Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

Hamish Young

Tracking
« on: 18/12/2008 at 15:00 »
Interesting threads so far, the tailing loops and double-haul have kept me amused for hours  :z16

But here's my question - in a round-about kind of way - the other day Ben and I were out scientifically trying out rods and lines in a field (ok, we were playing  :z4) and I was doing ok, but not as good as I could.
Ben pointed out that my tracking was bloody awful (too many years boat fishing perhaps :!) and made a couple of suggestions which, like the good student I try to be, I immediately acted on.

Suddenly, with a few tweaks on my tracking I was casting further and more importantly the line landed in a nice staright line. Smidgen easier too and to be honest I was surprised how far I could actually get the outfit I was using to go with only a single haul........ it was most enlightening. A couple of personal best distances in less than ideal conditions were the result but, more importantly, a very valuable lesson learnt I think  :z3

But anyway..... the question.

Which should come first:

1. Getting your tracking right :?
2. Getting the double haul right :?
or
3. Neither, it needs to be a combination of both :?

I await diverse replies with interest  :wink

Hamish  :z3

Barry Robertson

Re: Tracking
« Reply #1 on: 18/12/2008 at 16:05 »
My answer is neither of the above!


The correct answer is: :z4

1. The correct line.
2. The correct fly.
3. Worry about the casting another day!

Oh and get out more!

Hamish Young

Re: Tracking
« Reply #2 on: 18/12/2008 at 16:13 »
3. Worry about the casting another day!

Oh and get out more!

Well, I did ask for diverse opinions I suppose  :!

Barry Robertson

Re: Tracking
« Reply #3 on: 18/12/2008 at 16:17 »
 :wink  :z18

Iain Goolager

Re: Tracking
« Reply #4 on: 18/12/2008 at 16:43 »
I'll stick my neck out and say that tracking is a skill to be practiced & honed from the outset. I guess you can fish reasonably successfully all of your life without hauling (I know how this unlocks major possibilities but...) laying a straight line, or more importantly, the fly accurately is to be saught and it also builds in that all important muscle memory for future advancement.

 :z1 cue barrage!

Iain

Paul Rankine

Re: Tracking
« Reply #5 on: 18/12/2008 at 19:30 »
Ian,
       No neck out and  certainly no barrage on this site .

Quote
that tracking is a skill to be practiced & honed from the outset

I have to say yes, of course.  Not understanding tracking and having casts go wrong because of that , simply  leads on to other "casting difficulties"  and removes the possibility of advancing our casting potential.

We all fly fish for enjoyment . Putting out "a good cast " increases that enjoyment .

Bigtroot , " it's called Fishin not Catchin ' " .  :z4

Good casting is not an end to itself .

It should be , per se,  good fishing too.  :wink

Paul.

Barry Robertson

Re: Tracking
« Reply #6 on: 18/12/2008 at 20:26 »
Ian,
       No neck out and  certainly no barrage on this site .

I have to say yes, of course.  Not understanding tracking and having casts go wrong because of that , simply  leads on to other "casting difficulties"  and removes the possibility of advancing our casting potential.

We all fly fish for enjoyment . Putting out "a good cast " increases that enjoyment .

Bigtroot , " it's called Fishin not Catchin ' " .  :z4Good casting is not an end to itself .

It should be , per se,  good fishing too.  :wink

Paul.


Everyone to there own but i go fishing with the hope to catch fish, if i wanted to go casting i would not bother using flies  :z8
Its all in good humour lads , just a shame i am not inteligent enough to understand all the big words used in these posts :z16

Iain Goolager

Re: Tracking
« Reply #7 on: 18/12/2008 at 21:35 »
Quote
Its all in good humour lads , just a shame i am not inteligent enough to understand all the big words used in these posts


Hi Baz,


sorry for using big words, I'm not sure which ones you mean so I've taken the liberty of guessing

courtesy of the Oxford English Dictionary;
Barrage  -(noun) a large balloon type floaty thing.
Neck - (noun) the meaty cylindrical object that houses the throat and keeps the head away from the body.

