Simple Tips for Better Spey Casting: Why the angst about distance casting?

[@Whitty43]

I agree with this, distance casting is not the be all and end all but it is very handy to have in your armoury!

[@MilanesaConFritas]

Hey Peter! Thank you for getting this out there, I am a 22yo from Argentina, trying to better understand flyfishing, and I have a hard time getting the right information on how to fish my local rivers (Limay river for example), as they are quite large and windy. Distance casting there is a must, I personally practice it a lot with a single hand rod with a shooting head attached to a light mono running line (15lb amnesia). I typically fish for both migratory browns and rainbows, they woth require you to cover a lot of water.

[@hooked4lifeca]

I've never fished in Argentina, but I have heard that the conditions can be challenging.

[@MilanesaConFritas]

@@hooked4lifeca If you ever think about fishing here I can show you around. I can hook you up with some 3/4 kg trout.

[@lorenirving8230]

I think you're probably right about this for all the reasons you mention. Personally I find myself casting consistently about 70' in all conditions and that works just fine. I have seen guys on the rivers I fish that cast further but to be honest I am not too convinced that they are fishing the "run" and the "seam" much or at all better than a well placed cast of 70' or so and the handling of the line and one good mend that set's it up. I am thinking maybe they are just fishing further away from themselves... All this of course is my excuse for not being able to make that 100' cast with a skagit head and 10' of T14.... And Peter, I appreciate your comments and opinion on this and you are right... I am reminded that without any doubt the most productive steelhead fisherman I know still uses a 10' 10wt single hand Winston and has a consistent 65 to 70 foot cast, which is pretty impressive as it's the same cast as I saw him use when he started mentoring me on steelhead in the 70's and he's now 81. Really appreciate your podcast and I'll try to add a few feet!!! Loren Bend

[@hooked4lifeca]

This simplest way to look at it: if a 100' cast is required to suit the conditions and we can only cast 70' (my cold weather example) then our odds are diminished. If we can cast 100' but only need 70' then we only cast 70'. It's just another tool. I produced this video as I've listen to people actively discourage other anglers from enhancing their casting distance abilities as it was "unnecessary and just showing off".

[@LineSpeedJediTimRawlins]

Excellent Peter!

[@steverobson720]

Hi Peter, 120 foot cast is the thing of dreams for most people and that's a lot of line to handle and put out even in perfect conditions. I have a couple of go to lines on your local river, rage and fist with 31 foot and 22 foot heads. With a 10 foot polyleader and about 6 feet of flurocarbon, I still need around 60 feet of running line to get to 100 feet, that's a lot of running line to manage. What line or head length would you be using for 120 foot casts?

[@hooked4lifeca]

I'm using mid to long belly lines for those long cast. I've found that the maximum running line off the reel, that I can manage is around 60' to 65'. There's simply too much drag from all that running line on the water to permit us to shoot much more plus the odds of tangles go up. The beauty of the mid to long belly lines is that we don't have to shoot a ton of running line. If we have a 75' long belly and we have 45' of running line off the reel, we have 120' of line in play.

[@steverobson720]

Thanks Peter, same with me. 50/60 feet of running line is at the max of being manageable. What long line would you recommend for a 13' - 8wt? The rage and fist are both great lines, help to improve your casting ability and with various polyleaders, can cover just about any condition. Another 20 - 30 feet would be amazing.

[@hooked4lifeca]

@@steverobson720 For a 13' rod I'd stay under a 60' length belly. If you could get your hands on one, an old Airflo green Delta would work nice. Other lines I've tried that impressed me: Hardy, Gaelforce, Beulah Aerohead, and Carron. Unfortunately I've not be able to try any of the new Rio lines so I can't comment on those.

[@stevetrybalski3082]

Great insights.

[@mikeking453]

Single hand cast is a joy if you can cast far just to watch the line roll out