Stupid question about casting distance.....

[dudemanspecial]

When you say "30 foot cast", are you referring to:

1. The distance from where your feet are planted to where the fly lands?

2. The the distance from the rod tip to where the fly lands?

3. The amount of fly line you cast without factoring the rod and leader length?

4. Some other combination?

I always assumed its #1 where the sum of the rod length, fly line and leader = overall distance......but do others see it differently?

 

[wildtrout2]

I appreciate your honesty in the thread title. I'd have to say #2 though.

 

[krayfish2]

I've usually gone by description #1

 

[dudemanspecial]

I should have made a poll.....

 

[troutbert]

#1. I've never been in a casting competition, but surely they measure the distance of the cast from where the competitors are standing, right?

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear dudemanspecial,

I'm inclined to agree with wildtrout2 and go with choice 2. In the olden days when fishing with a WF line when lines were 90ft long and the head section was 40 feet or so in length counting the front and rear tapers if you got 10 feet of running line out of the rod tip and were using a 9-foot leader you were landing the fly approximately 60 feet out.

I just checked 2 fly lines I have that haven't been placed on reels yet. Both are WF7 floating lines, one is a major brand "Bass" line and the other is a major brand "Smallmouth bass" line. On one the head length is 38 feet in keeping with was once standard, and on the other the head length is 27 feet. It's much harder to judge distance anymore by the feel of the fly line diameter in your hand.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[Swattie87]

#1. I've never been in a casting competition, but surely they measure the distance of the cast from where the competitors are standing, right?

I thought “comp” anglers didn’t use fly lines. 😜

 

[Bamboozle]

If I was chucking a javelin, throwing a ball or anything else it would be #1 so I don't see any reason I should use a different metric when fly casting.

When I say "30 foot cast" that means #1.

BTW - That's how it's done in distance casting championships.

 

[redietz]

#1. I've never been in a casting competition, but surely they measure the distance of the cast from where the competitors are standing, right?

Correct.

 

[BrookieChaser]

#2

 

[dudemanspecial]

Maybe it wasn't a stupid question after all.

 

[wildtrout2]

My post was in jest. I believe the amount of line that you can put on the water is how a cast should be measured. That would be the amount of line from the tip to the fly. jmo

 

[dudemanspecial]

My post was in jest. I believe the amount of line that you can put on the water is how a cast should be measured. That would be the amount of line from the tip to the fly. jmo

I know...I actually meant that I felt stupid asking because I have been doing this long enough that I figured I should know this already. Quite a disparity in the answers so far though.

 

[5footfenwick]

My post was in jest. I believe the amount of line that you can put on the water is how a cast should be measured. That would be the amount of line from the tip to the fly. jmo

I’m gonna go with you on this one. #2. Just my opinion.
Ok I’ll plead my case. Maybe a little devils advocate here. 😉 But let’s have some fun.

If you had a say a 10’ fly rod and say a 100 foot fly line. You make a long cast. The knot connection to the backing is now in your hand.

So 100 feet of fly line right? But this will not be a 100 foot cast. It’s a 90 foot cast. Since you were unable to cast the the entire fly line.

Sure the fly may be 100 feet from your feet. But ten feet of line was never “casted”. The ten feet of fly line still inside the guides of the rod wouldn’t count. If it does count. Then wouldn’t dapping a gnat with no fly line out and an 18 foot spey rod be an 18 foot cast? But it isn’t an 18 foot cast. It isn’t a cast at all. The length of rod must be deducted from the casting distance. Since the line contained within its guides was never casted. It never left the rod.

By that logic I just need a 300 foot long fly rod and I can break all the “casting” records with only 6 inches of tippet out the tip of the rod. These scientists better double check their hypotenuses.

 

[mossyoakpenn]

The standard has been number 1 forever so thats what I go with. I dont necessarily agree with it but thats the way its always been done.

 

[poopdeck]

#1 is the closet but it should start at the hand not the foot.

 

[jeffroey]

First, it's important to remember there's no such thing as a stupid question . . . Just stupid people that ask questions. 🙂

Definitely No. 1 for me. If I'm describing how far I cast it's from where I'm standing to where my fly lands.

Never been anywhere near a fly casting competition but practically speaking, there has to be a line you stand behind when it's your turn to cast and I'd guess your distance is measured from that line?

For all of you who chose No. 2, please go back and edit your forum posts by subtracting 10 feet from your casting claims.

 

[dudemanspecial]

Good answers so far. I feel like it makes a big difference to me at least because I can say I am decently accurate at 50' from where I am standing but past that my accuracy starts breaking down. So if I take the rod out of the equation I can say I am accurate to only 40'.

I need the confidence here guys 🤣

 

[tomgamber]

Its one. Everything measured starts at a line you have to keep your feet behind. Not your arm or rod or Javelin or barrel. You stand behind a line and go.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

Good answers so far. I feel like it makes a big difference to me at least because I can say I am decently accurate at 50' from where I am standing but past that my accuracy starts breaking down. So if I take the rod out of the equation I can say I am accurate to only 40'.

I need the confidence here guys 🤣

The first one. Feel better?

I cast fly rods to catch fish. So, in a fishing context, these matter to me 1. How far I am from the fish; 2. Can I get closer without spooking it? In other words, do I have to cast 60' from where I am standing or can I quietly get to within 40' of the fish?