Fishing Distance Tips

Stillwater fishing is the bread and butter of the sport in the UK, and when the fish shoal and move away from the bank due to angling pressure, it becomes harder to catch them. Sometimes you just need to cast that far, otherwise you risk blanking. Now, it’s never a bad idea to improve your casting, after all, who doesn’t want to cast 100’ consistently? Learning to cast that far means that you have acquired excellent technique (tracking, line speed etc) which means you can also cast into the wind very effectively. If you can cast 100’, you may be down to 40’ in a strong wind. If you can only cast 40’, then you certainly will be struggling, it’s the same for accuracy as well by the way. If you can only cast 40’, then you cannot be accurate at 40’. Anyway, I digress!If you want to cast a long way, then you need to have a look at your technique, but what exactly does this mean? Stay tuned;

1. Movement of the body, you need to bend your knees and sway with the cast, sway into the direction of the cast, followed by your arms

2. Your tracking needs to be excellent, practice casting in the mirror with the rod butt. The back and forward casts have to be dead in line with each other, the rod tip also needs to gp perfectly straight through the stroke.

3. To cast 90/100’ you need to carry about 70’ with speed. Haul to a fully straightened arm as late as possible in the stroke. Only start to haul when the rod butt passes the vertical. That’s on the back and forward cast by the way.

4. Tight loop, use translation at the start of the stroke \\\\\ which gets the line moving in the right direction, as well as straightening the tip path at the start of the stroke. It also allows us to delay the rotation, which is saved for the end. It’s how we throw things, and gives us the highest possible line speed as well (going back to 3). Rotate as LATE as possible with an outstretched arm |/. Use pullback on the back cast to set a nice loop, it feels like your hand is bouncing/jerking at the end of the stroke. Think about using the force to block/stop your forearm, which will allow your wrist to flip over, increasing speed.

5. There shouldn’t be many false casts, three is more than enough to get things going nicely.

Practice exercise

Work on the stroke, practice carrying 40’ of line with bare minimum force, with only your rod hand. Try and get dolphin noses with this, and when you are happy, increase the carry by 3’ over a number of weeks until you get to 70’. When you’ve done this, add your haul, which should only be started when the rod butt passes the vertical |. That’s both back and forward casts.

Set up the tape and measure your progress, with this exercise, you will see a dramatic improvement. Whilst you’re at it, work on Pauls 1st gear exercise too, take out 90% of that force!

Tight line everyone!