Single handed casters like Dick Miller and Martin Hedge were casting about 180 feet around 80 years ago. They must have been using split cane or greenheart . Does anyone know the set ups they were using? Was it shooting head equipment? What sort of lines were they using?

Even today with modern unlimited equipment that would still be a very long cast indeed.

Endrick, check out Alexander Grant and his "vibration rod". Cutting edge stuff at the time. The rods were all greenheart bamboo. They were very long 15 foot often but they were getting tremendous distance.

On December 11th 1896 (with witnesses) Al Grant used his "vibration rod" to cast a 65 yard cast. 65 yards is 190 feet. To be a century ago with a wood rod that probably cast like a jousting stick that impresses the **** out of me.


"Some of the earliest and perhaps most famous, true Spey Rods were built by Alexander Grant, of Carrbridge, Inverness-
shire, Scotland. He was the inventor of "The Grant Vibration Rod", made of Greenheart [Chlorocardium
rodiei (R.Schomb.) syn.: Ocotea rodiei, Nectandra rodiei ]. Each section was joined to the other by overlapping
swelled splices designed with a turned up end that reduces the amount of vibration usually associated with this type
of rod, and held in place by leather thonging, which also could not slip over these turned up ends. Making the rods,
he planed away the wood until, upon being struck with a tuning fork, it gave the correct note, or tone. Hence the
name. A patent for this fisshing rod was applied for in 1894 and granted."

For more info check this link

The history of Speycasting – Alexander Grant | Ponoi River Fishing
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Paul.paul,nobody but nobody calls Alexander Grant ALwhat are you thinking .You need to have some respect.
My friend Andy.Is now casting 70yards.he was just piped at the last big comp(72yrds new world record).but he is still the world champ for now.

Jim

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

I've read quite a lot on Grant - He cast his 65 yards with a 21ft Greenheart and lifted up the whole 65 yards and laid it out again with no shoot! In fact he cast even further than this overhead. It begs the questions
1. Is our tackle so much better for distance casting than the old greenheart setup - we know it is for lightness but for performance is greenheart better.
2. The opposite side of the coin is was he so much better than our modern day casters

However it was the single handed techniques and equipment I was asking about in this post. I just don't understand how they could cast with a single handed rod the sort of distances they did. I have seen Mick Bell ("Bloke" on this forum) cast 189 feet with an extremely powerful singlehanded setup but that was modern with very light running line and was still an enormously impressive cast.

I'm doing well if I get 65ft !

how ever they did it, it's amazing. i can't even get 1/5 of that distance

burhan

__________________
I could fish deep into the night
Well past the light
But at the end of the day
It's the end of the day

Burhan

mc_death187@yahoo.com