The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I also was lucky in being taught by an expert, it it timing and confidence and practice, practice, practice. I suggest that you do not try it when fishing, take what you need to the lake (or field) and just concentrate on the cast. One tip I was given was that accuracy is most important, distance comes with practice. Set yourself up a mark in a field (tackle bag) at a short distance and only increase the distance when you are hitting or getting very close to the mark on most casts and even then only increase distance by a short amount. ( I cannot do the overhead cast, that is beyond me.)

Just the point I was about to make Fred. The guy in the video clip demonstrates the point admirably as he keeps control of the line with his left hand whilst it's in flight, bringing it close to the rod as the tackle hits the water. This will stop the line from wrapping around the back or the reel and just improves control all around.

Of course the traditional way to cast is to hold the hooklink next to your left leg, release it and pull line from the reel and cast with a forward and upward swing. Or something like that. Chris Lythe demonstrated it to me once but I couldn't get on with it or the retaining the line during the cast. I just swing and spin which works for me.

Its just practice, practice, practice. I don't recommend field practice, I think that doing it whilst fishing is by far the best way to iron out the problems one by one. Go to a small pool and fish fairly close in for small fish. With frequent casting being rewarded with lots of bites it will soon become automatic and you can develop from there.

FabianFred wrote:I do it like Mr. Crabtree.
Practice with dacron line is easier than nylon. When starting to swing forward into the cast, the LH thumb around the line above the reel is pulled out and up, this sets the reel spinning as the tackle goes forward. It is important to keep that left arm and hand held out and high, with the line coming from the reel around the crook of the thumb, until nearing the end of the cast, when the hand and arm swing back to meet the reel again.
I prefer a through action rod as the stiffer tippy ones are not so suitable.

I bought some Spiderwire Fluoro recently. It's thick and quite stiff compared to my go to Maxima nylon. But, it does get you a lot further with the conventional centerpin casts. You can let it overrun without some huge tangle, it's also I'm thinking of using it with the Wallis cast with the same idea. I'm not catching much presently so casting about may save face

Still trying. I tend to practice just before packing up at the end of my session. Then I go home and watch the clips on tinternet. I feel it is timing and confidence I need, its such a quick and delicate process.......... I'll keep trying.

Personally ... whilst I may aspire to the 'Wallis Cast' ... for now I'm content with my 'Gromit Cast' ... not as demanding, but can generally get a bait as far as I need to (as long as I can avoid the trees !!!).

Where are you BendSomeCane.I know you have returned from your jaunt to Edinburgh.Why are you not offering to teach us the Wallis cast?

I stood in the garden one afternoon with a couple of shot on the line and attempted several What felt like hundreds of times then it seemed to just click.
It seemed to be better the slower I did it (wether it looks like it I'm not sure) there is a definite feel of rhythm and timing to it and it became easy to cast two rod lengths the accuracy is a different matter but I do practice a few casts now before I pack up (not that I get out much at the moment).
I find returning the line guiding hand to the rod very important as is holding the rod on the cant.
Do persevere as its a lovely feeling when it all goes right.

Dave

I can Wallis cast with reasonable success as I taught myself with the aid of videos some years ago. However the waters that I fish all tend to have tree lined banks and that precludes any thoughts of Wallis casting so it is back to the old loop method, I find that with a twelve foot rod I can reach most of the water I want to fish.

John