Mike Oliver

I have suffered acute tennis elbow which stopped me playing badminton for close on a season. Mine was caused by the elbow locking out against a very light load. In fly casting a huge number of us push the rod rather than pull the rod through the forward part of the casting stroke. It is very common to see the whole arm pushed out at the end of the cast and this will mean the elbow joint has been locked out. This is also not good for the shoulder either. Guys who cast this way will also tend to excessively false cast, further adding to the problems. Making casts with a lot of slack in the system I don’t think is helpful. It is to me like revving an engine while it is in neutral and no load. Then there is the plane the cast is made in. Backhand casts when wind is on the casting shoulder too often are made as are side casts with the back or the front of the hand leading when it should be the thumb with a thumb on top grip. Good technical casting working with our bodies joints the way they are designed to work will help. Can’t totally prevent tennis or golfers elbow but the benefits are two way if we cast well. learning to cast with the none dominant hand is not as difficult as most of us think. Sure first ten minutes are totally off putting but give it an hour and you will be surprised at how well you can do. The caveat is that we must not take our cast from our once dominant side if it is poor. It is a great opportunity to acquire a brand new good technical cast. Two busted elbows is not good. Mike.

Sorry one caveat . I really love 9’ 6” rods for large lakes and reservoirs from 6 to 8 wt. 9 wt and up then it is the 9’ rod by a long chalk. No contest. mikey

passiton Wonderful part of the world. You are at a good point in your fly fishing journey. If I can persuade you to take pro fly casting lessons they will be more valuable to you than the most expensive set of gear period. Salt water in particular is pretty demanding and a self taught cast in the main will not cut it. Although you will see hundreds of them but not in tough conditions. It is such a joy to have at it when the going gets hard and not even think about reaching for a spin or bait rod. We are lucky in the U.K. to have Instructors in most areas. I am at the very front end of teaching others and so far professionally have helped about thirty totally new people. Not one of them was a talented natural same as myself. They are as rare as rocking horse dung. It is 100% certain that I will not see the vast majority of these guys again and if they carry on in the sport they are unlikely to self develop a good technical cast. Such a crying shame and such a waste, and the most like beneficiary will be the makers of fishing tackle and those that run fishing forums. Mike

Heh taistick, You really are on it. Well done mate. I have fished those flats and even have had to swim off them but never done as well as you sight casting. I love to fish them at Low Water and well into the flood in the dark of night and it is one incredible beautiful experience. My get out of jail card is my wet suit, compass and plenty of hydration. If you fancy that sometime e we should do it together. It is just awesome. Mike

No probs. Let’s see what the opinions of others are. FWIW I have four Igniters. Two spey ,one switch, and one totally fantastic 9’ 6 wt. I plan to test cast the 9’ 9 wt and 10wt. One of them will become my go to surf single hand fly rod. I use my 6 wt to teach with. My Mentor Jim Fearn introduced me to the Igniter and sad that we are we nearly always comment on just how good a rod this when we cast together. I used it in the exam for the overheads. I later discovered that it also matches up very nicely for spey casts with the Rio 6 wt Single Hand Spey line. But not before I invested in the 9’6” 6 wt R8 which is a beautiful rod to spey cast with. For the record as it is unusual for me to wax lyrical over most items of fishing tackle I pay for all my gear. I do not wish to take full responsibility for choosing your rod length but I am very comfortable with my advise and confident in its veracity. Maybe one day I might just develop this ability to sit on the fence but I hope not. LOL. I prefer to nail my colours to the mast. Mike

First off the Igniter is one of the best casting rod I have owned. I fish fly rods from 9 foot to 10 feet. For me hands down the 9 footer has it over the 10. The 10 footer is going to be very hard on your fore arms and wrists in a long day. Many guys are going to have issues controlling their wrist after a few hours of hard fishing. Soon as we lose control of them so do we our loops. The Igniter loves a fast casting style and a good double haul and believe that the 9 footer will give you the performance you seek. It can only respond you our input of course. But if you a good distance cast already then if you have a fast and aggressive style you will love the Igniter. I find it way way easier to cast a 9 footer. If you gave me a 10 footer R8 or an Ignitor I would hand it back. This is my view and my experience of casting single hand rods in the surf and on large reservoirs. Not everyone will agree of course. There is a reason though why most rods are 9 feet for the salt. They are just so darned good. mikey

My bad Peter I missed the OP’s statement that he is a complete novice. It is too late now but at least one casting lesson would have been useful. I hope he does take some lessons soon before the muscle memory gets ingrained. Mike

Did they resolve the issues with their Serum Line.

reel em in. Taking power out when it is in excess is a good thing to do. It does feel then like the rod is doing the work. I get pulled up as I cast very quickly but in a surf a laid back approach can mean being wiped out by a wave before the cast is away. But on the rivers my excess power is not a good thing or a good look. cheers mike

reel em in If those lines work for you then it’s job done. Out of interest are you overhead casting these lines. If so you must have a very powerful rod. I have spey cast both those lines on a 11’ 9” 7wt Switch rod and they were nice. For lighter tips and flies I really liked the Launch as it has a less steep taper and holds its loop better. What rod are you using. mike

There you go Killie teach long enough and hard enough and dumb old gits like me eventually twig on. Looking forward to using this line very soon. Thanks for your tenacity. mike

I am going with the Wulff Ambush line to. Not quite what I am looking for but at 575 grains the head is 30 feet not far off ideal. If it will handle a versi tip or poly leader and I suspect it will then my beach fishing needs apart from very fast and deep inlets are covered. The 550grain is 28.5 feet head length. Eureka! Mike

Hi Kirona, Not struck a nerve with you I hope just this longtime often quoted BS about the rod doing the work. I have always had the greatest of respect for Lefty a man I always wanted to meet and have a casting lesson from. Sadly that did not happen. I have a great many of his books and I treasure them. He pretty much single handedly moved fly casting out of the dark ages. I guess you know my other pet hate about forgiving rods and lines. I just wish they were available and life would be so much easier. But heh we would have nothing to debate over then and that is half the fun. In terms of efficiency I am with you all the way. The overhead cast augmented by well timed hauling is the cast that gives the most line tension. With tension comes control and that in turn gives us increased performance compared to any Spey cast. I think Herb is going the spey route due to obstructions behind him plus the overhead is not good for change of direction. So much easier to take the line from the dangle in an inlet and make a cast up to 90 degrees with an appropriate spey cast. Night time I prefer to now spey cast if that’s possible especially if heavy sink tips are needed to get down. Love the Lasso. I got pulled up in the assessment for not creating a big enough lasso. If I can overhead thats the ticket for me. I find the physicality much more satisfying especially with the two hander than any spey cast. I love these too now that I can make a reasonable fist of them especially in the rivers but soon in inlets to for Stripers a bit north of the USA. cheers no offence meant. Mikey

A big yes to the cream. Beer with the hot weather we are having looks just the ticket. Great report Marcel. mikey

Great casts Herb both of them. Just be a bit careful with the C cast if the wind is quartering in on you. But with a floating leader and smallish flies you can use a lower lift off the water and draw a smaller C. Or a Snap T works great in a quartering wind. Looks like you have been doing some spey casting already. Good stuff. Us old uns can learn new tricks. Your rod all being well is being shipped this week. It needs a new home. mikey