Tracy&James | Sunday, 31 December 2023
Tracy and I have been writing these FPs for a number of years now and we've never had the pleasure of writing the new year's eve one – I think. Maybe we have, I can't be sure – this time of year is usually a bit of a blur to me. I've actually been drunk since the 22nd of December when I went out on the Denbighshire County Council Christmas party – I've absolutely nothing to do with Denbighshire County Council, and I don't remember why I was out with them on their Christmas office party, but it was good. None of them fly fish though, which I think is a shame.
Tracy and I had our last casting session of the year yesterday (Friday as I write), Oh, and yes – I can still cast drunk. I always come back from a saltwater fishing trip with a number of errors that are detrimental to distance, typically I have lowered my rod angle to a flat(ish) position in order avoid the line flash that can result from casting over the tip. I also get incredibly lazy in terms of my haul – most of my saltwater shots are in the 40 to 60ft range, with the occasional one out towards 75ft, so I don't really need to haul that well for any of them (unless faced with a significant head wind). As such, it's a bit of a shock when I get back and find I'm struggling to hit the distances I think I should given the weather.
In order to try and coach myself back into a more efficient distance related stroke, I decided to dedicate my practice session purely to pick-up and lay-down casts. I haven't concentrated on this since the competition that was run over the Covid lock-down period. The wind was perfect for #7 weight casting, i.e. slightly too much for optimum #5 distance and after the first few casts I decided to set myself the target of a 140ft PUALD. After an hour and a half of casting and measuring I conceded that I wasn't going to achieve my aim, although I had hit a 139ft cast and a lot in the mid 130's. Reviewing this now, I think this isn't too bad for me – I managed a best of 129ft in the #5 PUALD competition a couple of year's back and I typically cast a #7 ten feet further than a five (based on my BFCC averages), so I guess I was performing to the top end of my (limited) capabilities. I suspect I'd got rid of my bad habits from bonefishing – although I'm still sure I'm coming through a little 'flat' on my forward cast.
I'm not actually going to make any casting resolutions for the new year. I have done this in the past and have failed miserably to achieve them. I do know that if there's anything that will put a damper on your performance it's the self imposed pressure from an expectation of a certain distance or score – this year I'm going to try and cast nice loops and not care about how far they go.
I hope all the readers of Sexyloops have a great 2024 and achieve all that they want to. I'm planning on sobering up sometime in early January ready for a year of great fishing and casting. Hopefully I'll be meeting at least a few of you over the next 12 months.
All the best, James.