David Siskind | Sunday, 10 August 2025
Waves and tide are what they are. The bulk of the middling tides (quarter moon waxing to waning) have been meh on my beaches. The combination of deeper water, steeper part of the beach in the swash and too much wave energy changes everything. I’m not seeing many fish. Either they’re harder to find and see or they’re not there, eating at another table.
So I practiced in the park instead. Aesthetics are curious. Why is a sexy loop sexy? It’s clean, simple, smoothly rounded (or pointy), and moves beautifully. The propagation and travel of a smoothly cast loop seems miraculous, so sexy. I’m not there yet. My application of power is often early, bumpy and overdone. So I will try to clean everything up -.and will try to do so in stages.
I devised a drill which I will call the Start Straight Drill. It’s a variation of the disconnected PUALD. It’s just the pickup - in both directions, backward cast and forward cast. I start with the line extended in front of me, ready to pick up - rod tip low. I then perform a backcast watching the line lifting rearward, keeping my gaze fixed, head still, not worrying about the target. Repeat for forward cast. The key is to create a window and watch only within it. The goal is to keep my head still and the line moving in as straight a line as possible. It doesn’t matter where I end the stroke - just that I draw a straight line in my window.
Pluses:
- Get a strong sense of smoothly dragging and flinging
- Develop proprioceptive sense of SLP.
- Smooths out beginning of the stroke
Problems:
- Disconnected from forward target when applying to forward cast. Doesn’t feel that way on the backcast where we are used to imagining a backcast target (ring the bell). Because gaze is fixed rearward the final application of power is more difficult to replicate while looking at a forward target.
- When applying to long forward casts my elbow points up and right (I’m right-handed) at the end of the “fling.” This violates my aesthetics and my teachings. I want to end in a closed stance position, with my elbow in front of my shoulder.
I’ve added this drill to my practices all week, varying line length and angles around the clock. I feel like it helps keep things smooth and sexy. Despite problems applying directly to the forward cast, the backcast fix sets me up much better for the forward. I’m thinking I can gradually move my forward window and get the transition I’m looking for. Maybe some work with eyes closed on alternate casts.
I also tried to understand the difference between the two forward strokes - the fling looking back and the fling looking forward. My upper arm is obviously rotating inward in my shoulder joint when looking back. What I believe I found out by doing a little research is that the up-down movement when the elbow is in front of the shoulder rotates the upper arm inward as well. If there is a kinesthesiologist here who can tell me where I’m wrong - please do so, but I’m thinking maybe this issue will sort itself out more easily than I fear.
I flew to NY yesterday and took this practice to a soccer field in Riverside Park. I brought my Hot Tortuga 6 weight and a tropical SA Bonefish line WF6. I had my “assistant” take some videos of the drill. The results looked pretty good.
David Siskind