A Casting Lesson With Ron Arra

[fishweewee]

Following are my thoughts on a distance casting lesson I recently had with Ron Arra. Sorry for the length. Pics follow.

As many of you might have already guessed by my previous postings, I'm a conventional distance casting nut.

I was bitten by the distance bug ever since taking a trip down to Cape Hatteras, NC with my mentor and friend Crazy Alberto a few years ago. I marveled at how far Crazy was lobbing his chunks and hooking up with the drum while others (like me) looked on stupidly with envy.

At the time, I asked Al how he was getting 400+ feet with 8nBait. Al slyly told me a fella named Ron Arra had recently taught him how to power cast the suds.

Thusly informed, I began my nutty quest to learn how to heave lead into the atmosphere.

I ran out and acquired Ron's first book, Power Surfcasting and then grabbed a copy of Mike Laptew's Surf Fishing and Distance Casting (which features Ron Arra going through his repertoire of casting techniques). After studying and reading said materials, and spying on Alberto's form, I immediately increased my casting distance from 250 feet to almost 400 feet. Consistency and accuracy came with a bit of practice of course.

I was more than happy with the improvement in distance, but something in the back of my mind was nagging me to take my casting to the next level. Last Fall Mike Laptew (on this board as Fish_Eye) reminded me that Ron Arra offered casting lessons and guided Cape Cod Canal fishing trips, so, being the obsessive nut that I am, I sought Ron out and was delighted that Ron could squeeze me into his hectic schedule.

After much planning and a little travel, I finally hooked up with Ron a few Saturdays ago on a blustery but otherwise beautiful winter day. Best of all, we casted on a gorgeous South Cape beach overlooking Vineyard Sound (and there was bait working the water to boot!).

With the wind blowing 20-25 (NW) and temperatures in the 20's, Ron didn't waste anytime jumping into the lesson. Without giving away all the details, over the course of the next three hours Ron and I went over the fundamentals of the following:

*Proper selection of shock leader materials and recommended shocker knot
*Proper selection of tackle
*Overhead Cast
*Off-The-Beach Cast, the foundation for the pendulum casts.
*Modified Pendulum Cast
*Full tournament Pendulum Cast

A few photos highlight this outing:



The educated thumb...



End of a modified pendulum cast. So that I might get a better view, Ron asked me to stand right behind him as he performed an effortless pendulum cast that went out over my left ear and out 600 feet into the suds. He did this not once, not twice, but three times! You haven't lived until Ron has sent a 4 oz. lead bullet over your head at 200 MPH!



Spooled 220 Newell (that's 200 yards of 20 lb. mono!). Rod is a Lamiglas XRA 132-2. Guess who had to reel all that line in when Ron heaved it out?!!!

What is the end result of all this madness? With a bit more practice and some of Ron's critique, I'm now able to hit 600 feet (six hundred!!!) with increasing consistency. (Newell 220 F Series w/ aluminum spool, Barden bearings, 20 lb. test mono with 40 lb. shock leader, 4 oz. bank sinker, and...last but not least a Lamiglas XRA 132-2 one piece custom stick tied by none other than Al Goldberg.)

More importantly, I'm able to get more distance with far less effort. The one absolutely critical thing that Ron was able to point out by watching me in person is that the cast, when properly performed, should involve the whole body (including knees, and angular momentum of twisting hips) and NOT JUST BRUTE UPPER BODY STRENGTH! The rod should do the bulk of the work for you. Ron summed it up nicely when he urged me to visualize myself on a cloud when doing a pendulum cast.

Do I absolutely NEED to cast 600 feet to catch fish at all times? Not necessarily, but having the ability to reach that distance doesn't hurt IMO. I have a lot of practicing and catching up to do. Ron regularly throws 800 foot-plus practice casts (even though he is retired from tournament casting).

For those who can, I would wholeheartedly recommend a lesson with Ron Arra. In addition to being a great teacher, he is a jewel of a human being with a heart of gold. And let me say, you will be pleasantly surprised...Ron Arra is a completely different animal one-on-one than his unassuming public persona! You'd be surprised to hear what he has to say about the latest fads in tackle (re: spiffy bearings and rocket fuel) and his thoughts on one of his favorite pastimes (dry fly fishing). Three hours on the beach in the middle of winter never went so quickly!

