I have read this a few times now .. What exactly does it mean.. Is it the point at which there's enough line out to make the rod perform as it should ? i read around 10m ..

so does this mean have 10m of line off the tip as a starting point to casting ?



billy

10 yards is where the rod and the line in the AFTM system are supposed to be in tune.but you have to get the line out to that distance 1st.hence false casting,but if a fish rose at 20',you should still be able to cover it without to much of a palavar.

Jim

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The Fishermans Friend is the Flirty Fly,Fickle Food for Fleeting Fish.

Yes basically a rod is just a spring and 10 yards of the line out the rod tip will load/bend the spring for easy casting

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GAIA INSTRUCTOR

thanks chaps, feeling a lot more confident for my next casting session.. if the rain stops that is ..


billy

wouldn't it be more acurate to say "the weight of line", rather than "the length of line" as a lot of lines differ? in an ideal world yes 10 yards would be the right amount, but.....

But what,explain

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GAIA INSTRUCTOR

Interesting question!

A rod is a combination of a lever and a spring. Loading the rod means putting a flex in it in the action of casting. Rods can be very lightly loaded for a short cast of 15 feet or heavily loaded for a cast of 100 feet.

Different casts can have different load types. For example casting with a full spey line can load a rod very heavily. A shooting head spey line loads less of the rod: we call this casting with the tip.

Rods that have very light blanks and are stiff don't load at all well for short line casts, these rods need more line out to get any sort of flex in them. In other words these rods act with a more lever-like action when only a little line is extended.

Rods made with glass, cane and heavier (usually older) carbons can actually load - or bend - significantly under their own weight which is why these materials are still popular with small stream fishers who seldom cast more than a few yards.

Malcolm

but..... all lines are not made equally, a rocket taper line is heavier than a standard taper over a shorter length outside the rod rings and so is a double taper, so weight is more important than length to load a rod

But, length gives a good starting point. Makes thing easier, then you can fine tune for different lines.

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A significant factor that is often overlooked is how much effort the caster puts in! You can cast, say 50ft, off the tip or you can force a bend down to the corks with the same amount of line.