[Rich Kovars]

I reread the article last night and thought a little more about it this morning.

[Rich Kovars]

Yep, what you are seeing is the dreaded tailing loop.

In addition to the advice already given, try starting your forward cast too slow.  So slow that you think you are going to make a bad cast.

Also, if you can, get someone who knows what they are doing to watch you.

[Rich Kovars]

Have you found any more links dealing with the way they are handling the A/Ds?

[Rich Kovars]

Great idea with the bar tool holder.

[Rich Kovars]

Carter,

What are you looking for in the case?

[Rich Kovars]

I wouldn’t really call it a case but more of a protective sleeve.

[Rich Kovars]

Thanks guys.

[Rich Kovars]

Hey Zack,

Rely more on the waveforms in Audacity than the speakers.

[Rich Kovars]

For all the sick individuals like me who are interested, there is a pretty good set of articles in The Loop about the physics involved in casting.  It is an attempt to bring the concepts down a little bit and it does a pretty good job.

Part 1

Part 2

[Rich Kovars]

Uh oh.

[Rich Kovars]

I agree.

I hope my tone didn’t come across as argumentative in the other thread.

[Rich Kovars]

Here you go guys, right from the horse’s mouth (Jim Lepage, chief designer at Orvis):

Hello Zach,

I read through your post and I can see one area that might help explain recovery better by including relative mass.

A simple example of flex index vs. recovery would be to include mass when speaking about the difference. Fiberglass rods vs. graphite or graphite vs. bamboo. Loading a rod with a known weight to calculate the flex profile of the rod does indeed mean that it needs fall into the same area of the load board. That same rod if extremely light and reactive (high modulus fibers allow rods to be built with less mass to reach same flex profiles) than recovery of rod has less mass to move back to neutral, creating a faster recovery and therefore what some call a ‘fast rod’.

Here’s the straight definition:

I think it is fairer to say that a fast rod is one that is light, responsive, casts well in close and has a progressive taper that can handle long lines, yet has a fast recovery, and therefore a shorter stroke while casting.

Hope that helps.

Best, Jim

Thanks Jim!

Zach

Ha!  So we’re reducing the M in the F=MA.  Given the same acceleration if you lower the mass you lower the force.  

I just moved The Technology of Fly Rods by Don Phillips to the top of my Amazon list.

[Rich Kovars]

I want to run a study, find rods that bend the same throughout but are made of different materials, release them from the bend and use a timer to see how quick they recover…. Hmmm.  This is going to get really complicated.  😮

It can get really complicated.  I’ve been reading a lot of papers by Noel Perkins on modeling the fly rod and line during a cast.  The physics are pretty amazing.  (Noel perkins developed the Sage casting analyzer).  It becomes a simpler problem when you treat it as two separate systems, but there is still a lot of math to cut through.

Zach,

I am not sure that it can work that way (I’m pulling out some VERY rusty statics and dynamics here).  i think acceleration is directly related to force (F=MA) and velocity (speed) is related to acceleration (V=At given the initial velocity is zero).  The force bending the rod is in opposition to the force keeping it straight.  In order for it to recover quicker it has to either straighten over a shorter distance or the force against the bend must be greater.  

Can you tell I’m an engineer? 🙂  I can really chew on this stuff.

I guess this is really just a discussion of terms.  For me the action of a rod never described the physical characteristics as much as the ‘feel’ of the rod when cast.  A fast rod takes more force to get it to bend making it feel stiffer even though it is still flexible (flexibility being the ability to bend a certain distance).

I’m not too far from Orvis country.  I’ll have to pop into the rod shop and ask some questions.

[Rich Kovars]

Hey Zack,

Here is where I am getting confused:

A Zero Gravity with a ‘mid-flex’ profile is going to be a faster rod than a Clearwater with the same ‘mid-flex’ number, but it will bend to exactly the same amount on the charts like Neal posted above.

If a rod is able to recover faster, it must mean that the force opposing the bend is stronger.

[Rich Kovars]

Welcome to the board!

Rod action is simply something to describe how much a rod will bend during the cast.  A fast action rod is pretty stiff and usually only bends near the tip during a cast.  A medium action rod is more ‘soft’ and will bend through the middle of the rod during a cast.  A medium action rod is a ‘classic’ rod in most circles.  A slow rod will flex all the way to the handle (great for roll casting).

There is a ton of stuff on the web about rod action.

This one is pretty good:

http://www.flyfishinggear.info/buyers_guide/fly_rods_action.shtm

And you are correct, your casting stroke will change with rod action.

[Rich Kovars]

The Marlboro show was good.

[Rich Kovars]

I would start with two:

Trout Bum (the classic)

then

Death, Taxes and Leaky Waders which is an anthology from his earlier books.

[Rich Kovars]

Here is an article that might interest you:

http://www.overmywaders.com/cblog/archives/79-Breaking-News-Silk-Fly-Line-Casts-Farther-than-Modern-Plastic-Fly-Line.html

[Rich Kovars]

No kidding!

[Rich Kovars]

I would  cut a hole through the trunk into the back seat too.  Make space for those 2-handers!

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