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Print versionCasting in Aberdeen!
Following the success of the Aberdeen Casting Day in June 2007, and after reading on the WSF Scotland Forum about the casting tuition opportunities forum members living in Scotland’s central belt had received from casting instructor Ask Wingbacker (Paul), I contacted Paul to ask if he would be good enough to hold another casting seminar in Aberdeen before the end of the year.
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A convenient date was picked, Saturday 29th December. This allowed everyone to get over the Christmas blues and the tedious sales shopping with the wife and then get the important stuff done, some casting tuition! The session was advertised on the WSF Scotland Forum and the amount of interest the event generated was simply staggering, with my PM box filling up day by day.
Come the day of the event and we couldn’t have asked for better weather, bright blue sky, little wind (which for Aberdeen is relatively unknown!) and 16 forum members turning up for tuition including shetjan, who had travelled 14 hours (one way) from Shetland! Scotland forum members are dedicated to say the least! Given the numbers that actually turned up, it was fortunate that there had been 2 or 3 last minute call offs, this would allow Paul to pass on some direct valuable tuition, hints and tips to all those that attended.
Shock leaders tied and everything checked, the casting started – it was obvious from the outset that there were people with many different abilities attending and for the majority Paul kept it simple to start, beginning with a simple off the ground cast. It was great to see the looks on people’s faces as they saw their weights vanish to the horizon under Paul’s guidance, with the majority using far less effort for greater distance than they could believe, it’s all in the technique!!!
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After an hour or so, we moved down the beach to allow runners from the local running club who were racing along the beach to pass safely, especially as people were still casting 5oz leads, the race passed without incident. There were also people stood on the esplanade watching all the people ‘fishing’ and probably wondering why nobody was actually catching any fish!
It was nice to see that after receiving tuition from Paul and having a cast under his watchful eye and receiving feedback where necessary, people were happy to move down the beach to continue practising under their own steam, thereby allowing Paul to cast his eye over (no pun intended) everyone, until they were ready for their next cast under Paul’s guidance.
People were also happy for people to borrow and try out rods and reels – no point spending £300 on a rod having not tried it and to quote Thornback from the day, ‘I love the feel of the TTR butt in my hand, it feels so big’, which raised an eyebrow or two! I discovered that in my hands the new Daiwa 7ht Mag doesn’t cast any further than my original Daiwa 7ht, but it doesn’t feel like the reel is ever going to blow up on you and it is probably the smoothest reel I’ve ever used.
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For me, Paul helped me get to grips not only with a new rod, but also the pendulum cast, which now I’ve just got to practise and ‘hone’.
Other forum members who attended have given me their thoughts and comments on the day, which are below:
FISHABOUT
What a day and a great turn out. Casting practice with a pro is amazing value. I have the John Holden CD and have had a couple of sessions attempting to put his tips into practice and have had reasonable success. After today’s session much of what John talks about became clear as a bell and with a pro viewing and improving my technique I am hoping that future sessions can only improve my casting. It was surprising at what little effort was required to increase my distances. I was also pleased that through a better technique the accuracy of the cast was more consistent. Paul is a great guy and his praise on improvements really increased my efforts to improve on each cast. At the end of the day it was great to have increased distance but I think that accuracy and consistency was the most pleasing.
D69
Brilliant day out mate thanks very much for organising it. I got SO much good advice added an extra 50 + yards to my feeble efforts before, Amazing.
Great Great and again Great.
SPANNER
Thanks to both you and Paul for organising it, I reckon Paul did us proud on Saturday, well worth it. It cant be easy trying to 'coach' so many at once with quite a range in ability but he managed it well, and it certainly seemed liked everybody was making big gains.
I didn't really gain much in distance but I gained a whole bunch in confidence and that counts for a lot. He fixed some things, like not holding my arms out enough, made me realise some things I thought I knew, like just how slow the slow in 'slow-in-fast-out' really is, and taught me a few new things, like a decent fishing pendulum swing. The biggest thing holding back my distance by the end of the session was having my 6500CTmag tuned for fishing into a headwind, i.e. slightly under filled with .37mm line and 1 brake block still in. I was casting on 0 mag and it was still holding back too much. That’s fine by me as I cast to fish rather than to cover as much grass as I can, but now I know where to get the extra yards from when I want them.
My only regret is not taking my Century SRE and fixed spool with braid. That is such a different setup as its so long, 5.2m, that I decided not to take it and concentrate it on my match rod and multi, so as not to confuse things. But Paul got me sorted so quickly that I reckon I could have easily managed to do them both. I have the confidence now to get to grips with that myself, although I'll be at the front of the queue if and when he comes back up.
