Teaching Hauls - Keep It Simple

[kenmorrow]

I rarely teach anyone but beginners or instructors. I do carry some of my beginners through to intermediate casting skills. But I rarely teach advanced casting. However, I teach a lot of beginners! And most of my students have disabilities.

I've developed a method for teaching people to single and then double haul through trial-and-error that seems to work the easiest for the vast majority of my students. So I thought I'd share it here.

Philosophy: I believe in getting a fish on a hook for beginners as soon as possible. Thus, I don't believe it is necessary to teach much about hauling to beginners before taking them fishing. I consider active hauling skills "optional," thus intermediate. But I teach every beginning student what I call a passive single haul before they go to the water.

Passive Single Haul

I teach students the PULD and roll casts with the line pinched under a couple of rod hand fingers. We progress all the way to the point where they are shooting between 1/3 and 1/2 more fly line they have beyond the rod tip when they release the line with their rod hand before adding the line hand.

When we add the line hand, we don't teach a static elbow position against the lower torso as is common. We teach a static forearm or wrist position touching the center-line near the navel or at the waist. The most important thing this accomplishes is that it reduces the margin for variability (flaws). It is very comfortable and natural from any stance and works with every casting rod angle from sidearm to straight overhead. It also works well with roll casts.

Of course, we work on stabilizing the static position and timing of the release on the presentation until they are repeating them correctly every time. Simply adding a static line hand grip of the fly line adds a minimal single haul to the back cast. Think about how you would define a haul. Is fly line moving back inside the guides during the casting stroke without creating slack? Then it is adding to the rod load and line speed to some extent. The distance between the line hand and first stripping guide is increasing as the rod executes the back cast. This is a single haul by any reasonable definition.

Students realize at this point that their cast feels better and they're getting better results. Now I point out to them that they are already single hauling to increase their sense of accomplishment before we proceed.

Active Single Haul

Next, I teach them to give the line just a little tug by bending their wrist quickly downward as they stop the rod on their back cast...an inch is enough. They invariably catch on to this in a matter of minutes, incorporating it into their PULD cast smoothly. Of course, we don't do this on the roll cast.

At this point, students are executing a full single haul on the back cast in proper form and making perfectly respectably PULD fishing casts. It's time to go fishing!

Expanding the Single Haul

Once they've got this short single haul grooved into muscle memory through repetition, we can extend the haul as desired to achieve more line speed. We shift the static anchor point further up the arm toward the elbow, allowing for a greater range of motion. Otherwise, there is no cognitive change. Timing will change subconsciously at this point for most casters.

Single Haul on the Forward Cast

I don't teach a single haul on the forward cast because I don't believe it is possible. It is technically a double haul. See Passive Haul above.

Adding the Double Haul

If a caster needs/wants to add a haul to the forward cast, it is easy to do if you've taught them to use a static anchor point haul on the back cast. To demonstrate my point, let's back up to the Passive Haul.

Our student is now using a static line hand position and releasing the line with good timing on a PULD cast. So they're using a Passive Single Haul on the back cast. I simply teach them to twitch the wrist in that same downward motion during their forward stroke. Interestingly enough, most will find the "sweet spot" in their own stroke quickly enough. If they have trouble with it, that's where you come in. It's just fine tuning.

But our actual students are already using a full blown static anchor point single haul on the back cast. Adding another tug on the forward cast is still easy because of the way we built the first tug in to their back cast step-by-step. We now tell them to simply tug lightly with the wrist again on that forward stroke as described above and fine tune the timing as needed. Then we can lengthen the haul by adding more arm motion below the static anchor point.

Roll Casting with a Single Haul

The wrist twitch from a static anchor point with the line hand comes in very handy when teaching intermediate roll casting. Most of you probably know that one of the trickier aspects of roll casting is generating enough line speed to maintain good energy transfer all the way to the fly. People seem to have a lot of trouble with this, especially with all these fast action fly rods and weight forward lines everyone is using. Students who are already familiar with this little downward tug will have a very shallow learning curve when it comes to roll casting with a haul on the presentation.

[Marc LaMouche]

thanks for sharing that Ken.

[kenmorrow]

You're welcome, Marc. Hope you've been well. I'm facing a couple of ortho surgeries this winter, and in a lot of pain. I'll be restricted to Tenkara fishing and one-armed fly tying for awhile, which will allow me to "up my game" at both.

