Equipment for Record Casters

[ncflyboy]

The folks that set casting records (Steve Rajeff and others): do they use specialty equipment, or use production lines, rods, and reels? Do they treat their lines to make them slicker? Are they casting on a the ground, or are they elevated?

Cheers,

Robert

 

[Guest1]

The folks that set casting records (Steve Rajeff and others): do they use specialty equipment, or use production lines, rods, and reels? Do they treat their lines to make them slicker? Are they casting on a the ground, or are they elevated?

Cheers,

Robert

It depends on the contest. Some are on the ground and others are from an elevated platform. There are some that use rods and shooting heads with weights that are rediculous heavy and rods that are not designed for fishing. Just for the record, I don't think those should be counted as actual casting distances. Some contests are designed to be done on water with real rods and real lines. Comparing those casting distances to the ...... fake grass casting distances is in my opinion just, well wrong. If you have a guy take a 16' spey rod, do a real spey cast, (no anchor no cast rule) and put a 200' cast out there, I'm impressed. Put a 200' cast out there on grass with a lead core head, thin mono running line and an overhead cast with a 16' rod designed to cast grass, I'm not that impressed. If you look at the distances that Steve Rajeff has won contests with you start seeing there are some pretty big variations. Again this has to do with the contest, the rules, the rods and lines used. Use real rods with real lines and you can't hit the same distances as you can from an elevated platform on grass with a strictly distance casting setup.

As for the line treatment, I would use it if you want to get farther. The best I have found so far is STP Son of a Gun. I clean the line with a wet paper towel. Then put the STP Son of a Gun on a paper towel and run the line through it and then back through it. The spey guys call it 'El Slicko'. I call it awsome. OK I call it El Slicko to.

 

[MoscaPescador]

Hey Dan,
One of the line treatments that tournament casters use here is Rain-X. I have tried it, but I could not tell a difference. Some swear by it.

Dennis

 

[wjc]

Diver Dan pretty much covered it, Robert. In single handed distance, the ones which get the most press and probably have the most participants are the 5 weight competitions, both here and overseas.

Most of those events specify the exact line to be used or, in Europe, have weight and taper ranges and each line is checked and weighed before the event. The are almost always long belly weight forwards and often the Sci Anglers Mastery Expert Distance Competition line which is 120' long. Most specify that the rod be available for sale to the public, no longer than 9', and be labeled a 5 wt by the manufacturer.

The Denver Shootout, held annually during the winter, is the big one in this country. Just recently though, the organizers have changed the format and have added accuracy and I think curve casts and stuff to the event, so it is no longer just a distance event. They are trying to attract more competitors - but the distance event is still the one which attracts the audience.

When looking at the rods used by the finalists in the distance event, a few years ago all but one used the TCR then the following year, all but one used the TCX. The only one who didn't, Steve Rajeff, used a Loomis of course, being their rod designer.

Those using the TCR were using the first TCR on the market, which had an "X" prefix to the serial number. According to a large number of competitive distance casters, the 5 wt with that prefix is noticeably more powerful than those with an "A", "B", or "AB" prefix. So exactly how "production" those rods are may be questionable.

Personally, I can cast further from the bow of a skiff than from the grass, simply because I am up higher. But only for a short while. After that, the drying salt starts getting sticky and adding too much friction so the line doesn't shoot as well. None of the coatings I have tried seems to make much difference - though I have never tried rain-x or the stuff Dan talked about.

I've never even seen a competitive distance competition, much less entered one, so what I know about it is just what I hear about reading forum postings on a board comprised of many competition casters, line designers and rod builders from around the world.

The finalists' distances in the 5 wt Denver shootout have usually been in the high teens to the high twenties.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[Rip Tide]

I've never even seen a competitive distance competition..........

For anyone interested, there's one happening locally in a couple of week
You won't see me there though

 

[Jackster]

There are all sorts of casting competitions. The comps I like use the 5 weight, factory rod contests using specified lines.
The contests I've been in gave more points to the accuracy component than distance. That I like. To hit the target at various distances is more like real fishing than to just lay a cast out as far as you can. Despite that, amongst themselves the competitors seem to enjoy the bragging rights of throwing the longest cast.
I have no idea what the real casting rock stars use for line dressing. I imagine if they uncovered a secret sauce that works for them they keep the recipe pretty close to their chest. Personally, I like the silicone-based stuff for comps like the standard, off-the-shelf SA line dressing. I got some dressing from a land far away that is so slick, hauling is darn near impossible. Great for shooting but not so great if you can't even grip the line.

 

[FrankB2]

I use Griswold's Sled Wax for almost everything.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rMcRJVY1-0]YouTube - ‪national lampoons christmas vacation - sled wax‬‏[/ame]

Speaking of elevated platforms, I love to stand on top of a huge boulder and let out some serious fly line. YEHAA!!!!

 

[Guest1]

Now that was a funny post. I've seen the movie and started laughing before I watched the clip. Good one Frank. :thumbup:

 

[FrankB2]

I'm always happy to be of service, Dan.

 

[MoscaPescador]

Check out the last guy's form.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g7XjTTXgvc]YouTube - ‪Saltwater Edge 3 weight Casting Contest‬‏[/ame]

 

[wjc]

I never saw that movie. That was hysterical!!!

THANKS Frank!!!

 

[wjc]

Back to line dressing. A lot of the European distance casters like, and use, Zipcast. It could not be imported into some countries over there - probably known to cause brain warts in California.

One of the guys who uses it over there says it stinks so bad he puts on rubber gloves before coating his lines with it, but it works so well for him that it's worth it.

I've never tried it.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[Jackster]

Back to line dressing. A lot of the European distance casters like, and use, Zipcast.

I've never tried it.

Cheers,
Jim

I have. I carry a bottle of it in my reel case. I don't get the varied revues it gets. To me almost any commercial product from line manufacturers is better. I find Zip Cast to have a catchy name but as for a line conditioner, I would call it more a mild line cleaner that does make the line a little bit slicker for a very short while.
I'm a bit suprised that the Euro's like it when I was sent a line conditioner from a friend over there that is so slick I can hardly hold onto the line to haul. Then too, there are quite a few people here who like Zip Cast. Go figure.
As a quick and easy line cleaner not much removed from plain water it's fine IMHO.

 

[FrankB2]

That was a great moment in American cinema...LOL!

Lubricant: I get lazy sometimes, and while I always clean my lines after each use, I've been slacking off on the SA lube. My wife and I were fishing on our favorite stream today, and I spent the first two hours helping her try to get a smallmouth. I finally took my wooly bugger off the hook holder and cast the entire line across the stream. IT FELT STICKY AS TAR! I'm also too lazy to carry the lube in my vest, so I just had to make do. I was casting to reach a shadowy overhang and to show off for my wife, but a small duck took my buggger!!! I had to haul the line and duck across and upstream, with momma duck flipping out the entire time. It got really bad when the duck was within reach, with the mother duck pouncing on top of the smaller (not a baby) duck. Fortunately the hook was in the roof of the duck's bill, and not its tongue. Those ducks paddled downstream about a 1/2 mile!

I've never tried anything else beyond Cortland's cleaner/lube pads, and now SA's line coating. I can tell you that not applying the lube can hold you back.