting spot too!
Work is all of the sudden busy,figures as it's fishin time now.
Red Shed Clave is coming up soon-one of my favorite events.

Went casting for a little bit after work with the 15-no big casts just form and timing.
I worked on my presentation points for the clave also.

I have a solid Snake roll now but I still feel there is a lot of room for improvement.
My left single is real close to the right.
I've practiced more this year than the last 3 or 4 years combined!

Time for dinner-Turkey mush for Coach Ali and a spinich/garlic/steak taco salad for me.

Oh I put this pic on SPLAYPAGES.

HEE HEE HEE

2011-09-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

Good day of practice today.
Calm conditions and mild winds.

The line for 18 works pretty good-I filmed some of the 18 footer casts today.

I didn't charge the camera battery before-I wanted to film some 15 action but it died after only a couple of minutes.

BUMMER

The 18 makes the 15 feel like a little toy.

2011-09-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I cooked up a new line for the 18 and today it got tested-it was quite good!
I've always wanted to make a good 18 footer shooting head,now I got one,or at least a start.

I'm very happy with my casting today,It's nice when everything works-the practice this summer is paying out.
In the past I rarely got to cast much in the summer but work has been slow this summer and while I'm not a millionaire now but at least my casting is on track.

Spent about 2 hours each with the 15 and 18 today-in the past casting one buggered me for the other but lately it doesn't seem to matter,if anything the 18 is helping my 15 footer casting.

I'm going to cook up a few different back tapers for the 18 line"The Clearwater Special"and try them tomorrow.

2011-09-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

Another day-another practice.
My right snake fixed itself-yesterday I was just rushing the lift and loosing conection with the rod.

Bit of wind today so I worked on my left single and snake roll.
I didnt even try any big casts today,just worked on aligned D loops and shape and trajectory of forward loop.
Having the forward loop under control has been my biggest advance in distance.
Loops that don't unroll smoothly don't pull and the slack and/or shape acts like a parashute,not a bullet.

Shaggy loops(where bottom leg pushes slack into loop) from an incorrect upper hand force application has been my nemisis for a LOOOONG time-bad habits DIE HARD.

My demo at the RED SHED clave will get into this a bit.

MMMMM
COOKIES

2011-09-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

This morning was nice and calm and the river was up a bit so I had decent conditions for practice.
I was feeling good about my single speys with both hands up as well as the left snake but my right snake was crap today.

Win some,lose some-I'll have to figure it out tomorrow.

My main goal this morning was to try out two proto lines for the 18-The one I thought promising was so so but the one I didn't feel confident about was actually quite good.

The better of the two has a thinner belly,a early 15/16 front taper and a long back taper-I'm going to mic it out and graph it and see if I can't make it better.

I may also try to lengthen the new Champ 15/16 and try it on the 18 tomorrow-that might be a promising way to go.

Talked to Whitney and Brian yesterday-they finished their season at Alaska West.
Whit said the Kings were awesome this year.

2011-09-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

Well this morning was a BUMMER.
I was all set to try out some proto's for the 18-unfortunatly it is VERY windy and the river is very low.
Whitecaps and millfoil-YUK.
I may try again later but It's a busy holiday weekend and will probably be very crowded at my castin spot later.

I did force a few casts with one of the proto's and it seem to have potential.
It is 1080 grains and 78 feet and seemed to have plentty of jump.

2011-09-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

Ali snoozin while I cook up a line for the 18 footer.

2011-09-01T13:16:00.001-07:00

Go out to practice this morning,nice and cool early today.

Besides the usual 15 footer practice I busted out the 18 today,it's been a while since I cast it.

I've always wanted to cook up a good distance line for it-I made one proto but the front taper is not long enough-casts nice but wont pull a good distance-too much level line in the belly to get the right length is killing the pull potential.

I went through some of my old comp heads in search of a longer front taper-I think I might have found something to run with and will try it tomorrow.

That has always been the trouble with long line building,getting good,long front tapers.

2011-08-29T15:51:00.001-07:00

Here is a pic of my practice spot on the Columbia.

Nice practice today-I went through all the casts to get ready For the RED Shed Clave.

Wow,it's coming up quick.

