GreenButt, why are you pointing out something that makes logical/practical sense? Part of the "mystique" of using a spey rod is to make those long, ineffective but wholly impressive (even better if you rip and slash the water) long casts.

On a more serious note, maybe it just takes super sharp hooks. . .

 

Just to hear myself speak. No I'm actually serious. If people hook up at those distances I want to know!

 

I too went wild when I first got my spey rod and tried to cast out 100+ feet of line. After going a while without a hook-up I realized that those long casts look cool, but are totally ineffective for catching fish, I soon started making shorter casts to the closest run/pocket of water to me and have started hooking up regularly with fish on 40 foot or less casts. My last steelhead on my spey rod was on a cast of less than 20 feet. The fish was actually only about 10 feet from shore.

 

Fish are regularly hooked at long distances on larger rivers such as the Thompson. The ratio may be lower, but if you compare your chances of hooking a fish that is 100' away, with a 40' cast...at least you have a shot.
Anil

 

Green Butt
I for one can't cast far.
90% of my cast is 50/80ft.
But it fun to have a steelhead pick up our flies when it just hits the water.
What I'm trying to say is the only time my line gets 100 to 150 ft. out is when there is a pig on it!
When using sink-tips if you use a long (any thing over 5ft) leader your flies will ride higher in the water column. Using short leaders (3-4ft.) this doesn’t happen as much.

.02

 

Well I try to cast a long way also but have decided that I don't need to cast that far with a spey rod. I'm starting to get out about 70' to 80' which I think is good enough for me. Most river that I fish 70' would be up the other bank into the woods. You only need that much distance when you fish the Skagit or the Sky,but then again you wouldn't even get out a long way with a 100' cast as the rivers are too damn wide.

Jim

 

Many spey casters make long casts (and get too focused on that alone) without thinking about the physics/geometry of the presentation out there. It is much much easier to control the speed of the fly on a 40 foot cast vs a 100 foot cast. The physics is clear; if the line near your rod is traveling at the same speed on a 40 foot cast vs a 100 foot cast, the fly has to be traveling MUCH faster at the end of a 100 foot cast. Of course you can get hookups on those casts but they have to be pretty aggressive fish.

So, when you are thinking about mending and slowing down your swing, that means that to get an effective presentation on a 100 foot cast, you have to REALLY slow down the line swing. With a 13 or 14 foot spey rod I can effectively mend all that line, especially when the cast first lays down, although it was something I had to learn.

I hook fish fairly often on longer casts, although I find that longer casts are really not useful on many rivers around here. But I only have success when I am doing all the right things on presentation. On the Sky and other rivers here I am usually fishing 50-80 feet of line which is easier to manage.

Personally, I can't cast much longer than 100 feet (and very few people can) so I don't even think about mending 150 feet of line.

Circlespey

 

There was a thread on another BB that talk about this for days...........