I found Mike Laptew's video featuring Ron extremely helpful. If a picture is worth a thousand words, than imagine what a thousand pictures is worth! It's available in Tim's Online Store here: http://www.stripersonline.net/cart/s...014722788.6677

Ron's latest book, The Ultimate Guide to Surfcasting is a worthy sucessor to his first book and an excellent companion to the video. The step-by-step photos of the casting technique are very helpful and there is a lot of useful information on tackle selection and maintenance. Much of what Ron taught me in person is in this book. The book (along with reviews by Crazy Alberto and Surfpirate) is available here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...100639-9532064

Oh, one last pic of Ron with a NICE albie taken on my Lamiglas Walleye stick in Fall 2000. On the right is one of my favorite NY charter captains, Bob Rocchetta (who is featured in Fish_Eye's excellent Secrets of the Striper Pros video).



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The Pause That Refreshes




[This message has been edited by fishweewee (edited 02-28-2002).]

[kip]

fww,

i am totally green with envy, and if i could make one of those little green smilies come up i would place one right here.

while i am not into tournament casting, i do go to these functions and talk with various people about how to improve my distances. during the off months, when i get a chance, i head out to the local college football stadium parking lot and practice casting.

to date, it has paid off as i have been able to cast 8Nbait a measured 429' during one such practice setting with my fishing set-up. like you, i know that you don't always have to throw that distance to catch fish, but it sure helps when the fish are way out there and only the long casters are hooking up.

i have the ron arra's video and should watch it again to refresh my memory on how it is done. sitting here chomping on the bit to be fishing again, but with the school work, impending marriage, and the job, it will not be possible to do so until the end of march.

i think i would be willing to go up north for a weekend to experience the same thing as you. shoot me an e-mail if you will that provides some of the pertinent details. thanks for the wonderful post!



kip

ps. look forward to seeing you at the point and vicinity sometime.

[Marksharky]

Almost sounds a bit like a golf pro teaching you how to hit a ball down the fairway straight & long, let the club do the work

"More importantly, I'm able to get more distance with far less effort. The one absolutely critical thing that Ron was able to point out by watching me in person is that the cast, when properly performed, should involve the whole body (including knees, and angular momentum of twisting hips) and NOT JUST BRUTE UPPER BODY STRENGTH! The rod should do the bulk of the work for you. Ron summed it up nicely when he urged me to visualize myself on a cloud when doing a pendulum cast."

Thanks for the interesting post

[Crazy Alberto]

Hah… Good timing WeeWee and nice post!

Also, for those who want to meet Mike Laptew and Ron Arra… They will be at the World Fishing & Expo Suffern Show most part of this coming weekend.

Mike will have an exciting video presentation and Ron will be at the Lamiglas booth to sign books and answer any questions you might have. …. This would also be a perfect opportunity to book him for chartering and lessons!

I plan to be there most part of Friday and Saturday as well…but this time I plan to shop around and take a break at The Fisherman's booth.

Just wondering... Who's planning to go?

“Crazy” Alberto

[fishweewee]

Oh, I'll DEFINITELY be there!

[Cool Hand Fluke]

I'll be there. Hoping to go Friday after work and perhaps Saturday AM as well.

[Sergio]

FWW... Be prepared to do some explaination to your wife about the expansion of your tackle budget .

Being able to cast longer is definitelly a big advantage when your fishing is made with both feet on the ground.

Those who say that there is no need to cast more than 100 yds away have never hooked a fish more than 150 yds away

Good luck in your power casting interests!

Sergio

[fishweewee]

Originally posted by Sergio:
FWW... Be prepared to do some explaination to your wife about the expansion of your tackle budget .

Sergio, I forgot to thank you for all that information you sent me on Zziplex USA.

-FWW

[AlexT]

800 yards is only 240 ft. short of half a mile. That is mind boggling.

Or at 60 mph., it would take you 27 seconds to drive to the spot where his cast lands.

You should need a permit to do something like that.

[C. Regalis]

Now THAT is what I call A POST!

[BernOC]

Is Lamiglas going to be at the Suffern show? As of 2/11 their not in the list of exhibitors.

[fishweewee]

Bern I believe Lami will be there, Ron mentioned that he would be at the Lami booth, no?

[Saltheart]

Alex T , its feet not yards. nobody is casting 800 yards...yet.

[TimS]

Ron is cool, I like him

TimS

[DarrylZ]

Still, 800' is better than 1/8th of a mile! YIKES!

Bravo...and great post FWW!!

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---- Facin' East, Darryl Z ----
---- Secretary - Shark River Surf Anglers ----