I am going to talk about drifting. If you are a beginner completely ignore this page and go here. If you have been casting for a year or so; go here.

The remainder of you will of course know that I have talked about drifting before. In fact here is an article on the subject - if you haven't read this go and do so right now (it is one of the most technical pieces on drifting I have written) :-)

However this one is different; this is the "extended drift" (a crucial element of the Arden Flip-Flop Style).

Please study the NEW version of yesterdays animated gif...

You will notice that I drift so far that the rod is almost horizontal. This enables me to form a completely clean transition between the drift and the forward stroke. In otherwords I begin the stroke with a completely non-flexed rod (without this extended drift the momentum of the line travelling backwards will pull the rod tip, flexing the rod) . In order to accomplish this extended drift it necessary to lift the elbow - however for pullers this is no problem.

By drifting to this position I can completely smooth out the top leg of the loop which allows me to form sharper tighter loops on the forward cast. However the real benefit comes when we introduce over-hang:

Since overhang is very much like having the weight attached to the end of a light line, it will always have the effect of pulling the rod tip back and flexing it. We require over-hang for long casts, however the best situation to begin the forward cast is with a non-flexed rod. When dealing with over-hang (and especially in the greater lengths that distance casting requires) it becomes essential to "flatten the drift".

By drifting almost completely flat on both rear and forward casts, it is possible to cast heavy flies on light tackle. In fact I can quite happily use wet 6-inch zonkers on a five weight.

And that's impossible.

Tomorrow I shall reveal the final building block in the Arden Flip-Flop Style...