The Missing Lesson
by Charles Davis
There has been very little written about advanced tenkara casting in the English language, and as I studied the motion of Masami Sakakibara’s “Oni Loops” and watched the “J Loop” principles described and demonstrated online, there seemed to be a ‘missing link’ or a missing lesson hidden inside the mechanics of his technique.
Mr. Sakakibara was doing more than was being described is how I would interpret this “missing information.” Something in his casting stroke that either wasn’t being taught or something that was lost in translation. Whatever the case, I was sure there was more to his movements, but I couldn’t readily figure it out.
Fast forward a few years’, and it was when watching Masami Sakakibara demonstrating his “Oni loops,” in a YouTube video when an interesting observation occurred to me. The “J loops” Masami Sakakibara was using reminded me [in some way] of spey casting techniques.
Spey casting is a two-handed casting style whereby anglers use anchored points-of-contact, usually between the fly line and water, but can be aerial or airborne “anchors” to make a weighted fly line obtain a certain directional force.
It was in this realization that “the missing lesson,” if you will, of Mr. Sakakibara’s “Oni loops” hit me like a fly in the back of the head! Oni loops was in some-way a spey cast “tenkara-style?!” At least that’s how it appeared to me in the video. I would discover later that there was much more to Mr. Sakakibara’s technique, but it was the spey-cast that led me to explore “Oni loops” and tenkara casting in a whole new direction.
In spey casting there is a cast known as the “circle C cast.” This cast can be made either by anchoring the line on the water or by using an aerial technique; much like how a snake roll cast is performed. Holding the line off of the water and using a circular motion to create line tension, the line energy is then redirected [with the help of speed] to make a cast opposite from where the anchor point was last established. The fly giving an airborne point of opposing force to the rod tip. This is known as the 180 degree rule in fly casting.
I wondered, was this what Sakakibara-san’s overhead-circling was all about? Line tension? Not only was Sakakibara-san using “J Loops” to cast aerial mends, he was rolling his wrist in between casts. These "wrist rolls" were sometimes overhead rotations he'd make, and other times side-arm in position. These seemingly indifferent rotations were [it seemed to me] not only directionally important and determined where the fly was going to go, but how the fly line was going to be released to achieve the desired aerial mend cast.
Using these pre-cast "wrist rolls" were much more than just warm-up maneuvers, but when timed with each next cast seemed to add a certain casting advantage and tempo to his fishing.
It was obvious that Mr. Sakakibara was not only making masterful casts, but that real efficiency was being shown by incorporating these rotational "wrist rolls" or circumduction techniques into his casting motion.
Finding "The Key Position"
In my “study” of Oni Loops I would frequently visit the local park to practice what I’d started to refer to as Circumduction techniques.
These practice or learning sessions became a time of questioning and asking myself, “what was happening to the fly and line when I made these "pre-cast" Sakakibara-inspired overhead circling motions?” Now granted I wasn’t casting into water, but at a plate, my target some 14ft. away.
I sent a cast in the direction of the plate and asked myself, “What was the point of these pre-cast rotations?” I knew the point of casting aerial mends; that was to have my fly [and line] land on the water with some intention, but circling the rod tip around seemed more fun than anything else. There had to be more than fun to these maneuvers?!
I began to think, what was Sakakibara-san doing when he circled the rod? Was circling just something that was intuitive to him. Was HE just having fun?! All these thoughts came and went as I continued to rotate the rod over my head hoping that an answer would fall from heaven. It took a few days returning to the local park, when something DID inspire me.
It was probably on my tenth or so visit, and placing the plate on the ground that in those first few casts I started to feel the energy in the rod tip differently.
I’d felt line energy before, but the energy that was being formed by circling the rod was creating inertia. My attention shifted from hitting my target to feeling this new found inertial energy. I wanted to pinpoint this feeling, and understand it. Was this what Sakakibara-san had known all along? Some piece of the missing lesson?
Not sure I had my thoughts together, I casted a few more times at the metal camping plate. A PING sounded as my kebari landed on the blue-and-white speckled disc-target. The ping from the plate got me thinking...at what point do I make my cast? Still not sure what I might be onto I went back to circling the rod overhead.
I cast again, but this time when I stopped the rod tip I felt something. My cast wasn’t precise enough to hit my target, but that’s when it pinged [at least in me], I had found the Key Position.
What was the key position? It was the point at which the rod tip stopped and released ‘perfect’ energy into the line. The key position was the release of all that stored up inertia. The point where the casting line could realize its’ maximum potential or full efficiency; finding this exact release point was what I called The Key Position.
I continued to cast at my target. PING. The metal plate sounded. I had hit my target! Then a NEW thought: The Key Position + desired [target] location = the perfect cast? Finding the Key Position was only one part of the equation! You could feel like you’d made a “perfect cast,” but if your target is NOT “achieved," then you'd witnessed only the release of "perfect" line energy.
The perfect cast is not often obtained, no one should feel like they’re making poor casts if they do not “reach” the key position, but it’s when these two concepts align when a perfect cast may be realized.
It should also be noted that the Key Position exists for ALL casts. It does NOT matter if you are using circumduction techniques, or simple back-and-forth straight-line casts. The Key Position may be discovered in ALL casting styles regardless of the delivery angle or method.
The key position is not to be decided by anyone but the angler themselves. You may cast 100 times and find the key position 30 or 40 times, or you may only find it 2 or 3 times. How many times you find the key position is less important than knowing it exists.
Don’t be discouraged trying to find the key position, just keep casting and look at it more conceptually. Understanding that it exists may help you to discover it.