Been casting a prototype Nextcast Champ 15/16,Simon did a good job on this one.

The proto is awesome.

Worked a lot on tracking today,my left gets funky sometimes and it's always a tracking issue.

I find when my left tracking is crap I'm putting too much force in the top hand distorting the bottom hand use.

A double crap whammey cast.

There is always something to work on!

2011-08-28T18:54:00.002-07:00

Did a lil castin road trip Fri & Sat.

Visited Burkheimer and got to cast some proto rods-A 7127 & 5115-It was nice to see Kerry and the Burkie crew.

After I went to Westmoreland pond to do some casting-seemed like a MILLION snake rolls.

I'm finaly starting to feel good with my snake rolls though I still have a ways to go to get where I want.

It was nice to be casting in the pond again!

Sat I went to "day on the river" with Aaron.

Did some easy casting and helped a few casters with some lil tidbits.

It's been a while since I'd seen Aaron.

Took today off but tomorrow at 7 am I'll be back at it-another MILLION more snake rolls to go.

the ASSASSIN

2011-08-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the pic of The ASSASSIN that was botched earlier.

2011-08-23T14:54:00.000-07:00

Lots of practice lately-still working on my snake rolls and starting on the left single.

With my Snakes I often Had the feeling of loss of touch in the forward sweep before the back cast.

That causes me to apply more force to try and catch-up-NOT GOOD!

This leads me to go back to my simple back cast RULES.

#1-Always start slow and conserve application of force/ acceleration-The slower the start,the easier it is to maintain a smooth and constant acceleration.

If at the end of the lift half you rod is bent,good luck bending it more,smoothly till the stop in the back cast

#1.5 Start soft-really kinda the same as above but for some people soft registers better than slow.

#2-Always start low and conserve height

If say at the end of the lift you tip is sky high,good luck on making a good back cast-the higher the tip is the shorter the stroke can be and also the more difficult to get that nice upward(d loop shaping)sweep at the end of the back cast.

Rule # 3-It's easier to learn something right than to unlearn something wrong.

Rule 1 is what is killing my snake roll,to much force applied before back cast disrupting a smooth acceleration into the back cast.

Today was a good snake roll day

Tomorrow I'm going to work out my left single.

Hmm,what were those rules again?

Congrats to the Red Shed dynasty as the have a new member!

2011-08-11T18:43:00.001-07:00

Cookie Monster and Molly sent me these pics of THE PONDS

2011-08-10T14:39:00.000-07:00

I've been casting a fair bit-mainly I've been trying to get my snake rolls in order.

I've thrown some of my biggest casts with the snake roll but my consistency is POO POO.

I'm also trying to get my left single caught up to the right single-for a few years my left was more consistent and stronger but this spring the right has taken off and not looked back.

I have been using the two lines I brought to SOR-a modified original Nextcast Champ and a modified Nextcast 15/16 Champ.

One thing I found out was I was better with the 15/16 at SOR but the OG Champ seems better where I practice-dirtier water and at times more chop.

The Columbia is up this year and My casting spot is better with higher river levels.

I have come to the conclusion that Coach Ali is a unrepentant SERIAL KILLER.

World record cast

2011-07-29T22:57:00.000-07:00

Nice job Gerard,Travis and Andrew.

A comment about this cast-This is the most mechanically perfect cast I've seen on video.

As a caster Gerard is amazing in his efficient use of force and solid casting mechanics and I've tried to base a lot of my casting off of his for the last couple of years.

SOR & CLA wins for Gerard this year!

As a note-both of the Americans who I know did well at CLA were wrestlers.

2011-07-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

Pics from Whitney in ALASKI.

Willa Woo Woo

Whit with a lil fishy.

2011-07-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

2011-06-20T17:51:00.000-07:00

Not much going on here,some workin and lots of reading.

I need to go fishin or casting soon!

Here is Coach Ali and his new buddy Slithers

2011-05-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

I went to visit Aaron last Sat-nice to cast with the fellas-some of the new Zpey rods are pretty good.

I also bought a new pair of waders from Jack Cook-Vision Icon's.

They have a nice pocket lay out and are real comfy-it's nice to be dry again.

