Large change of direction single and overhang

[petersc]

My singles involving a large change of direction (about 90 degrees) aren't usually a problem until I try to leave a couple of feet of overhang, then things go downhill. I'm usually casting shooting heads with overhang, but I'll extend this to include up to mid-belly lines as well.

Generally what happens, there seems to be a "disconnect" between the line and the rod tip so that the initial foot or so of travel of the power stroke is taken up by slack in the line and as a consequence, I lose the rod load over that distance. When the line comes tight, the effect is as if I'm trying to snap the cast forward as then the rod loads suddenly. The resulting forward cast is sloppy and without any significant distance. If I pull the end of the back taper or the running line loop into the tip, everything is fine.

I don't have problems with overhang with 45 degree singles or any other cast, just the large change of direction single.

Any suggestions?

[macd]

hi peter,

there is a clear over hang when using shooting heads.

But if you are using spey lines, you will always have a problem if you dont take the rear of the taper inside the rod point.

The spey belly is much longer than a SH, so it will hinge if the rear taper doesnt come inside.

hope this helps
Ross

[petersc]

Thanks Ross.

While I'm most often using overhang with SHs, I will use it with lines that have abrupt rear tapers and head lengths up to 65'. Long rear tapered lines and longer lines, I can't get to work.

I might have this all wrong, but I view the use of overhang as a timing issue that allows us to use the "pre-load' condition created by the backward momentum of the D-Loop, to more deeply load the rod. If we begin our cast with the rod already partially loaded from the backward flight of the D-Loop, we deepen the rod loading and get better distance. Overhang lets use this "pre-load".

As we cast a D-Loop backwards, the rod tip will be loaded from the sweep, unload as we stop, then load in the opposite direction as the backward momentum of the D-Loop draws on it. This creates the "pre-loaded" rod condition in anticipation of the forward cast. However, we have to wait for the anchor to land and during that pause, the rod loses its load and returns to the resting state (a feature of our very fast recovery, high modulus graphite rods). Our power stroke then starts from the rod's resting state rather than from a pre-loaded state.

With overhang, we're delaying the onset of the backward load, giving an opportunity for the anchor to land and the power stroke to begin while the "pre-load" still exists. To get this to work with long belly lijnes would require so much overhang, the whole thing is unmanageable (for me at least). Long rear tapers also have management isses as the end of the belly is so far removed from the rod tip.

I'm getting some extra motion in the overhang on the 90 degree single that's not only killing the pre-load, it's killing the normal load as well. It's also a bigger problem with full sinking SHs than with floaters.