SHETJAN
It was 1700 Friday evening when I boarded the Hrossay for the 14 hour trip to Aberdeen – was I mad? Two ferry trips for a few hours on a beach chucking leads about – I must be crazy – my wife certainly thought so – but how often do you get the opportunity to spend some time with a professional caster, to look at what you are doing and get some useful advice from someone who really knows about casting.
Its now 0730 – I have had breakfast and am sitting in the ferry terminal at Aberdeen – a text message from wooky tells me that he is leaving home and will be here soon – what a star – I have never met this guy but he organised the casting session, and he volunteered to collect me too – thanks Martyn. 45 minutes later a car pulls up outside, and I go to meet Wooky for the first time – we load up the car and off we go to the promenade.
We are early, but cars start to collect on the roadside – the numbers who turn up is a big surprise – there are at least 15 casters here, far more than expected – shows how much interest there is in some quality instruction. I shake hands with lots of guys I have met on the forums but never in person before – nice to put faces to names.; A bit later, and Paul turns up – we all head for the beach with an assortment of rods and reels and off we go.
Paul wastes no time in starting the one-to one tuition, marking out the beach and getting the foot position right first – we take it in turns to lay out an off the ground cast and whack it into the sky – gives Paul a chance to assess where we are at, and lay the basics for those with less experience. Fortunately I don’t cock it up, and the lead flies high and true – Paul asks for a pendulum so I give it a bash – luckily I don’t mess it up and the lead goes about 175yds without a birdie – phew.
I get a few suggestions from Paul, and then move to the left to allow the next caster into place. It continues like this for a while – it becomes clear that with this many casters, there is going to be a lot of standing about, so I head off down the beach to practice what Paul had said away from the crowd- I feel comfortable trying out his suggestions on my own whilst he concentrates on those needing more direct instruction.
I try one of Pauls demo Kompressor rods – what a revelation – Paul asks a few questions and suddenly a penny drops – ‘does your rod get heavy during the cast’ he asks? ‘Yes’ is my reply – ‘it’s why I have the reel 6” higher to shorten the casting arc slightly’. He explains that its not the rod length that is the issue, it’s the propensity to ‘lock up’ in certain makes of rod that gives this heavy feel – I see what he means-the Kompressor just keeps bending – its longer than my own rods but feels shorter and lighter when casting.
I take the SS model away on my own and practice some more -what a cracking rod – the lead just keeps flying – then I birdie his reel – oops – didn’t know that the mags were full off; lucky I got away with it so long. I put my own 525 supermag xtra on and have a few more casts – eventually I hit that cast that just flies – a bit of wind assistance but the whole top shot has gone and I am into the backing at the core of the spool – how far is that – who knows – I measured a cast the day before at 206yds and didn’t reach the backing, in fact I couldn’t see the backing through the topshot! My guess is at least 225- a new PB – I feel that I could really perform with this rod and some practice – its very satisfying to feel so at home with a rod so quickly.
Paul has worked incredibly hard throughout the whole session -endlessly patient and giving good advice – the smiling faces and empty reels are testament to the quality of his instruction – we all realise that its not about power, its about technique and timing – he hits a few long casts that look effortless but disappear over the horizon.
I have lots to think about now – a new rod looks like a requirement – I don’t need exceptional distance at home, but its nice to have the capability if required – I enjoy casting for the challenge so a new Kompressor is coming and I will practice every week to see how far I can get. Paul calls it a day and its back to his car for freshly cooked burgers, very welcome as the sun finally disappears and the rain starts.
Some of the guys decide to stay for a few hours and try for a flattie – I say goodbye to Paul and the others, and Martyn runs me back to the ferry terminal- thanks again. Another 14 hours, and at 0700 I get back to Lerwick, shoulder my rods and haversack, and walk the mile home, it’s a beautiful day, cold but still and clear and I enjoy the walk in the peace of a Sunday morning. It gives me a chance to reflect on the session -was it worth it – yes, undoubtedly – I made some new friends, and learnt lots – those little things that make you think and give you the chance to progress to the next level.
A very big thank you to Paul and Martyn for organising and instructing – I loved every minute of it and hope to do it again sometime – and of course, I have ordered a Kompressor SS to practice with – cant wait for it to arrive.
ASK WINGBACER
Just a note to say thanks for making it happen, I think everyone had a good time and got something out of it. Some cracking photos by the way...
I was delighted with the great turn out and to put faces to usernames. The progress you all made was outstanding, it makes my job easy with such good students, keep up with a little practice and more distance will follow.
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