Not much real practice lately,it's either too windy or I'm too busy.

Best wishes and prayers to Poppy"s Grandson Josh,I hope he gets well soon,probably not much fishin or hunting in his near future and that's gonna bug him.

Josh searching for that special someone last season.

2011-05-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

Had a great time at the Sandy hangin with friends-lot of overhead casting and stogie burnin.

Ok,slack time is over-I'm gonna start training for the Red shed red neck competition and 2012 SOR-gotta cinch down the left single and both snake rolls.

2011-05-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

I unfortunately missed the Ellensburg FFF shindig-had to work.

I did go casting with Big Tuna-I didn't focus on anything in particular as I just wanted to go casting.

Big Tuna and I did work on his top and bottom hand relationship and the proper use of them.

I'm really lookin forward to the Sandy Clave this year,all I plan on doing is helping Burkheimer a bit and PLAYING AROUND-no tests,no commitments Just having a good time!

Coach Ali playin DESERT ORCHARD TIGER!

2011-04-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

Interesting SOR this year.
Some interesting notes.
1-SOOO many good Rod/line combo's this year.
This year I used A Burkeimer Terminator(thanks Brian) and two lines-a Nextcast Champ & Champ 15/16-I used The 15/16 in Quals and the finals.
2-I cast so much before that I was in fairly decent shape at the start of the work season-my job is pretty physically strenuous must days-I always wondered how many calories are burned in a hour of SOR practice?
I only have to work a half day tomorrow-if the wind is not too bad I'm going casting after!

2011-04-19T10:51:00.000-07:00

That was a BUSY WEEK!!!!!
I am SOOOO proud of Brian,Whit and Gene and I'm pretty happy with myself too!
SOR was at a all time high this year-The Donna and crew did a great job of making a great event even better.
Coach Ali and I were already planning out the new training regiment.
Team Burkheimer did well with a 1st ,3rd and 10th finish and Nextcast lines dominating the women's and men's finals.
Whit Monster was a MACHINE all week and even cast some REAL 150+ casts during practice.
It was also nice to everyone again this year.
Got to Go back to work-I'll post more soon.

2011-04-10T21:24:00.000-07:00

SOOOO-----I'm in San Fran With Whit,Brian and Willa. It will be nice to hit the ponds again. We plan on lots of vids and pics so I'll post em as time allows. Wish me luck! On Sat we represented C.F.Burkheimer and NextCast Fly lines at the Micheal & Young spey clave-Dave and crew did a awesome job and it's always been a great clave,thanks for having us. It was nice to see My KANUDEANN friends.

2011-04-03T18:38:00.000-07:00

I finally had a day off that wasn't a windstorm-this time of year its rarely not windy here. Had a good practice and a great start,I thought I would be a little out of tune but the time I spent at Whit and Brian's casting boot camp obviously paid off. I'm going to the Micheal & Young clave next weekend and then it's SOR after that! It will be a busy week. Congratulations to Vic Sorensen on passing his THCI in Denmark last weekend-Nice job!

2011-03-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Whitney (THE MONSTER) Gould on passing her CI test.

It was nice to Hang out with Kush and Ian-there was A LOT of trash talk,laughter and good conversation.

I also got to see Leroy and Dorothy Tepple, Lee and Nancy Davidson as well as Judith from BC and Klem and Al.
As for my casting I'm still Mirroring my right to my left and it doing pretty good now.
I was also impressed with Kush's casting-He has been quite serious about his practice as well.
Lee also cast with us on Sunday-SOR is being taken very serious this year.

2011-03-13T19:17:00.000-07:00

I've been having a good time in Albany Or at the Fly tier(and for us a casting show)

I did a few classes Fri and one on Sat and had some good practice.

Sharing a room with THE CANUCKIES-SILLY BOYS

2011-03-10T17:56:00.000-08:00

The forms.

Can I help?

Done-time to go casting!

2011-03-07T15:48:00.000-08:00

No casting today but I did'nt just sit around and pick my nose!

I went back to the DARK ARTS-I built Mr. Cook a foundation-actually I built the forms and we are gonna fill em on Wed.

I was a bit rusty but got the MOJO as we went on.

