lead shape?

[roger de dodger]

ok some leads wont go as far as others ie a watch lead isnt going to go as far as a bomb shape ,but what shape goes best ? could one with a winged shape improve the distance it would travel by improving its lift?is a long bomb shape better than the pear shape?

[StevieR]

Well I think for tournament casting you have to use the agreed type of lead. As for winged leads I think it would be difficult to get the lead to start the cast in the right orientation for the 'wings' to work. I personally think the old DCA aquazoom averaged out would out cast the current beachbomb type lead with the centre of mass slightly forward.

Maybe slightly off topic but when you think how far a lead and leader can go on a crackoff, (well over 400 yards in some cases), I've always been amazed at how much distance is lost through mainline friction and keeping the spool going.

It's free metres if we can reduce these losses!

[gerryl]

well for me and have tested a few (including the one's with wing's!)...it the beach bomb weight slightly forward (as above) and sharper point on the nose (also found this to be more accurate for position) and doesn't turn over in flight...would also say that this travels further with ease when using braid, compared to mono...!my pick would be...

beach bomb (weight forward sharp point on the nose) = feathers, small baits
beach bomb (weight full forward large rounded nose) = large baits

Rgds

[Longrod]

The best weight shape for ultimate distance is the old DCA Aquazoom as Stevie says. We carried out exhaustive tests on many different weight shapes years ago and the aquazoom gave the longest casts everytime. The aquazoon is more stable in flight were the beach bomb shape can tumble if the release isn't clean. The downside is that the aquazoom shape can be bent if it's snatch out of it's casting arc too hard by a missaligned cast or if it hits hard ground at a wrong angle.

The only reason most casting clubs use beach bomb weights is that the UKSF use them. The UKSF used to use aquazoom weights but took up beach bombs as it was the only shape DCA had a full line of moulds for. They couldn't provide a full weight range of aquazoom moulds to replace the ones that were worn out.

It's been mentioned that the UKSF will be adopting the new moulds from UK Hooks (if they haven't already done so)as the beach bomb moulds are now wearing out.

[StevieR]

Yeah I think the leads supplied last month at GP4 were moulded with the UK hooks mould. They're slightly more chubbier looking.

[paddyc]

I have tried the new UK hooks ones too but TBH didnt see any advantage in distance over the standard DCA type.