Wallis casting as lockdown skill

[Mole-Patrol]

Here’s BVs coils on brown paper.

Snape, I have been delving into this matter and the deeper I delve, the murkier it gets

For a start the Wallis Cast wasn't 'invented' by F. W. K. Wallis, but he popularised it better than the man who first devised this type of casting. This all came about as a result of the tournament casting competitions that were popular in the late 19th century. One of the better casters of the day was William Bailey, author of 'The Angler's Instructor : A Treatise On The Best Modes Of Angling In English Rivers, Lakes, And Ponds, And On The Habits Of The Fish' (1857) who was a Nottingham angler and self-professed King of Roach Fishing. A match was arranged between him and Joe Woodward, a Lea angler who used the pole rather than a running line. Bailey won the first match on the Lea but lost the next two, one of which was on the Trent.

Bailey devised what we now know as the Wallis Cast to increase distance when casting light weights using his wooden Nottingham reel. One competitor in these events was David Slater, the Newark reel maker. Another was a man called Crossle who together with the editor of The Fishing Gazette designed a light weight centrepin with a friction drag that out performed the traditional heavier wooden reels.

Allcocks were also involved in these competitions and supplied rods as prizes. They offered a leaflet giving advice to customers who wished to improve their casting. The Fishing Gazette naturally also championed the sport and published an extensive guide to how to get the best out of the Marston-Crossle reel. This involved adjusting the friction drag to the point when the weight just fails to turn the reel, just like is today we do when setting up bait casting reels or multipliers. It was said that when casting this way the reel would automatically stop without tangles when the lead stopped travelling. Tests were done using scientific methods and it was discovered that by adjusting the friction drag in the manner described as opposed to the spool free running no distance was lost during the cast. However, the method of casting at this time, devised by a Mr. Schooling involved the overhead style I mentioned earlier on the thread. It resembles how modern day carp anglers cast their baits out with the rod being held at both ends of the handle and the rod cast directly over the angler's head. Marston explains how the line is released. He describes how the thumb of the upper hand is pressed against the line, trapping it against the cork of the handle. During the cast, as the rod is compressed the line is supposedly automatically released at just the right point. The scientific tests indicated that the weight increased by around 16 times during the loading of the rod at the start of the cast. Marston advised slightly slowing the reel at midway through the cast just as the lead reaches its highest point.

Apparently all the top casters of the day used this method. One of them, Mr. J. T. Emery who along with the notables of the era; Marston and Crossle naturally, H. T. Sherringham and The Trent Otter and some others formed the Casting Club. Emery held the world record for several years despite being the unluckiest competitor. One of his records went out of bounds and ended up 10 foot off the ground embedded in a thatched roof and another record attempt bounced back 5 or 6 feet and he still won!

In 1887 the record was achieved using the Thames style coiled line, then the side cast became popular but by 1910 when the newly formed British Casting Club travelled to Paris for their first international event it was the overhead cast ruling the roost with the line being cast straight off the reel in the heavier weight classes and after that Mr. Schooling's double handed overhead cast was the one to beat. It was thought that the overhead cast avoided distance being lost due to the lack of accuracy of the side cast.

So, tomorrow, weather permitting I'm going to try this new-fangled overhead cast. I'll just make sure that I'm facing the other way, towards the field

[Liphook]

Very interesting Clive. What sort of distances were achieved?

[Mole-Patrol]

The competitions were usually based on the aggregate of three casts within a five minute period. This meant that they had to cast, wait for the measurement to be made, retrieve and re-cast. But they also had a prize for the longest cast.

A special prize was given to Mr. J. T. Emery for
the longest individual cast of 68*86m. (= 225ft.
lOin.). (Silex)

In the early days some of the French competitors used tin cans mounted under their rods and cast line off them like a fixed spool reel. They would have to retrieve the line by hand, winding it back on the can. One of the early members of the British Casting Club was a certain Mr. Holden Illingworth, a Bradford textile magnate, who may just have got the idea of his threadline reel from watching Jean-Pierre winding line back onto his Co-Co tin using his finger as a bail arm. Once Illingworth had perfected his reels it was possible to cast a third again as long as a conventional drum reel in the lighter weight classes.

[Snape]

Thanks for this Clive. Fascinating stuff.
68 metres is incredible!

[Liphook]

Thanks Clive. This is all very interesting

[Dave Burr]

Whoever thought there was so much history in the simple act of placing a bait beyond the rod tip. It's all very interesting if a little baffling.

Have you ever tried coiling line on the ground/coat and casting? Much like I find the Nottingham style, line loops around rod rings and causes tangles. I have experimented with the overhead cast and found I could put a lead across the Wye with variable accuracy but abandoned the method when I delaminated the tip section of rod (MkIV) due to the stresses of the cast. It is though, a viable method with the correct tackle in my honest opinion.

We must be wary of BV's preaching. After all, he describes a method whereby the spool is spun with the thumb at the start of the cast having merely heard that one man allegedly cast that way. That sent countless young anglers up a blind alley and possible aided the popularity of the fixed spool reel.

Unless I've missed it, has anybody mention the cast whereby the line is allowed to peel off the rim of the spool (like a fixed spool) but out to the side and around a crooked finger? It must cause a lot of line twist but it does cancel out the need to spin the reel.

On that subject, even during the Wallis cast, keeping the line around your finger greatly reduces overuns as you naturally bring the weight down gently into the water. It's hard to explain but,once mastered, it just helps with accuracy and line control. Having said that, I am no master and, although I've used it when my timing is off, I generally revert back to my method and settle for being a capable amateur.

