Spey casting w/ accuracy?

[Panhandle]

More on the subject of trout speying...

Is it realistic to think that you could cast with dry fly presentation as you can w/ a single hander? I ask in regards to dry fly fishing big rivers. I would think a double spey would be the cast with the best accuracy possibilities.

[Steve Buckner]

You certainly can and should be able to send your dry fly where and how it needs to go with a spey cast, with either a two-hander or single-hander. If you're not able to do it, there is something amiss with your cast. All of the spey casts are accurate if performed correctly. Is there a specific problem or issue that you've noticed or were you just asking if it could be done?

[Panhandle]

No problem yet, but I percieve there's going to be one:D I'm using the two hander for the Kootenai, Clark Fork, upper Columbia and others- mainly for nymphing, swinging, and stripping streamers. No brainer there. however, the need to drop a dry fly where it needs to be on 50-70 ft cast seems much more difficult with a spey rod. I've never worried about precision swinging for steelhead. Keep in mind, I'm not an experienced spey caster. I do, however, consider myself an accomplished/expert single hand caster. :cool:

[Steve Buckner]

With practice, you'll have no problem setting your fly at those distances or more. If you're having problems with accuracy, here are a few things to check:

Make sure your anchor is where it needs to be. An anchor that is too far upstream or too far downstream creates an inefficient d-loop and that will rob you of both distance and accuracy. The bloody-L will also detract from both distance and accuracy, make sure your fly, leader, fly line and d-loop are in a 180 degree plane prior to your cast.

Make the right kind of anchor. As Simon Gawesworth says, there are really only two types of anchors:'The splash and Go' - and the 'Waterborne anchors'. Make sure you know which casts use which type of anchor and practice you placement and creation of each.

The tracking of the fly rod on the forward stroke has got to be straight. If you see your casts veer to one side or another, especially after the fly line has extented after the cast, that means that you're fly rod tip is going out of plane somewhere during the forward stroke. Try to make you casting loops as parallel as possible. When they're parallel and in the same casting plane, they'll be much more efficient as well as accurate.

[Panhandle]

Thanks Steve.

[fredaevans]

One thing to consider (Steve's given you some great info above) is to 'practice' "air mends" with your line as you cast. Do use 'big bugs' on my 2-handers, but it takes a bit of practice to chuck in an air mend so your fly down, leader/line up at the end of your cast.

Fred

[bigtj]

I think that overhead and a double-handed casts should be thought of as different "tools" designed for different situations and the trick is to use each ones for conditions in which they really shine. If you want in-close, accurate casting i.e. for spring creeks (yes on big rivers like the Henry's fork) to individual rising fish, I can't really understand why you would use a 2-hander trout spey and a spey cast; it's going to disturb the water a lot more, putting the fish down in many cases, and you simply can't get the same accuray. The overhead cast is so accurate because you can gauge the distance with false casting away from the fish, then drop in the cast you want right at the fish when you're ready. A spey cast is much more work to gauge distance with because when the cast is completed - which has say 2 or 3 moves in it - you've got to do another move like a forward spey or a snap-t just to get the line back in place to get another cast in. It's too much work and inefficient for accurate point and place type casting. To add to this issue, a typical trout spey is much heavier, longer, and doesn't provide the delicate type of presentation you could get with say a 9' 4-wt. So I think it's fair to say that if you're looking for the absolute in accuracy, go with a single hander or use an overhead cast with your trout spey, not a 2-handed cast. In other words, I'd use a trout-spey and 2-handed casts to cover a lot of water, but head-hunting with dry flies I'll switch to overhead casting, and might even go to a lighter weight single hander if head-hunting is all I'm gonna do.

A 2-hander is usually accurate enough for big bugs on a large freestone river where the fish are more opportunistic. You should be able to dump a #2 salmon fly into a pocket the size of a 4 by 8 sheet of plywood at say 50 or 60 feet with a 2-handed cast once you have gauged the distance with a cast or two. But don't expect to get micro-accuracy with these rods and these 2-handed casts at short ranges to picky fish, you're much better off overhanding in these cases which will work just fine with a trout spey.

[Salmon Chaser]

It's tiring to place a bomber in a 1sq foot area time after time with a two-hander. Spey rods and dry fly are not for me, in about 95% of my fishing. Most of my bomber work is done with a single hander,,, a 8'6" Fenwick World Class and a 3 5/8 LHW perfect.
Salmon Chaser

[Hal Eckert]

It's tiring to place a bomber in a 1sq foot area time after time with a two-hander. Spey rods and dry fly are not for me, in about 95% of my fishing. Most of my bomber work is done with a single hander,,, a 8'6" Fenwick World Class and a 3 5/8 LHW perfect.
Salmon Chaser

Ditto for me too, except if I am skating flys on a big river then I will go with a two hander. For precise dry fly work though single hander is the way I prefer.

:beer2:

BG

[Philster]

All I can say is that in my opinion, if you have any hopes of dry fly over rising trout type accuracy with a two hander you better have honed your skills enough to be able to have a so called tight compact "effortless" castin stroke, and preferably a tight looped "tip cast" with a line a little light for your rod. If you are using your entire upper body to cast with a body rock, you don't stand a chance...

[Panhandle]

My question was really posed towards light weight speys and trout fishing large rivers. Though I know this scenerio would not be critical in fishing applications, because most of these incidents would not require long casts, it made me think about- just how accurate can you you be with two hander? In other words.. alot of time on my hands.

[Salmon Chaser]

It's a good question, and i answered with your original question in mind. I fish Atlantic Salmon Exclusively on the East Coast. My "dry fly" fishing is with big bulky bombers up to 3" in length. I can not cast these for long periods of time with a two-hander because mainly it is just not enjoyable. This style of fishing is a quick drift/pickup and cast again. No long drifts on my home rivers. Some rivers require a long drag free drift and so they may dissagree with me,,,cool:thumb: But if i even think of trout dry fly fishing with a spey,,,, my mind quickly goes numbbawling: It is just not enjoyable. I know your original question was about accuracy,,, so yes,, you can cast accurately with a two hander but it is just ALOT OF WORK!!!!! I personally do not find this type of fishing much fun,,, others ccan and do dissagree. If you can do it,,, dandy!!
Salmon Chaser