To Spey or Not To Spey.....

Hello everyone,...... I'm curious about Spey Casting. :? Aside from the obvious benefits (distance, distance, distance), what are some other benefits over conventional fly casting :?: :?: I'm a long time transplant from SoCal beaches where I was a surf fisherman (bait in those days) :roll: and have an understanding of why the long rod in that instance but it doesn't translate well for me in this time/place.... :?: :?:

Not trying to bait anyone here. I can see some pros/cons with spey casting that someone with expertise may be able to explain/summarize :? :?:

Thanks again 8) 8)

Hi Darian! I was curious about it too, so I asked and there is some discussion on the thread down below, subject heading: "A love of spey fishing." Wasn't sure if you saw that thread. Although I still haven't figured out what the attraction is aside from certain advantages (and maybe that's good enough), it is my distinct impression no one spey fishes for bluegills.

Mike,..... Amen to the Bluegill thing. :) Maybe one of the benefits is that you can lob a multiple fly cast better (like 14 at a time :?: ) :twisted: :twisted: Actually, when you think about it, maybe you could high stick a number of flies on the surface.... :?: I seem to recall reading about fly fishers in Europe holding a rod up in the wind to allow the leader/flies to barely touch the water. 8) This was done, mainly, in lakes. I think they called it dapping :?: :?:

Thanks for the tip on the other topic. I'll read up on it.

OK, I've read all of the posts under "A love of Spey Casting" and have come to the conclusion that I will have to try it to see for myself.... :) Kinda sounds like Spey casters are enamored because its fun to do. (Not a bad thing :D ) Adam has a special need (....due to his wrist condition) and I can respect that. 8)

However, I'm not sure that beyond having a good time, distance and Line mending, I understand what the actual advantages are :?: :?: I've fished standard rods in very large rivers and caught as many fish as the next guy. Also, I haven't seen any info where Spey casting results in increased catch rates.

I've felt no disadvantages when attempting to mend a line with my standard line/rod. So, it must be a scale thing. Mending is easy for a spey caster as the longer rod allows more line to be casted/mended :?: My mentors always taught me that it wasn't necessary to cast clear across a river as there were just as many fish on this side. 8)

Is it ease of casting, then, as Adam states :?: :?: My mentors also taught me to that a line in the air is not catching fish. When using a standard weight forward line or shooting head system, I try to keep my false casting to a bare minimum. So, it's fairly easy and not overly tiring. I have to admit, that it looks fun :D but is that a real advantage/benefit over standard rods :?:

During a conversation I had with Jay Murakoshi, I asked him if he thought Spey Casting would be ab advantage in the surf :?: He felt that line control would be a major disadvantage in casting a spey line in the surf. (too much line out..)

I do think there's potential for some other applications as well as distance casting. 8) 8)

I thought I also read that you can roll cast a tremendous (relatively speaking) amount of line with a spey rod where there's no room for a backcast. Another benefit of this is you eliminate having line in the air (false casting) entirely, keeping the line out of the air where there's no fish, as you say. Maybe some of the spey guys can comment on this as well....

Cool, a practical question as to why to do it besides it being fun, which it is, and addicting too.

OK, how many false casts does it take you to pick up, change direction, and put 60 feet of line out? How about 1.

Can you put 100 feet of line out with any amount of casts? And fish the entire drift with only a simple, effortless mend or 2? You can with a spey rod. And again, with 1 cast.

Can you, with 1 cast, pick up a 200 grain sink tip with a big ugly on the end of it and shoot it 80 feet with a single hander? How about doing it effortlessly, all day, and without your arm falling off?

Aw shoot, it's just because it's fun. They're not practical to fish with. :lol:

Hi Moose,..... Thanks for the insight. It does look like fun :D :D I may yet try this thing. But, for now, I'm gonna let my practical side stay in control. 8) Maybe some evening after some Bushmills Single Malt, I'll trip off to Kiene's and try it out :twisted: :roll:

Thanks again.....