When I first took up sea fishing around the age of twelve, I used to buy Sea Angler every month and I was fascinated with Neil Mackellow and his descriptions of casting and testing new kit. Much of the time, I was confused about what I was reading; I saw one or two pendulum casts in real life but I had no idea what the purpose of the swing was or why it was supposed to go further than an overhead cast. Not knowing what I was seeing, it all seemed like a blur and everything sped miles out to sea. I tried out different things which resulted in plenty of thumb slips and snap offs (I never had a thumby back then) and I remember talking to my dad about how frustrating it was trying to learn this stuff with no guidance. Being a magazine man, my dad urged me to call Sea Angler and try and speak to Neil himself to ask him where I was going wrong, and this I did… quite a few times actually! In fact, I reckon Neil probably got sick of me ringing such was my thirst for knowledge and my eagerness for casting competence. I remember introducing myself every time I rang as I thought he must have gotten dozens of calls a day asking him the same stuff and he would surely have forgotten me since the last conversation. Now, having worked at a magazine, I realise that I was probably one of very few people making those kind of calls; he would have known very well it was me on the phone and he probably dreaded me pestering him! Anyhow, it’s testament to what a good bloke he is that he was very tolerant of me and took my calls and patiently tried to educate me over the phone. Despite the fact that I never learnt to cast well in this way, it was a valuable experience for me. Neil is still a hero of mine. I used to have a signed poster of him somewhere, which I got after I discovered one of my mum’s friends was his cousin, but last time I looked I couldn’t find it.
Ever since those days, I guess I had some unfinished business with casting. When I picked up serious sea fishing again in my twenties, I practiced casting quite a bit, as I wanted to overcome those challenges that had beaten me when I was teenager. I was a good bit more successful this time around and in the course of my adventures, I taught myself to cast off the ground first and then proceeded to pendulum. The style that I learnt is a rather old-fashioned high-swing-type one and doesn’t seem to work well with stiffer rods so I hardly ever used it for actual fishing. I do remember trying more modern pendulum styles but not really getting anywhere as I couldn’t figure out how they worked. I kind of gave up on the pendulum in the end as the stance and all that I found worked best ended up making my right knee grumble (I have a dodgy right knee) and as I rarely used it for fishing, it didn’t seem worth carrying on working on it. In any case, the casting for casting’s sake slowly started to go out the window once my fishing started improving.
This year however, things have changed a bit. I must admit that, as satisfying as doing the 50 species thing was last year, towards the end I began to get a bit sick of feeling like I had to go certain places and try to catch certain things. For me, fishing is about freedom; freedom from everyday life, as well as freedom to fish however I want and express myself through my fishing. I felt that for 2017, I needed a more liberal theme that wouldn’t lead to me feeling so stifled. I settled on the idea that instead of gathering species, I would gather new experiences. My theme for 2017 is all about keeping things fresh and new, be that through doing things I haven’t done before or fishing places I haven’t fished before.
Looking for the first ‘new thing’ for 2017, there was one glaringly obvious answer: tournament casting. Lots of us anglers talk about it but not that many actually go (or go more than a few times). Having always had this interest in casting, I had a fair idea that I could cobble together a reasonable ‘field-worthy’ cast and I was intrigued to see how a full-bore field missile looked in real life. I also thought that, as a bonus, I was likely to see something I could take away and use to get a more comfortable pendulum style together that I could use for actual fishing.
My preparation for going tournament casting for the first time basically involved a few practice sessions trying to get the pendulum happening again and videoing myself to see what was going on with the lead and my positioning. I managed to get the basic fishing cast back together and then added a bit more turn and arc on to get a more exaggerated version which I tonked along the beach and paced out at around 175 yards – about as far as I’d ever cast and measured before – so I was pretty pleased with how things were progressing. A phenomenon that I’d found videoing myself before is that, in playback, my casting always looks a lot more sedate than it feels to me when I’m doing it but I figured that there was nothing wrong with it looking easy as long as it was effective.
The night before, I put three rods in the car, all AFAWs; one an old Match rod that I like as it’s soft and easy to cast, the other a 6 & Bait that is pokier in the tip but still quite soft, and the last one a Beach 6-8oz rod that is a bit of a poker and I usually use a 7oz with fishing. I threw in my Abu Mag Elite which is tuned for fishing really and quite controllable (you could probably cast it with mags off and just about get away with it), a 7HT Mag that is my best distance reel for fishing and a Penn Fathom 12 with a mono mag which I intended to use for 6oz if I felt the urge to try that lead – maybe with the big rod and a groundcast.
The day of the meet was coincidentally, my birthday so I hung around for a bit in the morning until I’d had my ‘happy birthdays’ and got my presents. I drove up to Bodmin and after a bit of a mare finding the place, spotted some cars on a field in the distance and a few parked up on a nearby roadside. I parked up, picked the Match rod and the Abu out of the car with some shockleader and weights and made my way across the field to meet the other casters. On my way up, I couldn’t help noticing how far the 200 yard flag was from the oche and I thought that there was no way I was going to be clearing that today. After I’d met Varian, Mike, Rich, Barry and Topper (what a character he is!), I got to work getting some line on my reel and tying a shockleader on. I initially used a uni knot to tie my link on but I soon learnt that everyone else used the palomar knot as it was a good bit stronger and better suited to pulling a lead out of 6 inches of mud!
