based on discussion initiated on the forum, mainly by Lee (Australia) and Donkey (Guernsey), i set about incorporating this addition, or more accurately, subtraction from my flat arc 18g cast.
First attempts were a complete failure, however….

later attempts at keeping the sinker WIDE on the arc started to work. It was all about moving the rod slow enough and with the correct timing. I also tried this method with various rods. The Zziplex Profile Lure 13′ was the CLEAR WINNER. The tip and action being perfect to move the 18g through maintaining contact but not pulling the plug back inside the arc on the initial rotation.
Cast performance, even at this early stage showed considerable distance advantage. To use the extra “out on the arc” time, you need to maintain a flat arc, or the whole thing is pointless.
Problems with the cast…
well, on looking at the video, the cast will need to be controlled by the left hand right from the outswing phase. because there is NO INSWING, the left hand doesn’t get OUT as much as my normal flat arc cast. This will loose distance.
There is plenty of time to get this working though, so stay tuned.

playing more with 18g on the Zziplex Baitcaster 13 foot super fast recovery rod.
This stiffer, more responsive rod demands a neat powerstroke or else.
Normally, i advocate the head, hips and hands approach, but now, we’ve slotted in the shoulders
and upper body torsion to help get the 18g around the corner in the critical phase.

Results were favourable, even after first thoughts led me to believe that the shoulders would ultimately slow the hand speed.
In practice this wasn’t so, although i do need to maintain more left hand in the cast after the shoulder roll.

Just another quick look at the crest. This time Xcasting, a method which suits the attributes of this rod very well indeed.

For a total run down on the rod, and views and opinions by Mark Jakins, Tony Jones and Myself….
see Century CMC "crest" topic

Well the last few weeks have seen Tom, Kevin and Myself experimenting with various styles and modifications to existing casts.

Tom in particular has come along very nicely, hitting 250 yards so many times I’ve lost count on his Zziplex Primo Synchro.

He’s been casting a style sort of inbetween a high style and a flat arc. The results are awesome though.

I’ve been playing with a HST reel 8″ up the rod and looking at speed in the finish.

Distances for me have been a regular 240-255 yards.

I’ve been working with a high style too, and achieving pretty good numbers, however….

Even Xcasting with such a short rod and a snap finish is proving very good at getting distance when it counts.

My weight loss is still a factor in my searching for modifications to the older Xcast technique, which was based around a 20st 12lb guy. Now, at 14st 2lb, yes that’s right a 6st 10lb weight loss, things have had to change a bit. I have to admit, I find myself very lucky to still be casting as well as i am, so regular 240 yard hits are quite welcome right now.

As one of the photo’s show, the rod is starting to move a bit quicker than the camera can capture. I’m a bit more balanced with a shorter rod, but i feel at a disadvantage distance wise. Hopefully I’ll be able to find a 14-15 foot rod i CAN move and the bigger 240 meter casts will come back. I have the Century BlackBird of course and that works great, but on the grapevine something may be arriving soon to cure the casting blues….

We’ll see won’t we.

completed upgrade during the early hours of 8.12.06

Everything looks in order.

full results on the forum, see Results on the forum
but here is a quick run down of all the top prizes.

7.5g Single Handed Plug: Keith White 74.30 mtrs

18g: Keith White 112.07 F/S, Andy Miller 111.99 F/S

Longest Cast Multiplier: Mark Jakins 252.56 (Allcomers Record),
Ben Bradstock 250.86, Garry Dickerson 247.53 All 125g.

Longest Cast Fixed Spool: Tony Jones 217.46 (Allcomers Record),
Keith White 202.23 PB, Dennis Retter 200.40

Aggregate 3 from 7:
Mark Jakins 737.56, Garry Dickerson 736.45, Ben Bradstock 734.31
Tony Jones 719.34

OTG: Tom Ozanne 224.56 OTG 125g (Allcomers Record),
Keith White 223.75 OTG 150g, Tom Phillips 204.72 OTG 150g

Centerline: Tom Phillips 6cm

Random Weight: (sat 175g + sun 100g)
Garry Dickerson 490.84, Ben Bradstock 458.01, Mark Jakins 451.16
Roger Mortimore 450.92

***********Juniors******************
Junior Overall: Luke White 157.00 PB

Junior Best Runner up: Edward Le Gresley 130.00 PB

Best Under 12 Junior: Charlie Nichols 86.80 + junior centreline 12cm
************************************

Bad Apples:
Result: Tom Ozanne 145.00 (Allcomers Record), Ben Bradstock 132, Mark Jakins 131
Apple Centreline: Andy Miller 26cm
well done to all, and thanks for attending the 2006 Jersey Open.

Left to Right: Mark Jakins (Overall Aggregate and Longest Cast Of Tournament), Tony Jones (Best Fixed Spool) and Garry Dickerson (Random Weight Aggregate Winner {175g saturday + 100g sunday}

Winning rods: Mark Jakins Century TTR, Tony Jones “borrowed” F/S Zziplex XTR 50/50 and Garry Dickerson Zziplex HST

Nov 25/26th sat and sunday.

Practice available on the fri too. You might just need it.

Agateware plates for the top 3

Custom brass plaques for the next 6 prizes.

All weights from 50g to 200g will be cast. You have free choice of when and how.

To win the aggregate (top prize) you must accumulate an amalgamated distance of 3 from the 7 available weights.

Plugs, both 7.5g and 18g will be cast.

Apples will be cast (The Bad Apple Championships)

More later……………

See the full ongoing review in the TCN pages…see right

The C3’s are superb. The LD version is awesome. I love it.

The perfect Ray and Smoothound rod in my view. Retails at ?229 for each model.