Reminders and a Twist

Reminders and a Twist

Carol Northcut | Wednesday, 12 April 2023

As mentioned previously, my first fly casting student in this new home happens to be a CI candidate. We met on Saturday to evaluate his casting. As it turns out, we’re starting closer to the beginning than the end, but he is excited, committed, and he actually practices daily regardless of the weather. Surprisingly, I did not feel like an imposter because this is where I began, and the experience along the journey provide some confidence. Even though not at MCI level yet, my mentor was thorough and those teachings remain with me. Additionally, Nick Winkelman’s book, “The Language of Coaching,” is helpful, as it reading some of the answers to questions posted on the SL Board. Lastly, knowing that I can post questions seeking advice is reassuring.

I wrote out the candidate’s homework and gave it to him as a reminder of what to work on and watch for, something I’d learned to do for myself during, and immediately after, lessons.

Saturday afternoon I rode the mountain bike for the first time this year. I must have ridden too much because by Saturday night my neck was painful and stiff. I didn’t sleep. Come Sunday morning it hadn’t improved, but we drove all the way to the Thompson River to fish anyway. It was the first time actually fishing (not just bad casting practice) this season, and I was reminded of all the things one’s line can get tangled on. The one large fish I had on was a Mountain Whitefish. You can tell because it feels like hauling in a log from the depths. The fish reminded me that it’s better to walk downstream than to try to haul a fish in upstream. So. another reminder, but at least it was not a big brown. After that I headed back to the car and rested while Steve caught several fish. This trip reminded us that it’s ridiculous to drive all the way to that river for a few hours of fishing considering the time commitment and unnecessaryburning of fossil fuel. A weekend full of reminders.

Yesterday I tried a new twist to an old pickup-cast drillperformed in the horizontal plane. The twist is probably nothing new, but I was pretty proud of myself for thinking of it. Laying the line out to the left, in line with my feet, I “raised” the rod tip as though doing a pickup in a horizontal plane. The new twist was to “raise” the rod tip, then set it down on the ground. I then took a piece of rope and laid it out on the ground, following the angle the “raised” line made with the anchor and then commenced with the drill, trying to follow the angle of the ropeduring the casting stroke. By comparing how far away from the rope the rod tip was at the beginning of the stroke to where it was at the end, I could readily see that I was a few inches further away at the end. This told me why I keep falling back into throwing a divergent pickup loop: I’m not moving my elbow far enough away from body. Taken to the vertical plane, this meansI’m not raising my elbow enough, which may require starting the stroke at a different point as well. The same analysis can be done in OnForm, but the real time visual was helpful. Attached is my drawing, which I’ve decided to display in the Paul Arden Galley of Fine Art.