Pretty soon, it was my turn to make my first cast so I got a number from Varian, stamped my lead with the number 6 and stepped up to the oche to give it a whirl. Truth be told, I wasn’t that nervous as I already had an idea what sort of distance I could do and I knew I wasn’t going to be beating anybody so I figured I could relax and enjoy the experience. I teed up the cast and as I was coming through it, I felt the lead kiss the ground a bit, although the cast got away and went off down the field. After everyone had cast, we walked down the field, reeling in, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that my cast had gone 177 yards – not bad for a first one! My next chuck, my set-up felt better, the cast went away clean and I got 187 yards, which I was well chuffed with! This carried on for the rest of the morning, I did 187 another two times and 185 twice also. I began experimenting with a more ‘modern’ style that Mike showed to me but I couldn’t grasp it right away and ending up hitting the ground once and then sending a few low, left ones, none clearing 170 and one ending up out of court. I realised then that this was something I would have to work on a bit in my own time and went back to my usual style for the last few rounds.
Mike and Rich had both advised me to lengthen my drop and by the end of the day, my drop had gotten down to level with the middle of my top hand. This needed a bit more effort to swing, but seemed to align more sweetly with the rod at the end, with a satisfying ‘squashy’ feeling as I pulled into it. My first cast with this length drop sailed out to 191 yards and the next two casts both went about the same distance. I was really pleased as this was definitely further than I have ever cast before and I felt the first inklings that 200 yards was a distinct possibility for me. I went away well pleased with my day, I had learnt a whole load of new things, met a great bunch of lads and discovered something that I can develop a bit of a taste for. I also had a load of new things to practice and, after Mike’s explanations and watching him and Varian cast, I had an idea how the more modern style (which is how I think of it) of getting the lead to do a bit more work for you is done.
Since my day at Westward, I’ve had a good few practices and I’m starting to get a new style together which feels like it has more scope for subtle tweaks than my previous one and is more comfortable too. It’s definitely more fishing friendly and it’s going to be good to have it in the arsenal to call on whenever venues or conditions dictate that a longer cast is a plus. The video at the bottom of this post is one I put together showing the changes I’ve made to my style from a few different angles. The biggest differences are that I’ve added the step, flattened the arc a bit, and there is more manipulation of the lead on the swing to encourage it to get outside more. It goes at least as far as my previous style, if not a bit further, and I’m hoping that my distances next time around at Westward will demonstrate that.
If you are even vaguely curious about field casting and improving your casting skills, I would highly recommend going along to somewhere like Westward. I think as long as you go there with an open mind and are willing to listen and learn, you can’t help but improve. The atmosphere during the day was relaxed and not intimidating at all and the guys seemed genuinely pleased to see a new face. I don’t think you necessarily need anything special gear-wise to start with either. I went along just with my fishing stuff and I did okay. It does seem a bit odd initially casting on a field with sheep in the distance (rather than fish) but you soon get used to it, and the next thing you know you’ll be champing at the bit waiting for your turn and hoping that your next cast is the longest you’ve ever thrown.
Ever since those days, I guess I had some unfinished business with casting. When I picked up serious sea fishing again in my twenties, I practiced casting quite a bit, as I wanted to overcome those challenges that had beaten me when I was teenager. I was a good bit more successful this time around and in the course of my adventures, I taught myself to cast off the ground first and then proceeded to pendulum. The style that I learnt is a rather old-fashioned high-swing-type one and doesn’t seem to work well with stiffer rods so I hardly ever used it for actual fishing. I do remember trying more modern pendulum styles but not really getting anywhere as I couldn’t figure out how they worked. I kind of gave up on the pendulum in the end as the stance and all that I found worked best ended up making my right knee grumble (I have a dodgy right knee) and as I rarely used it for fishing, it didn’t seem worth carrying on working on it. In any case, the casting for casting’s sake slowly started to go out the window once my fishing started improving.
This year however, things have changed a bit. I must admit that, as satisfying as doing the 50 species thing was last year, towards the end I began to get a bit sick of feeling like I had to go certain places and try to catch certain things. For me, fishing is about freedom; freedom from everyday life, as well as freedom to fish however I want and express myself through my fishing. I felt that for 2017, I needed a more liberal theme that wouldn’t lead to me feeling so stifled. I settled on the idea that instead of gathering species, I would gather new experiences. My theme for 2017 is all about keeping things fresh and new, be that through doing things I haven’t done before or fishing places I haven’t fished before.
Looking for the first ‘new thing’ for 2017, there was one glaringly obvious answer: tournament casting. Lots of us anglers talk about it but not that many actually go (or go more than a few times). Having always had this interest in casting, I had a fair idea that I could cobble together a reasonable ‘field-worthy’ cast and I was intrigued to see how a full-bore field missile looked in real life. I also thought that, as a bonus, I was likely to see something I could take away and use to get a more comfortable pendulum style together that I could use for actual fishing.
