In a recent session report on my blog I mentioned briefly that to reach the fish, in this case dogfish lurking beyond the surf, I had to cast a bait around a hundred yards or so. A few days afterwards, someone who had read the blog post contacted me to ask about how I actually cast. That blog entry, pretty standard fishing fare in itself, talked of the tackle I used, the changing weather conditions and how I was fortunate enough to catch a few different species; the point about distance took up a very small percentage of the entry so I couldn’t help but find the focus on casting a very interesting and, in truth, telling, point.
The idea of casting either a baited rig or a plain lead a long way is not unusual in itself; this country has produced, and still produces, some of the finest competitive casters in the history of the sport. I myself can remember being entranced the first time I watched Neil Mackellow’s Mastercast video, and wanting nothing more out of life than someday being able to cast exactly like him.
As a teenager I took lessons with a local instructor, saved up and bought the best multiplier rods and reels I could afford and became obsessed with learning how to cast them as far as I possibly could (not particularly far in the grand scheme of things), and yes, it was a wonderful feeling when I managed to catch one ‘on the button’ and just watch as line peeled from the spool. Immediately after the cast it was mesmerising to watch the big bow of line slowly settle to earth after a cast, as though I had somehow managed to pick a loose strand from the horizon and need now only pull…
It’s true that in some areas, long casting is not only preferable but essential to reach the fish. In general terms though, far from being just another string to the angler’s bow, casting, particularly pendulum casting, has become something of an entrenched epidemic amongst Britain’s sea anglers, even where distance isn’t always necessary. Log in to any of the forums and you’ll see numerous avatars filled with anglers in the act of casting, curved rod in hand, head pointed up and looking out at the horizon and, having suffered the same bug myself in the past, who am I to criticise?
It wasn’t until my late twenties that the whole idea of casting distance was put into perspective. With the completion of Swansea Marina’s new Meridian Tower complex, my wife and I decided to stop one day whilst walking and visit the café situated right at the very top of the building, twenty nine floors up. Taking a window seat, I was quite stunned by the expansive views over Swansea beach and the bay beyond, and never was I reminded more of Jules Verne’s assertion that the sea is an ‘immense desert’.
Looking down, I saw the shallows of Swansea beach where I had taken a few flounders the previous week, then tracked out as the sea kept going… and going… and going… As I looked, I was left with the distinct impression that, were I able to cast a baited rig 200 yards or 300 or even 500, with such a vast, open expanse of water around them, the fish could easily avoid me if they wanted to and, unless casting to a very obvious feature, no amount of distance would entirely eliminate that ‘needle in a haystack’ factor.
Let’s come back to that blog entry now, and the part in which I explained the choice of tackle for the night. True, one of the rods was taken to the beach in case I needed to hoof a rig out a little further, something that proved to be correct. However, the rod I chose to partner it was one that a caster wouldn’t look twice at. Of all the rods I own, the little Daiwa Longbeam 2-4oz rod is probably my favourite by a whisker. This isn’t because it outperforms, outcasts, or has better bite indication than any of my other rods. It is because, of all my rods, this one has caught me more fish than any other, even though I never fish further than 60 yards with it and, significantly, most of my best fish were taken by this diminutive little stick, some of them almost at my feet.
And how did things end up on the night? Two species to one in favour of the short rod.
We are hoping to persuade Simon to put a few pieces together for FM in the future, but if you want to keep in touch with him and his fishing check out his excellent ‘Waiting for a Hunter’s Moon’ blog HERE
