Ultra Light Casting distance

Started by Rivverrat, April 12, 2020, 08:47:56 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Rivverrat

 Guys any one have any measurements, walking off or by tape measure, for throwing any size weight on any length ultra light  using mono or braid?  

What I'm finding is casts of 50+ yards  (EDIT:  Possibly pipe dream with some blanks ) at the upper end using mono for rods of any length & a 1/4 oz. weight... Jeff

oc1

#1
Quote from: Rivverrat on April 12, 2020, 08:47:56 PM
What I'm finding is casts of 50 + yards are at the upper end using mono for rods of any length & a 1/4 oz. weight... Jeff

I can almost get to 50 yards with 3/8 ounce (OK, it's only 47 yards).  1/4 ounce drops down to about 35 yards.  3/16 ounce maybe 30 yards downwind.  That's with braid and long fly rod blanks.  The fly rod weight rating divided by sixteen is about the lure weight (6 wt rod / 16 =  3/8 ounce lure).
-steve

Rivverrat

Steve, the last Ultra Light I built & posted here was 9' using 6 lb. Berkley Solutions line.  I was only getting 44 steps with an almost 1/4 oz, weight. I moved & changed the guide train around multiple times. It seemed this was the best I could achieve with this reel,rod & line combo.

   I would love to hear your thoughts... Jeff

Bryan Young

Jeff, if you are still laying out the guides, try taping the line to the center of the spool and let the line rest on the tip without flexing the rod the best you can.  Position the guides so that the line does not touch any of the guides with the line centered in the guide.  You may need to add more guides based on the bend of the rods.  This should help reduce the friction of the line as it travels through the guides.  And somehow, you need to find a way to reduce the loop of line that goes through the guides, like the microwave (I think that is what they are called). 
:D I talk with every part I send out and each reel I repair so that they perform at the top of their game. :D

Gfish

Are you talkin bout spinning or baitcasting. Prolly spinning. They're makin some nice ultralite baitcasters nowadays.
Fishing tackle is an art form and all fish caught on the right tackle are"Gfish"!

oc1

Quote from: Rivverrat on April 12, 2020, 09:09:17 PM
Steve, the last Ultra Light I built & posted here was 9' using 6 lb. Berkley Solutions line.  I was only getting 44 steps with an almost 1/4 oz, weight.
Well, I dodder so one step is two feet,  44 steps = 88 ft = 29.3 yards. 15 to 20 feet short of me.

Chunking a solid piece of lead might be a problem if that's what you're doing.  A 1/4 casting plug will go further.  A 1/4 ounce jig or fishing plug will not go quite as far as a casting plug either. 

I use a lightly dubbed jig.  It is cast and allowed to settle to a shallow smooth bottom.  Then I pick up the slack until the jig just jumps off the bottom.  Then I tie a sliding indicator knot on the line right in front of  the spool using a small scrap of line.  The knot is like tying half of a uni-to-uni knot.  If the indicator knot is consistently going way past the spool or not coming off the spool then I adjust it accordingly.  Then I wind line onto my line counter to get the distance to the indicator knot (and subtract the length of the rod).  Cumbersome, but it works for me.

A nine foot rod is a minimum for me.  I like eleven.  All this is with a baitcaster with magnets adjusted so it will cast thumb-free on a calm day.

I think you will get more distance with braid too.  The Power Pro Slick makes a measurable difference but the slickness does not last very long.

My impression is that the rod blank makes more difference than the reel.  If the rod does not seem to transfer more load toward the butt when you give it more umph, then it is either too soft or too stiff.

-steve

steelfish

interesting reading.

I have always liked UL fishing, I have two short 5.5ft fenwick UL rods that work really good and while checking some UL videos I recently found out about BFS (bait finesse System), which is no other thing than UL fishing with a baitcast reel, just like Greg said, they are producing amazing baitcasting reels (lowprofile and round) to cast really light lures that normally were only cast on a flyfishing rod or dedicated UL spinning.

so, Jeff, are you casting with spinning or casting rod?

many of the custom BFS rods are build with fly fishing blanks, I have one that I can use to build one but missing a good baitcasting reel for light lures
The Baja Guy

oc1

Quote from: steelfish on April 13, 2020, 07:27:37 PM
missing a good baitcasting reel for light lures

Alex, if you want to go the vintage route consider a Shakespeare Tournament Freespool 1740 or Langley Target 740.  The earliest 1740's are almost a hundred years old now.  The 740's are about sixty.  They will cast a light lure every bit as well, or better, than a brand new modern reel, they're lighter than a modern reel and require less maintenance than a modern reel when used in salt water.
-steve

steelfish

thanks for the recommendation Steve, I will check them out.


my only one lowprofile reel is an old shimano bantam magnumlite 2000 that has a pretty light spool, in a chance I will check how it can cast light lures, if it can cast a 1/4 lure 30yds or more will be golden but I doub it.

anyway, sorry for the interruption Jeff
The Baja Guy

Rivverrat

Quote from: Bryan Young on April 13, 2020, 01:24:12 AM
Jeff, if you are still laying out the guides, try taping the line to the center of the spool and let the line rest on the tip without flexing the rod the best you can.  Position the guides so that the line does not touch any of the guides with the line centered in the guide.  You may need to add more guides based on the bend of the rods.  This should help reduce the friction of the line as it travels through the guides.  And somehow, you need to find a way to reduce the loop of line that goes through the guides, like the microwave (I think that is what they are called). 

    Brian, wont be able to do what your describing this go round. What your describing is close to what I ended up with. I like Fuji's NGC method of guide lay out.  It starts with a high frame small ring stripper & consists of a quick 3 guide reduction with all running guides being the same size. The first one being placed at the choke point for the rod. Now just where within the circle of each reduction ring the line enters can be controlled with the placement of the choke guide being the same as the first running guide.

  So what I'm saying is, with the rod in a static no load position, line pulled tight, again placing no load on the rod, doing this the first guide the line touches is down the rod a ways.  I took my off the shelf St Croix 7'6" UL out has the traditional old style guide lay out. It works but never seems to match others in distance. Any way I was getting 33- 34 steps ( I need to bust out the tape ) with same weight & line.

I'm not worried about maximum distance here but the max that most can reach using this or that rod that I build for them. I was just thinking this rod would cast better I had nothing to base this on.

  Brian the Microwave guides come in a set are kind of pricey. But based on claims & feed back from distributors that carry American Tackle who has the Microwave brand they do work & make most of the claims they make for spinning rods using them... Jeff

       

The Fishing Hobby

#10
I personally like to use fiberglass rods for ultralight casting distance, the longer the better! You get a slingshot effect with an ultralight (or fly rod) glass blank that really helps when trying to get good distance with light lures. I also prefer to use really light weight 8 strand braid. Everyone likes different things, but that is what works best for me. I did modify a graphite 8' long whippy crappie jigging rod and changed out a couple of guides to set it up better for casting purposes. I can get 30 yards with a wrist flick cast with almost no effort using a 1/32oz jig head with a 3.5" plastc worm. I can get more distance with an overhead cast, but I'm usually throwing under overhanging trees so I need to be able to get good distance with a sideways motion wrist flick.
Here is a link to a video I did about this setup and I'm linking to a part of the video that shows the bend in the rod on a cast in slow motion:

Might not be exactly what you are looking for, but it may give you some ideas.