[Gentleman Antiquarian]

Hello all,

I recently bought a Loop Evo Cast 12' #6 and a Loop GDC Floating/Intermediate line.

Took the set-up out yesterday and really struggled to cast any distance at all. I checked that it wasn't just operator incompetence by casting with my micro-spey rod, and all was fine; I could cast off both shoulders and do double and single Sorts.

All and any tips and thoughts as to what I'm doing wrong would be great
Thanks
Paul

 

[Tangled]

What's the grain/gram weight of line and rod?

 

[Gentleman Antiquarian]

What's the grain/gram weight of line and rod?

24 gram, 370 grain for the rod and the same for the line

 

[Tangled]

I give up, you've matched the weights, the line has a shortish head, the rod isn't hard to use - it should fly.

I guess it's you

 

[nickolas]

i have found the first time out at the start of the season to be very frustrating sometimes until you get back into the grove. My pay who was used to fishing a 15ft loomis and short spey lines then decided go to 13ft and skagit heads and got himself into one hell of a mess, he did sort himself out in the end but took a bit of getting used to, might be worth a lesson from a friend that can sort out a few issues you might have, you will get it right just don't give up to soon.

 

[paddymc]

Hello all,

I recently bought a Loop Evo Cast 12' #6 and a Loop GDC Floating/Intermediate line.

Took the set-up out yesterday and really struggled to cast any distance at all. I checked that it wasn't just operator incompetence by casting with my micro-spey rod, and all was fine; I could cast off both shoulders and do double and single Sorts.

All and any tips and thoughts as to what I'm doing wrong would be great
Thanks
Paul

Is the head on the right way round?

 

[rotenone]

Hello all,

I recently bought a Loop Evo Cast 12' #6 and a Loop GDC Floating/Intermediate line.

Took the set-up out yesterday and really struggled to cast any distance at all. I checked that it wasn't just operator incompetence by casting with my micro-spey rod, and all was fine; I could cast off both shoulders and do double and single Sorts.

All and any tips and thoughts as to what I'm doing wrong would be great
Thanks
Paul

Without any seeing you all you will get is speculation.
It's virtually impossible to diagnose, it's light fast outfit sometimes for beginners getting a feel for rod loading with such light outfits can be difficult, the tendency is to over power the cast.

Check the length of you leader and try band increase it or use a poly leader , you may find that gives you a better feel for how the rod is loading which takes practice with light line scandi set ups

 

[nickolas]

Is the head on the right way round?

Good point, easily done.

 

[gwelsher]

Is the head on the right way round?

I was about to say that as well. I can remember a mate putting an AFS on the wrong way and it was virtually impossible to cast.

 

[Springer]

I checked that it wasn't just operator incompetence by casting with my micro-spey rod, and all was fine

That doesn't really mean much to be honest, your not casting the Loop set-up well as you say so its finding the reason why thats the issue, how you cast a different set-up doesn't really mean much.

As Paddy says check the head orientation but its rare to see heads on back to front although I have seen it.

Anchor position and timing with any line that sinks has to be much better than a floating set-up otherwise the sinking bit digs and and spoils the cast, I would be looking there myself.

 

[JamesMeredith]

Have you tried letting an expert caster have a go with it? How about getting an hour with an instructor? They are likely going to tell if the problem is you or the kit in less time than it took to write that message.

 

[Rennie]

Pure and simple, it's down to the Intermediate tip section sinking ( albeit slowly and not at all far ) and being sub surface when you start the cast!. Until the P drops this will play all sorts of problems in your mind. Easy way out of it is a simple downstream roll cast to get everything oop top initially and then go into the Spey Cast of your choice. As with any rate of sinking line ( from the slowest hover to the faster sinker's out there) it needs to be fully on the surface before you can cast it effectively. Aim your downstream roll cast quite high so the leader ,fly and the very tip section only of the fly line make gentle contact with the water and not the whole head. You don't need bags of ooomphhh to do this, nice and gentle does it, when your line rolls out keeping it straight and tight before you lift into your full Spey or Double Spey will pay you high dividend!.
Now one other thing, even if the tip of the line isn't really sunk, the surface tension of the water acting on that bit of line can still grip the line and spoil the cast.
There's more ways and little dodges to get the line free of the waters influence before you cast, but a simple roll will do the job effectively for you.
Pedro.

 

[Gentleman Antiquarian]

Is the head on the right way round?

That's an immensely good point. The "reel end" tab was very loose, so could have moved. How would I know? Is there a convention as to which end has the line weight printed on it?

 

[achristo]

That particular head is two tone so fairly easy to remember once you get it right. It also has the line weight and type printed in tiny writing near the back end.