Here is a nice V loop Brian shot of me testing his Terminator.

2011-03-06T17:06:00.000-08:00

Went to Lake Tye today and did some casting and worked with Vic on his upcoming THCI test.
I mainly cast left hand up trying to mirror my right to the left in both the Single and Snake roll.
Lake was dead calm this morning-NICE
Vic and I worked on faults,looking for trends,identification,prioritizing and solving.
We also worked on focusing the energy and aiming it for best results and the importance of the setup positions to promote good force application through the cast.

2011-03-03T20:09:00.001-08:00

Coach ALI is a bit MAD at me.

I better work harder or he will quit!

He was pretty happy with Kush though.

2011-03-03T16:53:00.000-08:00

My BIG BUDDY went home today-it was good to see him!

His casting was very GOOD!

2011-03-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

Kush and I worked again on our casting-Nice day.

Lots of focus on accurate anchor and back cast energy.

FUN and WORK!

2011-02-28T22:42:00.000-08:00

Kush and I smokin a VERY FINE STOGIE.

And yes we did do some casting too.

2011-02-27T16:33:00.000-08:00

Tyler "The Krusher"Kushnir came down to do some casting with Whit, Brian and I.

Kinda nasty weather but we make do.

2011-02-24T18:33:00.000-08:00

Got some casting in before the cold and snow moved in.

The Parks people dropped the level in the main pond to 10 inches-that was not very nice of them.

Luckily the other pond stays right at 34 inches but there in only room for one at a time.

Brian and I cast a new proto Nextcast comp head and also the new handle on his Burkheimer TERMINATOR.

I took it easy today and just tried to cast smooth and easy-I'm pretty happy.

So is Willa!

2011-02-23T20:27:00.000-08:00

Brian carving on the TERMINATOR

2011-02-23T20:00:00.000-08:00

Whit with a Nice V loop

2011-02-23T19:09:00.000-08:00

No casting today-Well not much,cast a Burkie 15 '6" 10 weight and a Burkie 10" 7 weight--Nice Rods-I CAN'T STOP,even on my off days!

Watched Brian as he finished a new handle for the TERMINATOR rod-Also saw all the other steps to make a Burkheimer rod today-a cool thing to witness.

2011-02-22T16:53:00.000-08:00

UUUHG!

Windy choppy day on the pond and the parks Dept has decided to partially drain the pond-THAT BLOWS.

Kinda nasty to do any serious casting so I just played around today.

I realized that I have 2 forward strokes that work well-A High to low chop and a slightly rising forward slash and I can get good distance and turnover with both.

I can do either at will which is kinda neat and can officially say I have the forward cast's that I want-FINALLY

I also played with back cast positioning but the rough water made any definite results tough to read.

One other thing other thing that I played with is a comparison to my normal single spey back cast and the BLUE HAT SWING DANCE-both when done right really get good line speed in the back with out a lot of undue force.

There is elements of the Blue hat Swing Dance, Nobuo Nodera , Al Buhr and Knut Syrstad in the basis for my back cast.

AHHH after casting refreshments!

Grand Canyon Sandwich and a counterfeit cold one.

Coach Ali says rest is very important for recovery!

2011-02-21T17:09:00.000-08:00

YUMMY

Great day of practice today-I consistantly was 10+feet beyond my normal practice mark with out any extra effort.

Snake rolls and left hand behaved themselves.

The pond was scary nice to day!

Coach Ali say's work hard ,stay away from the nip and purr while you cast-thanks for the tip coach Ali!

2011-02-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

Whit Monster and I had a solid day of casting.
3 or so hours ot the pond and then we went to Dwight Klemins CI clinic for some single hander torture.
He showed me some more of the Masters tasks EEEOOOW-I'm gonna be working on those for a while.
Whit monster also hit some 85+ft casts today-NICE WORK Whit

2011-02-17T21:38:00.000-08:00

Competition Spey caster rehabilitation program.

2011-02-17T20:02:00.000-08:00

NextCast Champs taking a rest

2011-02-17T18:51:00.000-08:00

The last vid did'nt work to well-too bad as is a cool shot.

Brian and I cast are Kabungas off today-awesome conditions all day.

