Distance Casting With Terry Edmonds

This entry was posted on 14th January, 2019

In this video, Angling Direct's Stephen 'Widget' Crowe meets casting legend Terry Edmonds, to talk about all things distance casting, and get some tips and tricks to improve his own fishing.

Buzzing with excitement at finally meeting one of angling's acknowledged legends, the day starts with a run through of the best tackle for anglers looking to go the distance.

TERRY'S TACKLE TIPS

To get the most out of your cast, Terry recommends a 13ft stiff rod - “It doesn't matter whether you're tall or short, stocky or average build, go with the thirteen-footer, you can't go wrong”, and makes it clear that 50mm ringing is a must. “I've only ever seen tournament casters using fifty-mil; that's good enough for me.” You'll obviously need to use a big pit reel, all of which are designed for distance casting. Terry's go to reels are Daiwa big pits, including the Daiwa Basia, but as Terry points out, the reel is very rarely what gets in the way of achieving the cast you want; as long as the reel is light on the rod, like a big pit reel, the reel is going to perform for you.

When it comes to line, Terry explains that it depends on whether or not you're using a leader; with a leader, a slightly lighter line of around 10lb is recommended, with leads of 4oz or 4.5oz; Terry himself doesn't bother with leads below 4oz at all, but points out that going 5oz and over won't really make any difference to your cast, and may in fact slow you down, and see you brought up short.

THE CAST EXPLAINED

Getting the session properly underway, Terry starts by watching Stephen cast in his usual style, a simple overhead chuck. Stephen stands square to the water, bringing his arms straight back and casting from just beside his ear.

Laughing as he turns to Terry, Stephen admits that “I've probably done everything wrong there.”

Terry, however, is the best kind of coach and looks at what can be improved, rather than what was wrong.

He starts by commenting that the basic overhead is the cast he sees day in, day out, the one most anglers use most of the time. “If I asked you to cast further with that, you'd just try and bring your arms down quicker.”

Terry talks through the concept of loading a rod for the cast. Stephen asks if the drop is important, which is clearly the kind of question Terry likes to hear! As he explains, getting the drop right means your rod will feel balanced, and you'll be able to handle it well, and finish the cast cleanly. Terry's recommendation is to run the drop from the spigot joint to the middle ring, shortening it if the rod feels light, and lengthening it if it feels too heavy to bring fully through the cast.

Terry then explains how body position and arm movements enhance the cast, encouraging Stephen to stand with his legs spaced to a forty-five degree angle – a position which opens up the hips, and allows a much greater range of movement – before guiding him through arm positioning, and the movement of the cast itself. “You had your arms beside your ear, and sent them out straight... you want them up over and behind your head a little bit, and slightly bent.” As Terry explains it, a good cast is a punch-pull motion, punching the rod out, and guiding it to the target, with the right hand, while the left pulls it down to a dead stop at a roughly 45-degree angle. This sharp, sudden stop allows the kinetic energy of the cast to discharge through the rod tip, and into the lead, bringing your cast smoothly and effortlessly to the target.

One of the key corrections Terry makes to Stephen's cast is explaining that the 'pull' from the left arm should stop at the centre of an angler's body, rather than under the right arm. As he explains; “You're using the right hand to guide the rod to the target, so you want to keep that arm clear and straight out towards the target. The lead will follow the rod tip round to bring your rig in where you want it.”

Stephen tries the cast again, following Terry's directions, and seems much more impressed with the results. Reeling in, he turns to Terry: “I think we'll hand over to you, now, as that's what everyone wants to see, rather than me messing up!”

CASTING WITH TERRY EDMONDS

Terry begins by running through the set up he most commonly uses, which includes the 13ft Harrison Aviator TE rod he designed alongside Harrison, and which ensures anglers can easily find a rod that can handle their most ambitious casts as they improve their distance game. A tried and trusted Daiwa big pit reel balances the Harrison rod, spooled with 10lb of monofilament line, in fluorescent yellow. As Terry explains, the colour means that, when he's coaching casting sessions over fields, he can easily find and retrieve the line and rig following a crack off.

As Terry picks up the rod to cast out, Stephen seems a little nervous; “Am I alright standing here?” “Yeah, you're fine”, Terry reassures him, probably more than used to anglers worrying that they might end up in the legend's line of fire.

One of the clearest signs that you've got a good cast going is the sound of the rod as you bring it through the cast; with Terry's cast, the whistling whip of the rod as it comes down towards the water is a thrilling sign that this is going to be pretty impressive.

Stephen asks what Terry's typical cast goes to, and is understandably impressed with the response; “I'm usually casting 215, 230 (yards).” Stephen then asks if the rig makes a difference to the distance you can achieve, and seems surprised by Terry's response:

“Yeah, it definitely does. With a helicopter rig, and 14mm bait, on 150yard cast you'll lose 10yards. Double that on a 200yard cast.”

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

As Terry explains, casting is a sport in its own right. Like all sports, practice makes perfect; Terry initially made the decision to forgo active fishing, in order to work on his casting performance; one of the things he's enjoying, having cemented his place as a champion in the sport, is getting back to active fishing.

For anglers looking to improve their own casting skills, Terry Edmonds is available for focused coaching sessions – so you, too, can work towards achieving those epic 200yard casts!