Hi' Andy. My working life background was a scientific one -- electronics -- and I tend to be over-precise at times; but I have been involved with teaching kids, and a few adults, to fish over a long period, and I avoid the use of descriptive terms that might mislead. I hear professionals saying, 'Let the rod do the work.' for example, and I know exactly what that means, but it sometimes results in beginners thinking that the 'spring' in their hand will throw the line forwards for them if they simply throw it backwards over their shoulder, and wait for the rebound. I stick to my old description of the rod, which is that it is a flexible extension of the arm, which permits the angler to generate higher line speeds than he can by using just his hand and arm. And I have seen a professional caster do exactly that, with a rod ring attached to his thumb!! Maybe I should just shut up, watch and listen. TC
The so-called 'spring' of the rod contributes, I understand, a mere 15% or so of the energy used to propel the fly line in the average cast. So, most of the angler's energy is more directly applied through the rod to the line, only a fraction is kinetic-potential-kinetic, via the limited storage potential of the blank. You can cast a line with a rigid rod, its flexibility makes it easier, but it isn't the spring of the rod that does the greater part of the work, it is the rod, dragging the fly line through the air at a high rate of knots. Then, when the rod stops, the impetus of the fly line carries it on beyond the rod tip. When the rod is stopped, the rod recovers its unflexed form, and in so doing, I am told that it contributes about 15, say 17%, of the total energy used. Not a lot, is it? Certainly not what you might expect from a spring like that of a bow stave, a catapult or an air gun coil spring.
Last edited by guest3; 15-07-2009 at 04:06 PM.
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