2011-02-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

Here is a cast Brian filmed of me in January.

Practiced today-focused again on a smoooooooth forward stroke with minimal force applied.

I also did a fair amount of single hand casting today and will try to film some more soon.

2011-02-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

I did some overhead single ,hand and comp casting on the lake with MEAN GENE.
Nice to cast with Mr. 160 again.

2011-02-13T19:28:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is my Grand Pappy's 100th birthday-I miss ya.
All kids should have a Grandpa like I did.

Me and Vic practiced and worked on his future THCI test-he is doin good.

2011-02-06T13:50:00.000-08:00

Here is a vid of a lefty-I'm kinda happy with this one.
As you can see I had a minor mono moment and am kinda taking it easy on Whit's rod.
Rod is a Whit Monster edition Burkheimer 15-a REAL nice rod- and a super secret custom comp head Brian and I made.

2011-02-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

I did some playin around with Whits 7 weight single hander yesterday.

So did Brian.

Hi KITTY!

2011-02-04T20:03:00.000-08:00

Very good day today.

I was able to easily cast my target distance on all four casts early and throughout my practice today-ME SO HAPPY!

After Whit and I went down to Salem and cast with Dwight Klemin,mostly single handers.

I was able to clear a full Steelhead taper on my 8 weight-that's a good feelin.

I also practiced some of the MCI tasks-I'm not gonna be taking that test for a while.

My single hand casting is at the brutish toddler stage at best but getting better.

Here is a picture of my single hander distance coach.

At the moment this picture was taken he was thinkin "this IDIOT ain't got a chance-why do I bother?"

Thanks Steve-It's working!

2011-02-02T18:16:00.000-08:00

Took the day off from casting-WHEW-went with Brian Styskal to Burkheimer home planet today.
Kinda neat to see how rods are built and I even helped on building a Grip/reel seat.
Also got to see an OOOLLD Sage 9140 Graphite 3 with the old middle reel seat grip-you don't see them very often.

2011-02-01T11:42:00.000-08:00

How could you not listen to this guy intently.

Dan did a good lecture on proper hats and proper casting.

Max stylin as usual.

Denise and Dan recieving yet another award.

2011-01-31T16:42:00.000-08:00

I've been working hard at figuring out the forward cast with a focus on hand path and the bottom & top hand relationship.

I've found out that just a bit out of whack here or too much of something there and the cast is BUGGERED.

Still working out some theory's I have but have not been able to prove them yet but I'm close and having fun(really just painful monotonous work) with it.

Willa protecting a secret comp line.GRRRRRRRRRR

2011-01-18T16:09:00.000-08:00

Another thing I noticed today.
A few years ago I was really good with my left because the left hand was not the power hand so naturally had a better forward stroke.

Lately it's been reversed and my left hand is the power hand and right hand up is better-I spent 3 hours today dealing with the left hand single spey-WHEEEW-chasing casting demons!

2011-01-18T09:46:00.000-08:00

I came to the realisation yesterday that I spent 2 full years on my back cast and now 2+ on my forward stroke------------SHEEEESH,that is 10% of my life!!!!!

Here is Mr Smooth Brian Styskal in action

Single spey.avi

2011-01-14T14:53:00.000-08:00

A single spey-thanks to Whit Monster for shootin it.
A decent cast-room for improvment.

Arm curl lift.
Low rod tip into back cast.
Good rise up and timing.
Forward cast is OK but looks like I'm strangling the cork a bit-that causes problems with tracking and acceleration.

2011-01-01T17:44:00.000-08:00

Not all the practice is casting!

Happy NEW YEAR

2010-12-27T17:40:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a GROOVY Christmas

I'll have Whit video a forward cast tomorrow but in the meantime I'll answer a question about the Rise Up for Thomas T

I use the Rise Up for a few reasons.

To time the cast as in when to begin the forward cast.
To keep constant tension on the rod when transitioning from the front to back cast.
To keep anchor stuck .

When trying to incorporate Rise Up into your cast it's important both hands rise up in unison and not just one hand.
You can vary the amount of rise between hands but it should be closer to equal than one hand rising vastly more than the other.
Start to rise up in small amounts at first-1/2 inch is a good starting place.

