FLYMPH FORUM

skunkaroo wrote:I'm going to experiment with a slightly longer and heavier line to see if spey casting is viable (for long line presentations).

It is. In his Catskills presentation, Dr. Ishigaki demonstrated casting a 9 meter line (to which he added a meter of tippet). I've used a 6 meter line and a meter of tippet while fishing for bluegills from a boat (couldn't manage 9, but his rod is longer and I don't know spey casts). You have to hand line the fish you hook, and you still have to use 5x or thinner tippet, so I wouldn't expect you'll catch steelhead, (and I'd expect you'd break your rod if you try to). Let us know how it works out.

CM_Stewart wrote:It is. In his Catskills presentation, Dr. Ishigaki demonstrated casting a 9 meter line (to which he added a meter of tippet). I've used a 6 meter line and a meter of tippet while fishing for bluegills from a boat (couldn't manage 9, but his rod is longer and I don't know spey casts). You have to hand line the fish you hook, and you still have to use 5x or thinner tippet, so I wouldn't expect you'll catch steelhead, (and I'd expect you'd break your rod if you try to). Let us know how it works out.

Thanks. That's good to know about the longer line working. I tried a couple of simple spey casts with my current line tippet configurations and it worked to a point, but the spey cast needs more weight in the line to anchor the cast (particularly with "short" lines). I'm thinking about adding a section of 4 or 5 wt running line before the tapper (I have a couple of old lines I can cannibalize).

I'll let you know how the experiments proceed.

Aaron

Hot damn, I got to fish the long rod today, what a blast. I won't say it is going to take the place of my other rods but fishing that is a blast.