Another area where most methods fall short is when conditions demand an overhead cast. I've successfully fished overhead using a bit of hybrid with maybe a bit of Nottingham thrown in to suit but Wallis casting just won't accommodate that scenario.

That there are so many methods either due to regional popularity or necessity, I feel it confirms my opinion that 'if you can get your float/weight to where you want it, that's your cast' and refining the minutiae of someone else's method may actually impede you casts development. With all methods, pure or hybrid, you are just practice away from.... an approximation of expert.

[Mole-Patrol]

This morning I have been in the garden with the rods for a couple of hours initially trying the 'Schooling Double-Handed Overhead Method"

The way the line release is described is 'automatic' in by trapping the line from reel to the first ring between your thumb and the cork of the handle is should pull clear at the right instant. Not for me I'm afraid. Each and every cast resulted in the lead plummeting into the turf around 5 yards away. Even following Mr. Elliot's advice to "aim for the sky" did not alter the lead's trajectory. I experimented with all sorts of reel drag settings, different weights and tried a manual release to no avail.

Round 2 was a one-handed overhead cast with a Wallis type pull on the line. That doubled the distance, but still was nowhere near what I could achieve in a conventional cast.

Round 3 was a change of rod & reel from the Chapmans 500 / Trudex outfit to a Mk. 4 / Silex. Again, using different slants on the stated technique and various weights the results were very similar. What I did notice though was that there was much less chance of an over run with the braid line I had on the Silex.

I abandoned the Fishing Gazette methods and concentrated on the Wallis casting method using the different rods with different weights and even changed the line on the Trudex to braid. The best distance that I could achieve was 32 yards using the Mk. 4 / Silex with a 30g lead weight. But, perversely there was only just over 2 yds difference no matter what combination I tried including my usual river carping set up of an 8g Catherine lead and sliding float. An 8g lead towing a float achieved a distance of 14" short of 30 yds. These distances were measured, not guessed.

So, what have I learned? The main difference for me is the way that I hold the rod. The reel is mounted around 7" - 9" below the top of the handle and the lower part of the handle during the cast is braced against my forearm like when you are playing a fish. That single thing gives me the most extra distance. The reel works best with the spindle screw properly adjusted and just enough drag to stop the reel when spun within 1 second. Too freely spinning and there is a tendency for the reel to spill line during the early part of the cast. Braid line does not collect and feed back into the spool anywhere near as much as mono does. And the initial pull of the line should not be too fierce. A smooth action reduces the chance of the spool over running the weight. And finally watching the lead in flight and the spool allows braking to be done at just the right moment.

All this was done with 10 foot cane rods and weights up to 30g. I know that I have cast much further with loaded feeders and a 12 foot carbon rod using the swing or side cast method but, for me the overhead method is a no-no. I know that Scarborough anglers could achieve extraordinary distances using 6oz leads with the large wooden reels and whole cane rods, but I can't replicate that in my garden. We are too far from the tide line

[Snape]

Interesting findings, Clive. 32 yds is impressive stuff. I hit 27 yds once but can't seem to get beyond that so will keep trying!

Here's another centrepin casting method.
Fill the reel close to the rim and remove it from the rod, hold ate 90 degrees and cast off the side.
A chap called Chris Lyons does this on the Wye with braid main line which is less prone to line twist apparently.

Here he is casting a 5oz feeder across the Wye with a Grice & Young Avon Royal Supreme reel and a glass MKIV.

[Mole-Patrol]

To be fair Snape, that method is no different to the modern Ray Walton 'Rolling Pin' reel that turns through 90 degrees to allow a fixed spool type cast and a centrepin fight and retrieve. This technology can be traced back through history to the Malloch reels. They lost favour with the development of monofil lines that. as you rightly say, suffer more from twist than braid lines and the improvements on fixed spool reels. Some of the reels allowed you to turn the spool through 180 degrees so you would unwind the twist by alternating the position of the spool.

I think that there was a Grice & Young version of the Sea Jector that allowed the angler to take the drum off the spindle and mount it onto an axillary spindle at the front of the reel and cast like a fixed spool and then put it back on the main spindle after casting (hoping that a conger doesn't take the bait as you do that).

I am pretty certain that I could hit 45 - 50 yards with a modern carp rod and the Okuma Trent reel using a 2 oz to 3 oz weights. Possibly also with a suitable 11 or 12 foot cane rod like an Elasticane 'The Test' or one of the Ogden Smith barbel rods. Maybe one day she might buy me one for all the help in the garden

I have just been reading the account of the 1910 International Casting Competition and Marston's fears regards safety. Some of the competitors were hurling 5oz and 6oz leads straight at the judges waiting to measure the cast (once they had dug it out of the turf). I thought those javelin and discus judges hat the Olympics had it tough but imagine when Monsieur Decantelle of France let loose with his 5oz weight that parted from the line as he cast

Interestingly (for me anyway) a lot of the most successful casters of 1910 were using Percy Wadham's Dreadnought reels, and his line too. The competitors and casting club members read like a Who's Who of traditional angling.

[Mole-Patrol]

I take it all back

I thought that another two feet on the rod would have made all the difference, but alas, not enough. The 2.25lb tc 12 foot carp rod is too tippy to use with anything over 40 grams and resorting to a 12' 6" bass rod rated at 3oz to 5oz fared no better even with heavier weights. I was using a different reel, an Okuma Trent that has a smooth disc brake and should be perfect for the task.

I dare not swing cast in the garden. I already got a rollicking for giving a magnolia bush a glancing blow with a 30g weight, and a 20g lead broke at the swivel flying off I know not where, but not that far off where the motorhome is parked

37 yards is my wall at the moment. I can't get further than that Wallis casting with my technique.