Jeff Hickman is back on our blog today with a very simple but incredibly important spey fishing tip.
Don’t Cast Too Far.
For some reason, people equate spey rods to long casts. Sure you can cast a spey rod far but that is not the main advantage of using one. Much of the time if you are casting too far, that is a disadvantage! The real advantage is that your fly stays in the water fishing longer, you can control your swing much better with the longer rod and you can cast using much less effort and with limited room behind you.
Some spots do require a long cast to fish effectively, but not many. Most spots the fish lay out of the heavy current not far off the shoreline. When you cast way out into the fast water, the fly doesn’t sink at all. The heavy tension on it can wreck the speed of the fly when it swings into the softer holding water where the fish are more likely to be. More importantly, when you cast long the fly doesn’t swing effectively all the way in below you – meaning you aren’t even fishing the whole spot!
Finally, never underestimate the water right in front of you that can only be covered with a really short cast. The grab with only a few feet of line out is savage!
Agreed. The last three Steelhead I caught on the lower Deschutes were barely a rod length from me.
Couldn’t agree more. I’ve stepped on some of the largest fish chasing some of the smallest.
I know this blog post is older, so I hope someone sees my comment. Thank you Deneki for such great information for us beginners!
My question is this, how do you manage short casts with shooting heads? Or, maybe, what do you consider short casts? I often walk to water where the inside seam is no more than 20 or 30 feet off the bar and have a hard time getting an effective presentation with a skagit head. Tips?
Travis,
For those short, sink tip barely out of the guides cast,…I use a soft single spey. Just a soft sweep by rotating my waist slightly will get it done. I often continue this until the distance and sink tip weight start to require more power.