Hi, I'm Stanley and I'll be shattering your dreams today.
how many times have you heard the gleeful chant "I just cast 30m/99 ft !!!" ? (with as an example the average line of 27m/90ft plus a 9′ leader) and that person believes the fluff-fly is actually that far from their feet ?
well, i've heard it a lot but since Stanley was usually missing from the equation, my reply tends to be a polite smile and maybe a "far-out !" for encouragement all the while knowing they're usually 20 or so % off.
– with the average angler, in most cases the above distance once Stanley'd might be something around 25m at best.
– with an experienced caster (in this case meaning someone who has good to great control of their cast) that distance might be around 27-28m.
– and a distance competitor maybe between 28 and 29m.
please take notice of the 'maybe's' and 'might be's' above. there are too many countless variables involved to reach definite conclusions. however, my point here was to demonstrate ballpark proportions for the three groups of casters.
with our 30m example, to get to that distance consistently would mean being able to cast much further consistently and then 'holding-back' to reach the 30m smoothly, precisely and with straight line layout: actions that are extremely hard to manage when trying to cast 'all-out'.
of course (and thankfully), most fishers/casters couldn't care less about exact distances, so this all is just a reminder of a common phycological state/belief that things aren't always as they seem.
thanks to friends like Mel Krieger who stated "The distance between your head and your hand can be a long way" and not-so friends like Stanley who likes to slap our egos once in a while, in the end both will put us back on the right track and make us work a little harder to live up to our expectations.
if you want to cast further and don't have a tape measure, get one. as stated above, you'll spend most of your time wanting to destroy it but at the same time, deep inside you'll be happy to have this new friend and this one always tells the truth.
← "You know, for some people that's the last thing they ever see".
Most of us are better off learning to cast 15-20 meters with quickness and precision anyway. Although it is fun to practice long distance once in a while and can help you get a better feel for hauling.
in a quick, generalized way i'll agree, specially the quickness and accuracy part.
however, (and disregarding competition distance) there are a lot of types of fishing where 15-20m doesn't even put one in the game.
another thing about distance casting and even if we never need to fish that far is that it simply makes us a better caster because distance doesn't allow any mistakes. the farther we want to cast the better every single element needs to be and they need to all be combined well.
if we're consistently casting well at say, 25m then any distance shorter than that will be a breeze because we're way below our max threshold and well within our comfort zone.
Nudge to distance casting buddies…. My distance casts does not look like your presentation spaghetti!
And bottom line, people are better off getting better.
My friend Stanley is 60 and too short now….
Oh Marc, to paint us all with the same tar brush is a bit disappointing. I can assure you the majority of my 30m casts are straight and turned over, My 40m ones might be a bit iffy at times though, I'll give you that. I will also give you that distance isn't everyones bag but for those of us who's bag it is usually have a good friend called Stanley who never lies to us.
sorry you where disappointed, Mike but it was a lot of fun for me !
will we be seeing you at the Gathering ?
Oh Yes. 5 weights at dawn?