Andy Dear | Monday, 12 June 2023
A subtle thought that is in error may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry that can establish truths of great value.
----Isaac Asimov
One of the great things about living out in a rural area is having access to a little extra real estate when you decide to take up something like long-distance fly casting. I have a pretty sweet setup over here right now, which consists of a 30 foot wide strip of grass that measures probably 800 feet long. And the great thing? It's off the beaten path and privately owned, so I don't get bothered by the usual hecklers wanting to know if "I've caught anything".
I've carefully measured out distances to 120' that once past 100' are marked with orange spray paint on the small paved road that runs next to the grass strip. When I first set this up, the orange marks were a bit hard t see, so I put a small rock about the size of a golf ball at the 110' mark thinking that would allow me to make a wild guess of the distance without having to walk down and tape it off. If one went BEYOND the rock at 110' then I'd go down with the tape and get an EXACT measurement.
So tonight I hit the casting strip with a HT7 strung with an MED5...which is a WONDERFULLY balanced, very light and VERY LETHAL distance casting combo by the way. I stayed out for about an hour, but couldn't really seem to get anything to fly past the 110' mark, which you know is a funny thing to complain about because 110' is a damn long fly cast. Anyhow, a few tweaks to the timing of the rotation and tracking, and I started hitting and eventually slightly passing the small rock marking 110'.
I always like to end on a positive note, so I threw a few more until one flew well past the small rock at 110'. Pretty happy with tonight's session, I walked down the edge of the grass while reeling up the line, and when I got to the yarn fly, I noticed that the rock marking the 110' measurement had been moved back about three feet....probably by one of the rare cars that drives down this private road. Nonetheless, my 110' mark was actually sitting around 113', which meant my final throw ended about 116' with no helping wind. Sometimes it pays to be an absolutely CLUELESS Redneck.
Hope you all are having a great week,
Andy