2010-12-14T20:16:00.000-08:00

Here is a back cast sequence to look at-a fishin cast.

last strip will pull tip down to water and weight on forward foot

lift is done.

both hands come up in lift to keep tip low.

Rod kept close for control and efficient use of body.

Start of the back cast.

Slight pressure on bottom hand and upper hand locked with a loose grip.

Turn with the body.

Push with bottom hand while upper stays locked and loose-you can barely see how open upper hand is.

Weight transfer to back foot.

A good and bent rod with very little effort.

The power input has stopped and rod is unloading-everthing after is drift.

Weight stays on back foot.

Rise up in drift-a fishin cast so no big back drift.

Weight still on back foot.

Enjoy CEEGAR.

2010-12-13T19:17:00.002-08:00

I LOVE STEELHEAD!

ok back to casting.

2 common issues casters have either spey or overhead casting are tempo/acceleration and alignment-both are important and at times interconnected.

Many things need to be aligned to get a efficient cast.

The anchor-both in placement and in water anchor casts getting the leader/tip and fly turned and in plane with the forward and back cast.

Single spey and Snake roll anchors should also be on plane with forward/back cast.

The D/V loop or back cast-obviously directly opposite of forward cast.

In double and circle/snap T casts there is even the alignment of the sweep into the D/V loop.

And now we go to tempo and acceleration-I have three rules for acceleration.

1-the slower you start accelerating the easier it is to be smooth and in control.

2-continue to accelerate until alignment is achieved.-the moment you stop accelerating/applying force the rod starts to unbend-it's making a cast whether you ready or not.

This is a aspect of acceleration that often effects alignment

3-accelerate in as straight of plane as possible when trying to load/bend rod.

A change off of plane will reduce any force you apply to rod-this can is useful at times as in the up stream sweep in the double spey and when forming a D loop.

This also effects alignment.

These are things to think about when working on your cast.

2010-11-12T20:08:00.000-08:00

Well it's fishin time and good fishin it's been

I've been a fishin fool-Wenatchee and Clearwater-two rivers that I love.

Now some casting stuff.

I've been really working on my simple spey

and it's working well but I'm excited to apply it to comp casting.

I'm going to start Golden Gate practice in Dec when fishing slows

I hope to do better this year.

Going tomarrow to the Clearwater and will post some casting tid bits when I get back.

2010-08-31T19:17:00.000-07:00

Some thoughts on making a good cast
back cast notes

1 Start SLOW-make sure you can accelerate to the stop-aligned to the forward cast

Rod bends more as you accelerate and unbends if your coasting or decelerating
If rod is trying to unbend before the stop it tries to cast line in a straight path aligned with last acceleration while your still dragging line(at this point that all you can do)to align it to the forward cast(180 degrees)
This is VERY common and a very difficult to get good aligned anchor or a loaded D loop

2 Start LOW-ALWAYS make sure you have more lift left(in the tip) to the stop

A slight lift through the cast allows a slower acceleration while still increasing load/tension in rod-gravity helps use

Any time tip drops load/tension is lost-gravity hurts also

If after the lift your tip is quite high you are forced to a VERY short stroke without dropping the tip also it brings the line path(line path in a spey backcast is from the tip straight down-think gravity-DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER -Short Scandi heads deal with a high lift/short stroke well but mid/long lines will not

3 Getting a powerful and well aligned D/V loop-make sure at peak power tip/ is heading opposite forward cast-this can be easy and hard

I like to use my body as a stop-align feet to forward cast target and turn torso to the dangle

At start I make my lift turn torso to align with feet and make the backcast with arms-easy does it -many caster don't use enough body and to much arms
It doesn't take much arms to make a 150 foot cast if you let the body do the hard work and it's REAL hard on your arms to make a 150 cast with minimal body use

more to come

2010-08-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

A picture any way-A Nextcast Champ loop

2010-08-28T18:47:00.000-07:00

did some practice with Big tuna today-I'm proud of him-he's been practicing and it shows
We focused on the Single spey
I showed him me newest teaching version which is based on Simon Gawesworth's two poles,Mike Kinney's simple spey,Dan McCrimmon's simple spey, and my normal BIG ROD/Comp casting focus
Bribe me accordingly and I'll be happy to show it to you
It's simple and VERY powerful