 :z4 :z4 :z4 :z4 :z4

Iain

Sandy Nelson

Re: Tracking
« Reply #8 on: 18/12/2008 at 21:41 »
, if i wanted to go casting i would not bother using flies  :z8


Who needs flies :z12

Sandy Nelson

Re: Tracking
« Reply #9 on: 18/12/2008 at 21:54 »
Seriously though

I'd say it is probably easier to get your tracking sorted, but less likely to be on your shopping list :z6
On the whole a combination of the two is what we are all aiming for, so if you have the rudiments of the double haul already then concentrate on the tracking.
However if starting from scratch, the time it takes to get into a good habit of tracking the rod in the same plane during the casting is well worth learning first, you'll
get far more benefit from the haul once you start on it and it'll also improve all aspects of your fishing, from distance to presentation.
So you WILL notice the difference, you'll find casting easier and less hard work and consequently concentrate on fishing more and find it all less tiring :grin.

Tracking is all important on the river when you want to shape the casts, so i'd definatley go for it first :z16

But the double haul, once mastered is an equally useful tool and a hard thing to stop once you get the knack :z16

Sandy

Barry Robertson

Re: Tracking
« Reply #10 on: 18/12/2008 at 22:05 »
Ok excuse me for not been a proper geek but could someone please explain in simple terms for all of us who dont understand the casting lingo , what is tracking? and why is it a big deal?

Jim Doyle

Re: Tracking
« Reply #11 on: 18/12/2008 at 22:13 »
If you are altering your tracking watch those alloy wheels......sorry could not resist it. :z12 :z12 To see what is happening when you cast stand sideways on to the cast and watch the line s path, also try over linning the rod to start with , you will have more control , just remember to slow things down.    Its called fishing ...not casting lol :grin :grin :grin :grin :grin

Hamish Young

Re: Tracking
« Reply #12 on: 18/12/2008 at 22:28 »
The only way I can think to describe tracking briefly is it's the path the rod/rod tip follows relative to the load applied to the rod by the casting action. Confused :?

Yeah, me too  :wink

So let's imagine you are overhead casting directly in front of you, so the cast is straight forward and straight back through a vertcal plane, not out to the side. The casting arm accelerates the rod and stops the rod in the normal action required of cast. In an ideal situation the tip should follow in a straight line and it would be considered an efficient cast. If the rod doesn't go through that imaginary straight line then it's not tracking correctly - there must have been some lateral movement or osscilation of the rod tip.

Now that could be down to a lack of concentration on the part of the person casting or it could possibly be the rod itself (less likely).

So in essence,good tracking is a straight line, bad tracking is a wiggly line when it comes to the movement of the rod during the cast.

Jings, now I try to explain it my lack of technical gobboldy gook is baffling me  :oops

I hope that sheds some light, could maybe explain that better  :z6

Perhaps someone will  :z4 :wink

Hamish  :z3

Alex Burnett

Re: Tracking
« Reply #13 on: 18/12/2008 at 22:40 »
The only way I can think to describe tracking briefly is it's the path the rod/rod tip follows relative to the load applied to the rod by the casting action. Confused :?

Yeah, me too  :wink

So let's imagine you are overhead casting directly in front of you, so the cast is straight forward and straight back through a vertcal plane, not out to the side. The casting arm accelerates the rod and stops the rod in the normal action required of cast. In an ideal situation the tip should follow in a straight line and it would be considered an efficient cast. If the rod doesn't go through that imaginary straight line then it's not tracking correctly - there must have been some lateral movement or osscilation of the rod tip.

Now that could be down to a lack of concentration on the part of the person casting or it could possibly be the rod itself (less likely).

So in essence,good tracking is a straight line, bad tracking is a wiggly line when it comes to the movement of the rod during the cast.

Jings, now I try to explain it my lack of technical gobboldy gook is baffling me  :oops

I hope that sheds some light, could maybe explain that better  :z6

Perhaps someone will  :z4 :wink

Hamish  :z3

Got it now Hamish, so we were right it is just like alloy wheels , straight line good tracking , wiggly line bad tracking. :z4  :z4  :z4  :z4   :z4

Magnus Angus

Re: Tracking
« Reply #14 on: 18/12/2008 at 22:49 »
 :z4 :z4

Never really understood why casting threads have to deal with sarcasm (all in fun of course) about being casting threads.

Mike or Hamish - did you get any footage from the judging end of the Dunkeld shootout?

Just a point about tracking - Hamish describes it well for a straight-line cast. Good tracking for a spey or roll or.... might not seem to mean quite the same thing. I think the basics of good tracking start with the line path during back and forward casts and getting them at as near 180 to one another as possible. For my part I think tracking comes before haul - good tracking is one of the foundations of all forms of casting not just hauled casts.

Magnus

 




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