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Maximum Power!

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Asle Boe emails from Norway

Hi!

I'm not sure how impressive this really is, or how interested anyone could be, but I just have to share this with people I know have felt the same rush that I felt when I was playing the pollack you can see in the attachment.

It was about three kilos and easily the biggest fish I ever caught on fly. I used my 5/6 weight and the Rio Mainstream intermediate line you sold me a couple of years ago. The fly was a homemade #6 (?) streamer, copper ribbed white body with a light green marabou wing. It took me about ten minutes to reel it in, with several long runs before I could land it. The first run took me well into the backing, something that has never happened to me before. And it all happened in dramatic, late afternoon light in a very beatiful Norwegian fiord landscape.

Of course I've cursed myself all night for not bringing my camera, but you can't have it all, I guess. Anyhow, all in all, it's one of the best fishing experiences of my life.

The trip also made me think about the line/rod thing I've written to you about before. I cast the whole Mainstream line without any big problems, and even if it's shorter than my GuideLine floater, I feel I shouldn't have the problems that I appearently have with the GuideLine I suspect that both the coating and stiffness of the Rio line suits me much better. Is it the same on the floating lines? And the Wind Cutter?

Also: When you say that people usually use to much force when they cast, do you mean that the rod speed is to high?

I also want to say that I feel I learn a lot from the Experience sections. I would love to see more video clips, even though they take a while to download.

So keep up the good work!
Cheers

Asle Bøe
Norway

Paul writes

Well I'm dead impressed :-)

Alse has been emailing me back and forth for a number of years. I remember when he caught his first trout on the fly. We have talked about casting, maximum DFR bendboobies (in all forms) and, of course, beer. I've included the stuff about the mainstream line, because, let's face it, it's free advertising.

Anyway there is a marvellous issue here; maximum power / maximum stroke.

I have just come in out of the rain where I was taking pictures of the maximum bend in a fly rod. This particular rod is the new DFR, so it doesn't bend by very much, but even so you get the picture. Even with a rod which bends to the butt it doesn't take a great deal of force. Try it. Take a rod out and bend it against the ceiling. You will get to the maximum bend with surprisingly little force. Applying more power doesn't actually bend the rod any further. It just breaks it.

I would like you now to draw an imaginary 'V' around that bent rod, so that the tip of the rod is in line with the tips of the 'V'. This is the maximum angle of stroke. If you increase the angle you simply throw an open loop. You can of course lengthen the path of the rod tip, but only through raising and lowering the hand during the stroke. I do this by extensive drifting after the stop on the backcast.

Two pages well worth checking out are flycasting tips 2 and rod angles.

Cheers,
Paul

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