Nick Moore | Wednesday, 1 February 2023
Carol has been writing excellent front pages, and I really do enjoy reading them! This week I am filling in for her, but what should I write about? That is a very good question, as I had a good start to the year.
Paul had a small gathering a few weeks ago, which was very enjoyable. It was a relatively easy drive to get to Essex, and the day itself was great (thanks for the hospitality, Paul!) We even got mark to partake in a competition. Now, I packed quite a lot of equipment, and I noticed the weight when I was driving down the motorway. When I arrived, Paul sourced a wheelbarrow, and when it was loaded with casting equipment, Paul said something hilarious “Right……Lets go casting”. You had to be there I suppose. We started by having a go at the ‘snake head shot’ which incorporates a slipped lift, shooting into the back cast, and then finally shooting line on the forward cast (on water). I have actually practiced this, but it took me a good few casts to get into the rhythm of it, and I was nowhere near as good as Paul, I need to practice this more. After this we all went to the field and had a few competitions, Accuracy and Distance. A fantastic day filled with coffee, laughs and curry, even though it was cold and windy!
The UK has experienced some pretty cold days and nights, down to -8 degrees Celsius which meant that the lakes that I fish on were frozen! I did do a bit of ice fishing, but it was the perfect opportunity to work on my casting without the distraction of some pretty big fish that were stocked in there a few weeks prior. As we know, the key to improving your distance is to work on carry, and making sure that everything is going as straight as possible. I have been experimenting with grip shifting, as I have never tried it before, and my goodness what a difference! I also had to remind myself to relax my grip, and after a while I was starting to get into the swing of things. Eventually I hit a 127’ cast with the MED5 in calm conditions, which was unexpected! I did have a BFCC leader on, and this has a maximum length of 11’ 10”, mine on the day was 11’ 09”, which is slightly under. This is the line that Paul had a go with in Essex, as I very generously spooled up a brand new MED5 for his UK visit, I may have borrowed some of his casting fairies for that cast.
See below for the casting competition with Paul, Lee and I, and my 127’ cast.
Tight lines!