622 
FOREST AND STREAM 
May 17, 1913 
The Behavior of Surf Lines 
First Paper 
By SWITCH REEL 
T he choice of line for the best work in surf 
tournament casting is an easy matter. It 
is apparent at once that the most suitable 
line is the smallest in caliber, the smoothest and 
the lightest. When the casting is done over 
water, a line in which the sizing has been well 
worked out gives the best results, but since 
accurate measuring is impossible in casting over 
water, and sometimes for reasons of conveni¬ 
ence, many surf-casting contests are held on 
grass courts. 
In the latter class of work a well-sized line 
cast dry is by far the best line. Unless a line 
is particularly smooth, its minute projecting 
threads add perceptibly to the air resistance and 
may easily rob a long cast of one or two feet. 
Some casters argue that as the fisherman’s line 
is constantly wet, and that as delicate thumbing 
IS only possible with an unprotected thumb on 
£ wet line, therefore, the line should be wet 
down well in casting on the turf. 
There are holes in this argument large 
enough to haul a forty-pound striper through 
if it be carefully examined. 
In the first place it is impossible to thor¬ 
oughly wet a line wound on a reel by squeez¬ 
ing a few spongefuls of water on it, or by hold¬ 
ing the reel under a tap. The result of such 
an effort is to moisten only a few of the outer 
layers of the line, the degree of moisture rapid¬ 
ly decreasing beyond the first layer. 
Even though the sea or other body of water 
be conveniently handy to permit a thorough 
wetting of the entire cast, it is clear that the 
slight advantage gained in dispensing with the 
thumb-stall is lost after the first cast because 
the line is half dry by the time it is rewound 
upon the reel. Although a half dry line can 
probably be thumbed with the bare thumb, yet 
every surf-caster knows how dangerous it is to 
put “shoulder” into a cast when the line is in 
a sticky, half dry state. An “over-run” and a 
“back-lash” with the possibility of parting the 
line are all too frequently the result. 
It is a noticeable fact that the advocates of 
the wet line, in casting over the turf, speak 
from experience based entirely upon the use of 
the heavier lines, such as 15 regular and 21 
special. 
In so far as such lines are concerned, their 
position is good. The delicate thumbing to¬ 
ward the end of a long cast with a heavy line 
is best performed with the bare thumli, while 
to cast a dry line without a thumb-stall or other 
protection means a big blister and no more cast¬ 
ing for a couple of weeks. 
The necessity for the delicate thumbing of 
the heavy line toward the end of the cast is due 
to the drag of the line on the flying sinker. 
After the sinker has reached the highest point 
in its trajectory, its downward course is ren¬ 
dered more abrupt with a heavy line behind it 
than it would be with a light line. 
This failure of the sinker to maintain the 
speed of its forward progress is what renders 
delicately increasing thumb pressure necessary 
at the reel. And it is also the justification for 
the wet line argument. 
One point upon which the exponents of the 
wet line must agree with their opponents is that 
it is next to impossible to keep the line wet 
enough for good results after the first or second 
cast without going over to the lake for another 
soaking. 
Right here, then, let us consider the be¬ 
havior of the lines in their flight behind a well 
cast sinker. First, there is a rapidly moving 
weight of lead imparting something of rigidity 
in motion or tension to the line following. Sec¬ 
ond, a rapidly revolving reel, whose tendency 
is to deliver line faster than the lead takes it, 
and thus destroy the rigidity of the line, must 
be checked to just the right point. And. third, 
a tendency of the line moving forward to fall. 
This tendency is probably proportionate to the 
weight of the line into its rigidity in motion, 
if that expression may be permitted. Stiffness 
is hardly the term, but a condition of the mov¬ 
ing line exists similar to that which maintains 
a bicycle upright as it moves forward. 
Now, let us imagine the caster, having put 
his power into the lead, standing at the casting 
point, thumbing his reel. The line we will say 
is a 21 special, and he has imparted a little 
extra weight to it by wetting it. If his thumb¬ 
ing is correct, he is just controlling the reel and 
not retarding the sinker. But the weight factor 
in the line causes it to fall away from the tra¬ 
jectory of the lead. Thus a certain area of 
line, equal to its diameter multiplied bj' the 
length of its fall at any given instant, is acting 
as a drag or retarding influence on the sinker 
at that instant. This causes a loss of speed in 
the sinker which in turn means a loss of rigidity 
in the line, which in its turn permits a greater 
fall from the trajector3% and so occurs a pro¬ 
gressive slackening of speed in the lead, and its 
somewhat abrupt drop after it has reached the 
highest point in its flight when the wet line- 
caster gets in his delicate work on the reel with 
his unprotected thumb. 
Now, let us drag the forty-pound striper 
through this state of affairs and see if we can’t 
improve things a little. Here is the big fact. 
The casters of dry nine-thread line have found 
that they can remove their thumbs entirely from 
the reel when the lead has reached the highest 
point in its flight, so that the thumb-stall is not 
interfering during the finish of the cast. But 
it is there to prevent a blister when the thumb 
is jammed down good and hard as the lead hits 
the ground. 
THE SURF CASTER. 