I guess the moral of the story in my post above is that I've found a lot of value in:

1. Keeping the haul out of the cast until the rest is solid.
2. Teaching it "tiny" until it is very well executed.
3. Expanding it in small increments as needed.
4. Adding the second haul the same way.

I think a lot of different "problems" get introduced into the teaching and learning process for folks when they try to run before they crawl.

[Marc LaMouche]

I think a lot of different "problems" get introduced into the teaching and learning process for folks when they try to run before they crawl.

couldn't agree more. in fact, my opinion is outside of specialty fishing or casting geeks, the double haul is completely unnecessary for most anglers. (single on the BC yes, but none on the front.)
in my experience the forward haul is where most people mess up, they compound too many elements that they're not familiar enough with to compound, the big one being overpowering the FC. (mostly because they don't practice casting or not enough but just fish)
of course as an instructor, if someone wants to learn the DH i'll be more than happy to help. the above is an outwardly expressed personal thought. i'm also expecting to get some flack for that but that's ok

hope all goes well with the ops,
marc

[kenmorrow]

I agree with you 100%. That's why so many of my remarks in the first post are couched in comments like "as needed" or "if desired."

[scotty9]

Single Haul on the Forward Cast

I don't teach a single haul on the forward cast because I don't believe it is possible. It is technically a double haul.

Thanks for sharing Mac, will definitely give it a bash.

Can you clarify this quoted section please? I take it this is because you are incorporating this forward cast single haul having already engrained the passive haul, in a bolt-on like manner?

[kenmorrow]

Single Haul on the Forward Cast

I don't teach a single haul on the forward cast because I don't believe it is possible. It is technically a double haul.

Thanks for sharing Mac, will definitely give it a bash.

Can you clarify this quoted section please? I take it this is because you are incorporating this forward cast single haul having already engrained the passive haul, in a bolt-on like manner?

Oh, sorry. There's a typo I need to correct.

It should read "Single Haul on the Forward STROKE," not forward cast.

Like Joan Wulff, I reject the notion that you can teach a single haul on the forward stroke because there is a single haul (passive) in the back cast any time the caster uses a fixed anchor point with the line held firmly in the line hand. If you add a haul on the forward stroke, you have a double haul...slight as it may be.

[Chris Dore]

Ive started 'synchronised hauling' with people. It worked a treat the other day at a clinic I was doing with Rene in Dunedin. Basically I stand close, side by side with the angler so our rods and hauling hands are only a couple of feet apart max - and I simply get them to mirror my movements ground casting, ensuring they 'super glue' their rod a foot or so from mine throughout the casting cycle, and match the size, speed and timing of my haul.

It takes very little time for people to get it right, and when they raise it all to the verticle plane it seems to continue fine.

Kiwis in particular are a very 'see and do' type, and so these type of excercises / teaching tools work a treat.

[kenmorrow]

Chris,

Interesting that you mention teaching in the horizontal and then moving up to the vertical. That's how I teach. I learned this from Bill Gammel's video, tried it with a couple dozen beginners, and found it worked exceptionally well for teaching fundamentals quickly. So that's how I've started all beginners since. It is also how I correct almost all fundamental stroke flaws. People can just see what they're doing and the effects so much better this way.

[White Hunter]

Like Joan Wulff, I reject the notion that you can teach a single haul on the forward stroke because there is a single haul (passive) in the back cast any time the caster uses a fixed anchor point with the line held firmly in the line hand. If you add a haul on the forward stroke, you have a double haul...slight as it may be.

Hi Ken

It is possible to perform single hauls on the forward casting stroke from either a pick up and lay down cast, or during the false casting cycle. You are right in that if the line hand remains static as the rod/line is cast backwards, then line can get drawn into the tip.

However If the rod hand and line hands are together, touching at the side of the thumbs as the backcast is performed, it is no different than if the line was trapped under one of the rod hand fingers. I use this method to convince those that come who may always haul on the back cast to learn how to do it going forward for extra distance etc...." also putting more emphasis on improving the back loop using rod alone at the same time".

Cheers
Lee

[kenmorrow]

That is correct, but not how I teach beginning fly casting. I guess I did misspeak a bit on that piece. I can see the confusion I caused by being so brief and not quite accurate enough with my words. I was relying too heavily on context...especially with this crowd.

Sure, it is possible, but not if you're using a static line hand anchor position on the body instead of the rod/rod hand/etc. And I have seen a few people cast that way.

Thanks for pointing that out.