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Are you doing ballet?

Madkanu

By Madkanu
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Madkanu WHITING

Madkanu

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I recently had the extremely good fortune of being introduced to @DerekD through a mutual friend @zmk1962 and yesterday Derek and I met up for my first saltwater fishing lesson.  I grew up in Northern Ontario and did a lot of fishing as a kid so thought I might just need a few pointers on baits and lures and I'd be on my way.  Yeah, no.

I met Derek on a quiet stretch of shoreline in Sydney's inner west and after a minute of warm introductions we got down to it.  "Ok, grab your rod and let me see a few casts.  What have you got on there?  A 15g Halco Twisty?  Great, that'll work."  I figured I had this part nailed. After all, I was too young to remember when I first picked up a fishing rod.  The first cast was fine.  It got out a reasonable distance as you would expect with the lure I had tied on there. The second did something a little weird and I could hear my line colliding with my guides.  "Did you hear that?" asked Derek?  "Yep"  I replied sheepishly, knowing right away that noise was energy being converted into a form that didn't help get my lure out where it belonged.  I watched a few of Derek’s casts sail light surface baits way out and realised I had much to learn. Now we were truly underway.

I quickly realised there was a significant enough difference between getting my lure out a reasonable distance and maximising that distance and therefore the probability of catching a fish with each cast. That and accuracy. We spent a lot of the rest of the evening working on getting it right. I’ve got all the concepts but the execution was clunky. Apparently I fish the same way I swing a golf club. My brain was now crunching working on fixing them both. 
 

We moved on to some top water techniques which were a huge eye opener for me. This wasn’t send a cast and reel it in. This was full-on enticement with an overly dramatic bent minnow or clueless prawn.  Although we didn’t catch any fish during the lesson, it was exciting fishing all the same, with a lot of action around our lures.  This was all making so much sense.  
 

We wrapped up the evening with a bit more practice on the casting motions. Making that transition from backstroke to swing smooth and fluid and keeping both in the same plane (my old golfing problem). Getting both hands in on the action of a cast was entirely foreign to me. There’s not a lot of call for that style of casting where I come from. Speaking of that, the fact that I, like every other right handed North American I’ve ever met, cranks with their left hand was the one quirk I got to keep (for now anyway). 
 

I drove home with a head full of new information and slept very soundly - or so I thought. 
 

This morning when I woke up I was talking with my wife when she said, “oh, you were casting in your sleep last night!”  Apparently sound asleep in the middle of the night I had both arms up over my head flicking them back and forth. At first she asked and unconscious me, “Are you doing ballet?!” and then clued in and said, “oh no, you’re casting.”  Now I have no memory of any of this but apparently once my brain engaged enough to form sentences I said, “no, I’m just walking down the shoreline a bit and thinking about my next cast.”

I guess my subconscious has taken the next steps in embedding all of that new information and hopefully I’m a step closer to being able to cast like the master without thinking about it. Clearly I’m already doing it in my sleep. 

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big Neil DOGTOOTH TUNA

big Neil

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Firstly Madkanu, welcome to the forum. You will learn and experience much on here. I hope that your wife continues to be understanding as your fishing / learning experiences continue. So you have met Derek and by now you will realise that he is a perfectionist who wants to impart knowledge and skills to others who are in need of improvement. I hope that your journey, which includes cultural diversity, takes you to a place where you can really enjoy what Australia has to offer keen anglers.

Good luck, bn

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DerekD MAKO

DerekD

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Hi @Madkanu

I enjoyed reading that report and looking forward to more of them in the future.

It was a pleasure meeting you and welcome to the world of lure fishing in Australia. What we went through the other evening was a teaser - the diet version so to speak. These days the full course of land based fishing can fill three days so we have a way to go yet. Hopefully I don't leave you a quivering wreck of nerves overloaded with information. Years ago I took one gentleman through the 1 day course and we covered a lot of ground metaphorically, physically and practically. During the day he also watched me respond to questions from interested bystanders. At the end of it he sat down for several minutes processing and absolutely shell shocked. Then he looked up at me and admitted he'd never realised how much information there was behind what I was doing. Cast out a lure and retrieve - nope. There are nuances behind what we are doing that many people will never realise. I got into topwater fishing several years ago when the kings were being difficult so I wanted to try something different. An article by @Niall inspired me to learn something new and while I'd had success previously I wanted to become competent at it (if not master it). I was fortunate enough to run into Niall early on and get some pointers. In the times since he has shown me the subtle movements that I hadn't worked out myself.