The slinking tip is a turquoise type colour and the back end and the rest of the head is a lime green / fluorecent green type colour.

In terms of casting the line, perhaps a slightly slower lift would help?

best of luck,

Andrew

 

[achristo]

The other thing that just occurred to me is that if you were trying the line out in a still water or a very slow flow then the tip would sink quite deep and fairly quickly too so it would be much trickier to cast then when you are using it for real in a reasonable flow of water. The previous advice to roll cast it to the surface is also good advice.

 

[Gentleman Antiquarian]

Pure and simple, it's down to the Intermediate tip section sinking ( albeit slowly and not at all far ) and being sub surface when you start the cast!. Until the P drops this will play all sorts of problems in your mind. Easy way out of it is a simple downstream roll cast to get everything oop top initially and then go into the Spey Cast of your choice. As with any rate of sinking line ( from the slowest hover to the faster sinker's out there) it needs to be fully on the surface before you can cast it effectively. Aim your downstream roll cast quite high so the leader ,fly and the very tip section only of the fly line make gentle contact with the water and not the whole head. You don't need bags of ooomphhh to do this, nice and gentle does it, when your line rolls out keeping it straight and tight before you lift into your full Spey or Double Spey will pay you high dividend!.
Now one other thing, even if the tip of the line isn't really sunk, the surface tension of the water acting on that bit of line can still grip the line and spoil the cast.
There's more ways and little dodges to get the line free of the waters influence before you cast, but a simple roll will do the job effectively for you.
Pedro.

Pedro,
That's excellent advice. Thank you

 

[Seanyboy]

I havent used double handed rods for that long but i have the 12 2 #7 and got a #7 gdc floating head i wasnt able to get much out of the rod with it i felt it was abit light imo maybe to do with the taper of the line aswell so i got myself airflo scandi compact in 450 grain and it really flies out. If i put to much power into the stroke it doesnt go aswell it took me abit of getting used to the fast action.

 

[Rrrr]

Pure and simple, it's down to the Intermediate tip section sinking ( albeit slowly and not at all far ) and being sub surface when you start the cast!. Until the P drops this will play all sorts of problems in your mind. Easy way out of it is a simple downstream roll cast to get everything oop top initially and then go into the Spey Cast of your choice. As with any rate of sinking line ( from the slowest hover to the faster sinker's out there) it needs to be fully on the surface before you can cast it effectively. Aim your downstream roll cast quite high so the leader ,fly and the very tip section only of the fly line make gentle contact with the water and not the whole head. You don't need bags of ooomphhh to do this, nice and gentle does it, when your line rolls out keeping it straight and tight before you lift into your full Spey or Double Spey will pay you high dividend!.
Now one other thing, even if the tip of the line isn't really sunk, the surface tension of the water acting on that bit of line can still grip the line and spoil the cast.
There's more ways and little dodges to get the line free of the waters influence before you cast, but a simple roll will do the job effectively for you.
Pedro.

I struggled with this for a while untill i seen something online. With a fast sinking tip i "poke a hole in the sky" with the rod tip at the top of my cast as i pause to stop the tip digging in and the cast flopping on its arse. It took a little while to find the ballance between getting the tip just touching the surface and blowing the anchor but it seems to work for me.

Sent from my SM-S901B using Tapatalk

 

[Gentleman Antiquarian]

I havent used double handed rods for that long but i have the 12 2 #7 and got a #7 gdc floating head i wasnt able to get much out of the rod with it i felt it was abit light imo maybe to do with the taper of the line aswell so i got myself airflo scandi compact in 450 grain and it really flies out. If i put to much power into the stroke it doesnt go aswell it took me abit of getting used to the fast action.

I do wonder if the GDC line is partially at fault. As I said, I was flummoxed

 

[Rennie]

One of the most common failures in casting shooting heads on double handers is not using a long enough leader in the mistaken belief that it will be harder to cast.Ideally you want/need a complete leader longer than the length of the rod in use. You can use an out of the packet commercial tapered leader of say 10ft along with 5ft of tippet to give a leader length of 15ft. Or a 10ft poly leader and 5ft of tippet to give the same length but choosing an inty. poly or even a faster sinking poly. will give you a degree of depth control that matches or enhances that of your intermediate line.
If you choose a tapered leader, pick Fluorocarbon as that will sink at the same rate as your intermediate tip section of the line you have, and you'll keep the benefits of fishing with an intermediate line.
Obviously if you use a faster sinking line/tip, then pick a matching sinking poly leader to keep the benefits of the sink rate you've chosen.
In the case of leader's more is definitely what's needed over less every single time.
Pedro.