Why can't a piece of yarn be used like a bullwhip in fly fishing?

[Jim Alexander]

I am new, thanks in advance for the help. I have had some electrical engineering in the past, but mechanics were never my strong suit. I remember some calc and physics, but I am rusty.
I am a fly fisher, and I am studying fly casting to better my understanding of designing my own tapered leaders.
my question is, why can't you crack a piece of yarn like a bullwhip? I am trying to understand how the taper of the fly line to a thin, flexible element suddenly "looses" energy so the fly lands gently on the water after all the muscle of getting the fly line such a far distance out.
thanks,
Jim

 

[jim mcnamara]

Hmm. Not definitive but a magazine article about some calculations by Jeff Kommers - then at MIT.

http://discovermagazine.com/2008/the-body/18-the-whip-like-physics-of-fly-fishing

I cannot google a published paper - probably my problem somehow. Someone else here on PF will know more.

 

[Nidum]

Google ' Fishing line dynamics '

 

[Jim Alexander]

Sorry I was away from the computer for a few days. thanks for the replies. the article by jeff kommers is an interesting one. googling the topic came up with a few things, but even among engineers/scientists who have studied the subject analytically, little is available for leader design but the guess-and-check method. I wish I knew more, to be able to at least narrow down design and expectations before having to load up a rod and test drive it.

thanks to all.

jim