We still have a lot more ground to cover and I hope you get a lot of pleasure out of it as you try new things.

For those that are interested in topwater:

 

This is the video he links to which inspired him:

 

This is the follow up article by Niall

 

Edited by DerekD
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Madkanu WHITING

Madkanu

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3 hours ago, DerekD said:

Hi @Madkanu

I enjoyed reading that report and looking forward to more of them in the future.

It was a pleasure meeting you and welcome to the world of lure fishing in Australia. What we went through the other evening was a teaser - the diet version so to speak. These days the full course of land based fishing can fill three days so we have a way to go yet. Hopefully I don't leave you a quivering wreck of nerves overloaded with information. Years ago I took one gentleman through the 1 day course and we covered a lot of ground metaphorically, physically and practically. During the day he also watched me respond to questions from interested bystanders. At the end of it he sat down for several minutes processing and absolutely shell shocked. Then he looked up at me and admitted he'd never realised how much information there was behind what I was doing. Cast out a lure and retrieve - nope. There are nuances behind what we are doing that many people will never realise. I got into topwater fishing several years ago when the kings were being difficult so I wanted to try something different. An article by @Niall inspired me to learn something new and while I'd had success previously I wanted to become competent at it (if not master it). I was fortunate enough to run into Niall early on and get some pointers. In the times since he has shown me the subtle movements that I hadn't worked out myself.

We still have a lot more ground to cover and I hope you get a lot of pleasure out of it as you try new things.

For those that are interested in topwater:

 

This is the video he links to which inspired him:

 

This is the follow up article by Niall

 

Thanks again Derek.  The pleasure was mine and while not quite shellshocked I too have come away with a whole new appreciation for what's possible.  Looking forward to our next session!

 

Rob.

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Madkanu WHITING

Madkanu

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5 hours ago, big Neil said:

Firstly Madkanu, welcome to the forum. You will learn and experience much on here. I hope that your wife continues to be understanding as your fishing / learning experiences continue. So you have met Derek and by now you will realise that he is a perfectionist who wants to impart knowledge and skills to others who are in need of improvement. I hope that your journey, which includes cultural diversity, takes you to a place where you can really enjoy what Australia has to offer keen anglers.

Good luck, bn

Cheers @big Neil and thanks for the well wishes.  I am looking forward to it.

Rob

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Burger SNAPPER

Burger

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14 hours ago, Madkanu said:

Apparently sound asleep in the middle of the night I had both arms up over my head flicking them back and forth. At first she asked and unconscious me, “Are you doing ballet?!” and then clued in and said, “oh no, you’re casting.”  Now I have no memory of any of this

Well you're luckier than what went on in MY household . . . . 

I woke one night to an elbow in the ribs . .. . with the ex missus demanding to know why I'd kicked her!

I said 'Why would I do that!!!' to which I got the terse reply "HOW WOULD I KNOW!"

After waking up a bit more it struck me I had been dreaming I was playing footy . . . . . 

That explanation still didn't go down well . . . . . 🤔 😂

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DerekD MAKO

DerekD

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2 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

@Madkanu I’m surprised you didn’t mention ‘bad acting’ in your sleep!🤣

Yep I used that. Explained I wanted someone who had failed NIDA for overacting as an explanation on how to work the bent minnow.

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Madkanu WHITING

Madkanu

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8 hours ago, Bennyg78 said:

Great report and welcome @Madkanu

@DerekD is a great teacher and I was in your position around this time last year, or probably a little behind you. Derek has got me casting so far. 

When you are ready, and my leg is better( I am a little incapacitated atm) we should hit the yaks for a session

Thanks @Bennyg78 .  Hope you’re leg is doing better soon. 

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Madkanu WHITING

Madkanu

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1 hour ago, DerekD said:

Yep I used that. Explained I wanted someone who had failed NIDA for overacting as an explanation on how to work the bent minnow.

I’m told I said a bunch of other incoherent things she couldn’t understand so failing out of NIDA might have been in there too. 🤣

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zmk1962 YELLOWFIN TUNA

zmk1962

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9 hours ago, Madkanu said:

I’m told I said a bunch of other incoherent things she couldn’t understand so failing out of NIDA might have been in there too. 🤣

Rob... you we're never an actor.... what you see is what you get 👍

Sorry if that dampens any film career ambitions.

Cheers Z

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