[4sallypat]

So my first time competing casting at the Long Beach Casting Club last weekend.

Entered as a novice division with about 12 other newbie casters.
There were seniors, women and open division casters that attracted a bunch of Spey O Rama (SOR) folks like Tommy A (flew in from Norway), Jim Ansite, Mike Ivy, and Whitney Gould.

It's a lot different casting in a competition than real fishing but I learned something: Mid belly lines take a lot of practice and I was terrible at it - see video of my floppy casts in the wind:

The 63' Gaelforce Equalizer mid belly line proved to be floppy and wind strewn making most of my casts out of bounds (wrong side of the marker).

On the second day, I decided to switch over to a real fishing line (Rio Skagit Max Long w/ T14 tip).
A real fishing line casted more reliably and cut thru the wind. By switching over to a real fishing line, it put me into 3rd place and was very satisfying having the shooting line rip out off the water!

A good weekend for sure!

Open division (pro) casters:

Poppy from Red Shed who drove his trailer from ID to CA - sold a lot of Gaelforce lines, Meiser, Burkheimer and Winston rods!

 

[fisshman26]

real fishing line?????
That Gaelforce line that you claim as floppy, in the `Right Hands` is far more capable of a fishing line than the rioo by far! As in casting really far....even with tips as is

 

[Idaho steel]

To be fair Bruce, he did say he was a novice, and added the disclaimer that the longer lines take more practice and better technique... But yes, Gaelforce are pretty kick-ass fishing lines.

Congrats on a podium finish Pat!

 

[4sallypat]

To be fair Bruce, he did say he was a novice, and added the disclaimer that the longer lines take more practice and better technique... But yes, Gaelforce are pretty kick-ass fishing lines.

Congrats on a podium finish Pat!

Thanks!
Yes, I am very new to the longer line arena - just got the 63' head about a month prior to the tournament and I do know it does cast well in the hands of others like my THCI that have tried it out.

Luckily, Poppy from Red Shed had sent over a couple of lines to demo first before buying so the correct line weight was chosen for the rod.
My instructor chose the 756gr Equalizer line over the 802gr on the Echo TR rod.

This weekend I will be switching over to a different rod (G Loomis PRO4X), keeping the line the same. Will report back on how a different rod does with this 63' line.

 

[fisshman26]

My point was not to offend or discourage but rather to point out that the 63 IS a fishing line.
4sallypat the more time you spend with the longer line the better you will get as it will give you some honest feedback to how your casting is doing.
Another thing you might consider is cutting the line into a head and running mono, if you have not already done so and that will give you 10-20ft extra without even trying. Poppy knows exactly how to do this or you can just pm me and I will be happy to help

 

[3356]

Like several others mentioned already, a 63' Gaelforce is a "real" fishing line. I've noticed this fallacy often over the last 10 years that anything longer than a Skagit line (maybe a Scandi line) isn't a real fishing line. The truth is if a person spends some time with a mid-belly or long-belly line and learns how to cast it, it becomes a "real" fishing line.

Heck, I see this fallacy showing up in my local fly fishing club over the last 4 years as newcomers to spey buy a rod and a Skagit line to go with it because that is what the shop owner (or someone else in the club who hasn't been spey casting very long) says they need because it is a real fishing line. Then when the club has a spey day on the river with fellow club members and I show up with a 15' or 16' rod and a long-belly line, the newcomers say things like "It's easy for you to cast that long line, but it isn't a real fishing line", "It takes too long to learn how to cast those long lines", The long line might be fine for fishing way out there, but they aren't any good for covering lies 40'-50' away", The long lines limit your ability to get down because they can't cast faster sink tips", etc.

The truth is mid-and long-belly lines are excellent fishing lines that can fish both close and far off, and do so with a lot less (most of the time, no) stripping of line to make the next cast. Granted if you want to toss #2/0 or larger flies or weighted flies on a 12'-13' 6 or 7 wt 2-hander, mid-or long-belly lines aren't the best choice. But if you go up to a 15'-16' 9,10, or 11 wt, casting the large or weighted flies is straight forward.

 

[4sallypat]

My point was not to offend or discourage but rather to point out that the 63 IS a fishing line.
4sallypat the more time you spend with the longer line the better you will get as it will give you some honest feedback to how your casting is doing.
Another thing you might consider is cutting the line into a head and running mono, if you have not already done so and that will give you 10-20ft extra without even trying. Poppy knows exactly how to do this or you can just pm me and I will be happy to help

Thanks for your input - yes the 63' line is a real line for fishing.
It was at the spey tournament I felt that the 63' line was not casting well due to the angler's lack of experience and skill level.

A fellow tournament caster who was a pro at the event said that the Echo rod I had been using was stiffer and heavier for the mid belly line taking more effort to cast.

So I just got a new G Loomis PRO-4X 15' 10/11 rod from Poppy and I love it - test casted it with the 756gr Gaelforce 63' head from the Echo rod and it was much easier to cast without so much effort.
The G Loomis rod was lighter in hand, flexed throughout the length, and I could feel the loading as I setup for the underhand firing of the mid belly line.

Guess I will relegate the stiff Echo TR10150 rod as a skagit head type rod which has been my go to rod for steelies and salmon in the past.....

 

[Brian St]

So my first time competing casting at the Long Beach Casting Club last weekend.

Entered as a novice division with about 12 other newbie casters.
There were seniors, women and open division casters that attracted a bunch of Spey O Rama (SOR) folks like Tommy A (flew in from Norway), Jim Ansite, Mike Ivy, and Whitney Gould.

It's a lot different casting in a competition than real fishing but I learned something: Mid belly lines take a lot of practice and I was terrible at it - see video of my floppy casts in the wind:

The 63' Gaelforce Equalizer mid belly line proved to be floppy and wind strewn making most of my casts out of bounds (wrong side of the marker).

On the second day, I decided to switch over to a real fishing line (Rio Skagit Max Long w/ T14 tip).
A real fishing line casted more reliably and cut thru the wind. By switching over to a real fishing line, it put me into 3rd place and was very satisfying having the shooting line rip out off the water!

A good weekend for sure!

Open division (pro) casters:

Poppy from Red Shed who drove his trailer from ID to CA - sold a lot of Gaelforce lines, Meiser, Burkheimer and Winston rods!

Personally I think its pretty cool you got up there and made the casts required using what you were comfortable with. Be it a skagit head or whatever it doesnt matter as long as its a legal line for the comp and your division. You placed 3rd thats awsome. Hopefully it will encourage you to go to SOR and compete? The game is 80 percent mental repetition is a good thing.