Have not been casting much but soon that will change-Sep is almost here and I LOVE SEPTEMBER-best weather at home,All the summer GOONS are gone and my fishin cycle begins

I tested the NextCast FALL FAV70 9/10 on my Clan traditional 17 9/10-this is my new fishin set up till further notice-EASY & EFFICIENT
Hope to see you guy's on the Clearwater
Sound like I might do a demo-NO HECKLING

was going to do some video but I forgot to charge the battery-I'm a MORON

2010-06-25T21:15:00.000-07:00

Wow I won the 15 ft event at lake Tye-anyday I beat Gene is a good day
My forward cast is FINALLY coming along-in fact I've practiced 7 out of the last 8 days
I also worked with Uncle Dan a bit-very helpfull
Really workin on SMOOOOOTH power application-easier to say than do-but I'm working at it
my forward loops have really changed for the better
Now that I got the THCI my next goal is to qualify at Spey O Rama
Bass shoud be done spawning in a week or so-I hope they miss me
I'm in BC now helping Kaptain Kruk move-I HATE moving-having friends is tough work
Can't wait till Sep and see Poppy and family and catch the fishies I missed last year

2010-06-07T19:24:00.000-07:00

Not much going on

Doing some practice but more bass fishing than anything-between SOR and the THCI I lost a fair bit of fishin time

Castin gettin in the way of fishin-kinda sad but I'm happy

Bass are starting to spawn now so no bass fishin for a while-time to practice for SOR

Getting some new NextCast lines soon-lookin forward to that

THCI

2010-05-21T12:26:00.001-07:00

I'm very happy to say I PASSED
Test was tough-my casting has been better and I had some issues-Work and weather really cut into practice
I'm going to try to finish the changes to my forward stroke-did a LOT of over head at the Sandy clave(another great one)and when I got the cast right it REALLY worked
When it didn't I could tell my hand tracking was off
Going to spend some time and thought on the competition casting now and tune up some THCI weak points

2010-04-19T22:03:00.001-07:00

Did the Micheal & Young clave this weekend-Highly recommended-great event
Started Thci practice again-Signed up for the test-no going back now trying for 2 days practice and 2 days studying a week-test is in a month
I'm really looking forward to it
Golden Gate was great-My casting is improved for sure but I'm still polishing the things I changed last year-The broken arm REALLY put a hamper on my practice and gives me some grief now and then but we will see how things go
The new forward stroke is the upper hand guiding and the lower providing the force and it mirrors the back cast
With it my loop control is vastly better and better distance's with a lot less effort-GREAT for a crippled speycaster

2010-04-05T22:24:00.000-07:00

I'm here in San Fran with Whit & Brian-weather has been good
My casting is rough-too much work not enough practice
I'm getting better-I practiced A LOT today and I'm at least getting better
Focused on the single spey today and and hunkering down on snake rolls tomarrow
My forard cast is funky
Castin the new Nextcast line-Great line-I really like it
I HATE BEING RUSTY-MUST PREVENT THAT

2010-02-21T17:14:00.000-08:00

WOW,what a week of casting(and soon fishing)
Got to cast with Dan McCrimmon,Brian Styskal,Whit And Kush from Speypages.
Casting the Champ line(Nextcast) with Brian was great-Awesome line
Still working on a clean,smooth forward casting stroke-Dan really helped me a lot on that.
Going to the OP this week-WOOO HOOO-Going to fish the long line and 18 as much as possible-of course in some places that is impossible but there is some GREAT long line water at the OP
Golden Gate is coming up soon-I really love that event-It's HEAVEN for big cast/long line enthusiast's

2010-02-14T14:56:00.000-08:00

A good and bent rod in the back cast

Secret stuff line= The Nextcast Champ

VERY nice line and a great base for a custom line

It has one of the smoothest front tapers I've seen/cast

My modified Carron 85 worked great-My new winter line

I've been practicing A LOT-mainly getting my forward casting stroke smooth & fast

I'm quite happy with my casting but as always there is more to do