Casting question

[JasonB]

Jason,

Please re-read your 2nd paragraph a few times, it starts off with "I think", your trying to fix yourself and your the problem, take the hypothetical out of the equation, perhaps have your wife film you? after you watch yourself it's pretty simple after that. Just trying to help you.

Carl Blackledge

Yes, the uncertainty was specifically stated. I only had about 15 minutes to try a few things yesterday, and the tailwind was significant enough to possibly hide a few subtle differences. I’m hoping to do a few more casts this afternoon to see if I can verify my findings from yesterday, but it certainly looks like I’ve found the main nemesis. Plenty of other faults to sort out still for years to come no doubt! I’ve tried video a few times, and it can be helpful at times. The main limitation for me is that I can only really see well what my body is doing, or watch the loop shape on either the forward or the back cast. I’ve found it very difficult to capture all on the same cast in a helpful manner. Maybe I need 3 or 4 cameras

Jason,

I'm not trying to start any kind of war or wizzin' match with anyone here, but, I firmly believe that having the "right tool(s)" for the "task at hand" and THEN learning how to use them correctly is the way to go.

Given that......................................
You "appear" to want to cast at distances greater than 60 feet.
Your "skills set" appears to allow you to easily carry 50 feet of line in the air during false casting.................very nice !!!
Your current fly line, head length of ~ 40 feet, works well for you up to and around 60 feet.
Beyond 60 feet, things start "falling apart".

It is a well documented given that longer heads will cast further than a shorter head........if the caster has the "skills" to do so.
As you have found, ~40 head with ~10 feet of running line out past the tip top can't/doesn't transfer the energy efficiently/effectively to the head of your current fly line.

I'm thinking you should do a "try before you buy" (if you can find one), a line with a 50 foot head length.


Bob

A couple of clarifications:
-I definitely wish to be able to cast further, and with large saltwater streamers! And I know, from painful past experiences, that an 80’ practice cast can easily be downgraded to a 40’ pile of junk when a big fish shows up moving quickly past.
-I wouldn’t say that I can easily carry 50’ of line, especially false casting. I am mostly doing pick up and lay down casts, not false casting. I also rechecked the stats for my line and it looks like the head is actually 36’... so minus a few more feet from all estimates. Easy pick ups for me would be the head plus a few feet, percentages gradually go down as I add to that.
-I wouldn’t exactly say things start falling apart past 60’, but that’s the neighborhood where my percentage of good casts starts to become less and less consistent. Especially if I’m trying to carry a bit too much line into my backcast. Where things really start to fall apart is when I just have to see if I can shoot the whole line out...though I have come very close quite often, those are rarely my best casts.
-I don’t think it’s so much the line here, as much as needing to adjust my tempo with it.
-totally agree about getting the right line for the job! Honestly, for this particular rod being able to turn over bigger flies will be the most important issue, including into the wind. I’m keeping my eyes open for an Outbound intermediate line for fishing. For now I like practicing with the Tarpon taper in part due to the fact that it has a bit less aggressive taper.
-No need to worry about offending me here, my ego has been beaten down by my own errors plenty...nothing left to defend there! I really appreciate everyone’s sentiments here. It’s hard to accurately convey casting details online, but every tid bit that has been shared is good information. I hope others can glean some nuggets to consider as well.
I’ll report back with some successes this afternoon I hope!
JB