Overhang, how much is too much?

[PaulD]

The simple answer is, whether discussing 'pick-up' to start a cast or maintaining line in the air, it's a combination of the factors of; the nature/action of the rod, the line profile and the ability of the caster. The major limiting factor of all of these is the ability of the caster.

 

[ohanzee]

The simple answer is, whether discussing 'pick-up' to start a cast or maintaining line in the air, it's a combination of the factors of; the nature/action of the rod, the line profile and the ability of the caster. The major limiting factor of all of these is the ability of the caster.

It is, but if someone is asking I'm guessing they are in the early stages of understanding how even those terms meet practical application.
I'm thinking the simple answer is usually the the head of the line with the exception of some specialised long head lines, the important part perhaps is know where the rear taper is so you don't try to pick up with a load of running line out.

 

[stevie d]

I'm thinking that might have gone all a bit technical very quickly, do you mean to pick up or to keep in the air?

I was thinking along the lines of after the head of the fly line has been aerialised and you are into the running line regardless of the length of the rear taper. So the caster will have the full head and rear taper outside the tip ring.

 

[ohanzee]

I was thinking along the lines of after the head of the fly line has been aerialised and you are into the running line regardless of the length of the rear taper. So the caster will have the full head and rear taper outside the tip ring.

Good advice already given then, I'd put it as just keeping line tension, if you can maintain line tension you can extend the line further into the running line, longer head lengths can help there.
There is a point where too much overhang will cause problems, variable with skill level, head length etc. and ways of maintaining line tension a bit longer, hauling and so on, but ultimately there will be a point it collapses, so I'm thinking the answer is yes and it varies for everyone depending on the things you mention, but how do you know what that optimum is?
I think the best to answer that are the distance casters that play in that optimum zone, if you make a cast to say 100' you have had to maintain line tension well past what most of us would consider needed, lengthening the stroke, maybe to a 170 degree openness, hauling longer, longer head line...I'd add laser accurate tracking to that even(that's what limits me)

I'd add a strange bit of advice that helped me a long time ago, just an instructor spotting something, I was extending line and maintaining line tension by force, pulling the line with the rod tip faster until the final release, they said just focus on keeping the line tight and float it with the minimum needed to keep it in order, that one small thing changed my whole cast to one of letting it rather than forcing it and lengthened the amount of line I could control.