A.J. McClane on fly casting

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davemaine
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A.J. McClane on fly casting

#1

Post by davemaine »

Given the recent threads with casting tips, and given my own ongoing attempts to become a better caster, I really appreciated coming across these words in McClane's "The Practical Fly Fisherman":
I have fished with some of the world's finest casters....At first glance, there's a definite pace in the motions of all of them....But after careful study, the fact most apparent is that there can't be one correct style. The positions from which talented casters work smoothly and accurately are numerous. They all move their rods in a plane suited to the individual cast and are rarely in the classic pose. Accuracy, distance, and delivery are the result of long familiarity with tackle; they are not a gift or an accident.

The best any book on fly casting can hope to achieve is to make certain elementary steps clear. Even this is a considerable undertaking because there are often two ways of doing the same thing.

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Eric Peper
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Re: A.J. McClane on fly casting

#2

Post by Eric Peper »

I spent a weekend in the Catskills with McClane in 1975. He brought with him a couple of the very early graphite rods from Garcia and put on a bit of a casting clinic with them, including holding a 4 weight and an 8 weight in one hand and throwing perfectly synchronized tight loops with them simultaneously. I remarked somewhat satirically that I felt a rod made with natural materials was the preferable tool. He said you couldn't do what he was doing (2 rods in one hand throwing perfect loops) with bamboo. I allowed I couldn't do what he was doing with any material.

The next day we set out to fish the upper Wilowemoc. I was in my "Arnold Gingrich Period and had a 5'9" Orvis. Al held a very well worn Paul Young Perfectionist. Just to be a smartass, I asked "Where's the graphite?" His response was spot on. "Yesterday we were casting. Today we're going fishing."

Eric
A mountain is a fact -- a trout is a moment of beauty known only to men who seek them
Al McClane in his Introduction to The Practical Fly Fisherman . . . often erroneously attributed to Arnold Gingrich

glster
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Re: A.J. McClane on fly casting

#3

Post by glster »

Thanks, Eric, for the great Al McClane story. Growing up in the late 1950s, I practically memorized his columns in Field and Stream. His advice in so many areas has more than stood the test of time.

jim royston
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Re: A.J. McClane on fly casting

#4

Post by jim royston »

You have to have hands on help to become a good fly caster. I don't think it is possible without personal instruction. I was lucky to get just that on the rooftop casting pool of the A&F Building in Manhattan, and had the good fortune to learn also from Eric Leiser. Those were different times maybe and not so commercial. When it came time to learn the double haul, I took a two session class. I would never have learned to do it properly without the instruction. And having Lefty tune me up some years later didn't hurt one bit.
My fishing buddy who is a fishing nut has tried with a minimum of instruction. It is pitiful to watch him on the bow of a bonefish skiff. Some people don't get it ever!

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Eperous
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Re: A.J. McClane on fly casting

#5

Post by Eperous »

Eric Peper wrote:
01/20/21 17:39
I spent a weekend in the Catskills with McClane in 1975. He brought with him a couple of the very early graphite rods from Garcia and put on a bit of a casting clinic with them, including holding a 4 weight and an 8 weight in one hand and throwing perfectly synchronized tight loops with them simultaneously. I remarked somewhat satirically that I felt a rod made with natural materials was the preferable tool. He said you couldn't do what he was doing (2 rods in one hand throwing perfect loops) with bamboo. I allowed I couldn't do what he was doing with any material.

The next day we set out to fish the upper Wilowemoc. I was in my "Arnold Gingrich Period and had a 5'9" Orvis. Al held a very well worn Paul Young Perfectionist. Just to be a smartass, I asked "Where's the graphite?" His response was spot on. "Yesterday we were casting. Today we're going fishing."

Eric
Great story, thanks for sharing...

Ed

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quashnet
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Re: A.J. McClane on fly casting

#6

Post by quashnet »

Al McClane owned several Paul H. Young rods, and his favorite was clearly the Perfectionist. It is referenced multiple times in McClane's writings. Here is a quote from new material in the 1975 edition of The Practical Fly Fisherman, first published in 1953: "I own a Paul Young Perfectionist... which is entering its twenty-fifth season, and except for having it refinished once before Paul died, the rod is as good as new. The little stick has stood the test of time and several large Atlantic salmon." Another quote, from "The Case for the Flea Rod," first published in 1965, collected in the book The Compleat McClane (1988): "The rod I use is made of heat-tempered bamboo; it is 7 1/2 feet long and weighs exactly 2.74 oz. It is slower than the sticks usually classified as having dry-fly action. The butt section works. It doesn't shrug off the load, but flexes down into the corks... It has stopped big trout and Atlantic salmon without stress. In twelve years I have broken two tips in the usual way rods are demolished - with a car door."
Please visit and bookmark the Paul H. Young Rod Database
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Other rod databases: Dickerson , Orvis , Powell

davemaine
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Re: A.J. McClane on fly casting

#7

Post by davemaine »

Another great McClane story Eric! Thanks for sharing it.

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kimk
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Re: A.J. McClane on fly casting

#8

Post by kimk »

Mr. McClane is someone I credit with much of my fly fishing education. Sadly, I never met the man, but I am often aware of his teachings when I fish.
Many of us are called upon to teach a bit of casting now and then. I can offer us no better instruction manual on how to teach it, than "The Practical Fly Fisherman". Mr. McClane was a word smith who could explain the complexities of casting, in terms that are easily understood.
AgMD

snorider
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Re: A.J. McClane on fly casting

#9

Post by snorider »

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSUz8HdJSIM/url] This old southpaw has something to say about it. Having seen him cast a full line sans rod I tend to listen to what he says.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it. T.R.

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