My preparation for going tournament casting for the first time basically involved a few practice sessions trying to get the pendulum happening again and videoing myself to see what was going on with the lead and my positioning. I managed to get the basic fishing cast back together and then added a bit more turn and arc on to get a more exaggerated version which I tonked along the beach and paced out at around 175 yards – about as far as I’d ever cast and measured before – so I was pretty pleased with how things were progressing. A phenomenon that I’d found videoing myself before is that, in playback, my casting always looks a lot more sedate than it feels to me when I’m doing it but I figured that there was nothing wrong with it looking easy as long as it was effective.
The night before, I put three rods in the car, all AFAWs; one an old Match rod that I like as it’s soft and easy to cast, the other a 6 & Bait that is pokier in the tip but still quite soft, and the last one a Beach 6-8oz rod that is a bit of a poker and I usually use a 7oz with fishing. I threw in my Abu Mag Elite which is tuned for fishing really and quite controllable (you could probably cast it with mags off and just about get away with it), a 7HT Mag that is my best distance reel for fishing and a Penn Fathom 12 with a mono mag which I intended to use for 6oz if I felt the urge to try that lead – maybe with the big rod and a groundcast.
The day of the meet was coincidentally, my birthday so I hung around for a bit in the morning until I’d had my ‘happy birthdays’ and got my presents. I drove up to Bodmin and after a bit of a mare finding the place, spotted some cars on a field in the distance and a few parked up on a nearby roadside. I parked up, picked the Match rod and the Abu out of the car with some shockleader and weights and made my way across the field to meet the other casters. On my way up, I couldn’t help noticing how far the 200 yard flag was from the oche and I thought that there was no way I was going to be clearing that today. After I’d met Varian, Mike, Rich, Barry and Topper (what a character he is!), I got to work getting some line on my reel and tying a shockleader on. I initially used a uni knot to tie my link on but I soon learnt that everyone else used the palomar knot as it was a good bit stronger and better suited to pulling a lead out of 6 inches of mud!
Pretty soon, it was my turn to make my first cast so I got a number from Varian, stamped my lead with the number 6 and stepped up to the oche to give it a whirl. Truth be told, I wasn’t that nervous as I already had an idea what sort of distance I could do and I knew I wasn’t going to be beating anybody so I figured I could relax and enjoy the experience. I teed up the cast and as I was coming through it, I felt the lead kiss the ground a bit, although the cast got away and went off down the field. After everyone had cast, we walked down the field, reeling in, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that my cast had gone 177 yards – not bad for a first one! My next chuck, my set-up felt better, the cast went away clean and I got 187 yards, which I was well chuffed with! This carried on for the rest of the morning, I did 187 another two times and 185 twice also. I began experimenting with a more ‘modern’ style that Mike showed to me but I couldn’t grasp it right away and ending up hitting the ground once and then sending a few low, left ones, none clearing 170 and one ending up out of court. I realised then that this was something I would have to work on a bit in my own time and went back to my usual style for the last few rounds.
Mike and Rich had both advised me to lengthen my drop and by the end of the day, my drop had gotten down to level with the middle of my top hand. This needed a bit more effort to swing, but seemed to align more sweetly with the rod at the end, with a satisfying ‘squashy’ feeling as I pulled into it. My first cast with this length drop sailed out to 191 yards and the next two casts both went about the same distance. I was really pleased as this was definitely further than I have ever cast before and I felt the first inklings that 200 yards was a distinct possibility for me. I went away well pleased with my day, I had learnt a whole load of new things, met a great bunch of lads and discovered something that I can develop a bit of a taste for. I also had a load of new things to practice and, after Mike’s explanations and watching him and Varian cast, I had an idea how the more modern style (which is how I think of it) of getting the lead to do a bit more work for you is done.
Since my day at Westward, I’ve had a good few practices and I’m starting to get a new style together which feels like it has more scope for subtle tweaks than my previous one and is more comfortable too. It’s definitely more fishing friendly and it’s going to be good to have it in the arsenal to call on whenever venues or conditions dictate that a longer cast is a plus. The video at the bottom of this post is one I put together showing the changes I’ve made to my style from a few different angles. The biggest differences are that I’ve added the step, flattened the arc a bit, and there is more manipulation of the lead on the swing to encourage it to get outside more. It goes at least as far as my previous style, if not a bit further, and I’m hoping that my distances next time around at Westward will demonstrate that.
If you are even vaguely curious about field casting and improving your casting skills, I would highly recommend going along to somewhere like Westward. I think as long as you go there with an open mind and are willing to listen and learn, you can’t help but improve. The atmosphere during the day was relaxed and not intimidating at all and the guys seemed genuinely pleased to see a new face. I don’t think you necessarily need anything special gear-wise to start with either. I went along just with my fishing stuff and I did okay. It does seem a bit odd initially casting on a field with sheep in the distance (rather than fish) but you soon get used to it, and the next thing you know you’ll be champing at the bit waiting for your turn and hoping that your next cast is the longest you’ve ever thrown.