Improvised Practice Rod - surprisingly good

[ginko]

The $10 practice rod makes good.

I've been having some difficulties fly casting, and not least because it is difficult to get out and practice.

So I watched some videos - one suggested a practice rod, with just short stick with a piece of thick yarn attached. I thought I'd give it a go and tried a small (5.5 ft) telescopic rod and some yarn. I'd bought the rod for $10, but never used; it turned out to have plastic guide-slides (rather than ceramic). I tried my wife's yarn, but it was too thin and was useless as the line. But by fluke, a roll of brickies twine was at hand, so I tried that. It is ideal, def better than thick yarn. I tied a meter of flourocarbon on the end with a nail knot, and cinched a 5cm bit of brickies twine onto the far end.

And Presto! I had a very good practice rod: it is short but stiff (the rod is made from cheap graphite), and casts very well. The brickies twine is highly visible, floats, is very "loose" so it really shows if you're not casting smoothly, yet it is heavy enough to cast and carry well if you cast well.

After a load of sessions in the back yard (and even inside the house) I took it down to a local dam and had a go, and I have to say, the practice rod (cost: $10.01) performed as well if not better than a 9ft proper setup (cost: $more-than-my-wife-knows) on short casts. It can cast up to about 8 meters pretty comfortably and could probably go more. One thing it doesn't really handle is shooting line: the guides are too crap to let the line run through them. and of course, there is no reel - I just let the spool of brickies twine sit on the ground or in my pocket while I cast.

It is great for the back yard, and the kids like to have a go (which at $10.01, I am more than happy for them to do!).

But I'll also be taking it on the next trip as a back up or for places where a 9ft rod is too tall to cast. maybe I'll just replace those guides and get some less flouro-coloured brickies twine...

[flycamp]

I’ve got one of the proper practice rods Ginko. I’ve found it much easier to cast with it than the real deal so wondered how much benefit it was giving me!

Finding practice windows ain’t easy…