Tracy&James | Thursday, 17 October 2019
Tracy and I are looking forward to competing in the inaugural UK fly casting championship this weekend in Millom Cumbria, the same venue that hosted the World fly casting championship last year. Although the weather forecast is decidedly ‘iffy’ I’m sure it’s going to be a fantastic few days and it’s going to be great to catch up with a lot of our casting chums for a drink or two afterwards.
We’re currently in Wales but unfortunately the rivers are blown out due to recent high rainfalls so there’s not going to be any fishing before we head up to Cumbria. The lack of fishing has meant we’ve been able to get out and do some distance practice, we’ve also had the time to do some video analysis of our casting strokes – something I’d encourage any competitive caster (or just someone who wants to improve) to do.
From this analysis I’ve diagnosed myself with a nasty case of ‘naughty elbow’ – this is a painless, yet annoying condition that can persist for years if left unchecked. Incidentally, I’ve decided that being as owning a fly rod makes someone a physicist, having a camera and access to the internet is more than enough to qualify me as a medical doctor, as such I expect an article on ‘naughty elbow’ to be appearing in the Lancet in due course.
The symptoms of ‘naughty elbow syndrome’ (NES – once it has got an acronym it’s bound to be taken seriously!) are quite straight forward – ones elbows refuse to do what’s expected of them when in the close vicinity of a fly rod. If the fly rod is replaced by a spoon, a stick, an umbrella or any other fly rod simulant then the elbows follow the instructions to the letter. However, as soon as an actual fly rod is introduced then the naughtiness starts. As you can imagine, NES is a frustrating condition for anyone who suffers from it.
Now I’m aware of my NES I can look to manage the situation. Unfortunately I don’t think there’s a short term fix that I can put in place for this weekend’s competition, but longer term I intend to work on it. Hopefully this will result in greater distances which will get me closer to the competition in next year’s casting events.
Perhaps if your own fishing is blown-out for the weekend you should video your fly casting – you might be surprised by what you see.
All the best, James.
