Leaderboard

During our first day with Terry Edmonds, I was hitting 150 easily with 12ft 3lb rods, 3oz zip lead and .35mm line straight through. My biggest cast was just shy of 160yards on that set up. It is more technique than equipment. Although the latter does play its part. film yourself side on, in slow motion. Then watch terry Edmonds in slow mo on you tube. This will show you when you are loading the rod. I actually slowed the first part of my cast down after advice from terry. Giving the rod more time to load before generating maximum lead speed. I could cast pretty tidy before our lessons but having him tweak my technique, and practising it since, I can now hit what was my maximum with greater ease and far more accuracy. I can cast longer now but my main objective from the lessons was casting straight, at distance. Now, if I am faced with big winds etc, I can still fish comfortably at big distances if needed.

I thought I'd give this a bump again as I'm out fishing tomorrow. There's 2 maybe 3 waters I'm going to look at tomorrow, which ever one I see fish on I'm going to fish. I've gotten everything ready to be packed in the car tomorrow after I've taken the little one to school, then I'm back early on Thursday morning. The weather is looking wet so at least it won't be cold. What ever happens, I'm going to enjoy it regardless

perhaps start with lighter leads say 2 oz even miss timing one your 15lb line will take the strain . Your get used to leaning into the cast & getting your weight forward onto your front leg & then casting. as you get into a grove step the weight up . I really don't think you should need a leader for 120 & 15lb line especially sensor pretty tough so I here .

Accept a crack-off will go roughly 4 times as far as a cast

if you can, practice giving it some stick out of harms way .... miss timing the release will be the biggest cause of cracking off with us mere mortals... blokes like Terry are a whole different level .

watching back a Video of yourself casting is a great tip , slow motion is even better ( most phones have this function ) you can break down each individual part of the cast & really see what huge differences there are when you get it right & wrong & really see what your doing rather than what you think your doing . 150 - 160 should be achievable without a leader 15lb straight through. Just practice is the best advice & try a selection of leads some distance leads really wabble through the air , some are better for cross winds etc .

You may find that you can cast as far with 2.75lb TC rods as you can with 3.25lb; it is very much down to technique, and being able to generate the tip speed on the cast. For example, bank to bank at Wick lane dam is around 125metres, I could cast that with 2.75lb TC rods, 15lb line Aerlex 8000's and 3oz leads. To get the best out of my 3.25lb TC's I have to go up to 3.5oz leads. The rod itself, you are not going to cast as far with a cheap budget blank as a more expensive better built rod, with better materials, despite what the lovely manufacturers tell you. The technology and materials of my Century SP's is better than the materials of my Rod Hutchinson The Ones, and The Ones do not add much more distance, as much as I practise casting. When I get to cast out I physically go through my casting action, like a golfers practise swing. I check my feet, hand positions, even the swing. I also have a practise cast to wet the line and the rings. Long distance casting in snag free waters mean you can use a shock leader, and to be honest, fine your line down. If you don't need 15lb line, and can safely drop to 12 or 10lb then do so. Before anyone calls me irresponsible, bear in mind, in water basically your line will take 4 times its breaking strain, so 40lb on 10lb, and playing a fish safely, carefully, you can land bigger than that. Ballistics: Lead shapes, look at bullets, shells, for rifles, tapering down from a point, so go to tournament leads, they do get best distance with pears not far behind. The angle that you cast at is the angle the lead hits the water, and 45degrees is the angle at which you gain most distance, obviously wind and feathering down will have an effect on that. Keep your rigs tidy, as short as possible. I still prefer to use run rings, rather than helicopter leads, although I do know that sacrifices a few metres, but helicopter set-ups I have found give funny takes, and using that heli set-up, you will need a shockleader as the lead and rig do frag the line. (Incidentally it is that fragging the line that was the reason for leadcore, not its supposed sinking). Inline leads, because of the swivel or rig coming out the front wobble in flight. Give your cast everything you can, don't hold back, holding back will cost you distance.

Get on YouTube buddy , you'll learn more than we can explain on here in half the time. Video yourself casting to see what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong. If you're worried about cracking off you'll lose a lot of distance Mate, you really need the confidence to hit it.

What sort of distance are you looking for Danny ? there may be no need for a leader

Chillfactor (phil) will be able to tell you more, he's a good caster, he's done some tuition with Terry Edmonds. If you look on YouTube, look up Terry Edmonds and Mark Hutchinson, both are at the top of the game. I was using 12lb daiwa sensor with esp 45lb shockleader and getting roughly 115 to 120 yards waste deep in water, I'm sure I could of gotten further from the bank. The length of shockleader I keep fairly simple, from bail are to bail arm. In other words, from the bail arm all the way up to the tip ring and back.

I'm not as good as some of the guys on here and I can only suggest what I do and use. Firstly convert the poundage of your test curve into ounces then add half an ounce, that'll give you your optimum casting weight. Tighten your clutch right up Have a good drop on your line, the lead around the spigot joint on your rod is a good point. I use a braided shockleader Most importantly use a finger stall, generally speaking, if you aren't putting your casting finger at risk, your not casting hard enough. Try to get the cast as near to 45 degrees as possible. If your right handed, left foot in front, right foot behind and transfer your weight from the back foot to the front whilst casting. That's how I do it, I'm sure there will be other methods Ooo last but not least, tournament leads and helicopter rigs. Make sure your rod rings are wet.

Good luck fella

I was watching this and thought of Newmarket, has he been around?