Yeah It's Heavy but Man Does It Ever Cast!

[Ard]

I'm kind of peculiar in that I don't like to have to string up more than one rod at a time. I also tend to get into a groove and stay there even though it may be a 'rut'.

I'm becoming a believer in heavy lines for use on big waters and the other day I actually strung up a second rod. You may think a 13'9" with a 770 grain long belly rod sounds heavy but I finally used the Big Gun.

15' Winston with an 875 grain RIO Mid Spey line;

That's an old picture but I didn't bother with many pictures on the last outing. I did however take 1,

That gives an idea of how big this big gun is. The rod on the left is the 13'9" with a salmon reel mounted. The Winston is huge by all means of comparison. The Orvis Vortex 11/12 reel made in America, has a good drag and the rod will cast clear across the Talkeetna River! Of course I didn't catch any fish on 100' or longer casts, all were within 50 foot or less but wow what a difference the line makes!

I like the old Hardy rod, I really like the idea of using the long belly 770 line on it but............ the line is too light and the rod isn't really hitting its stride this way. Meanwhile the 875 on the Winston seems about perfect. You can load up a cast with the entire 65' head out of the tip top and then blast out another 20 - 30 feet of running line behind it! I've never used anything this well matched before and will be testing the 875 on the Hardy rod to see if it will work with that rod as well.

That's all I had to say, I just thought we needed to get some Spey chatter going here I did catch some trout on the Winston and no, the rod was not too heavy. When you use a rod like this there is not really a fish in the river that will challenge the rod, only the tippet.

Ard

 

[jpbfly]

That's a man's rod Ard:wow:never casted such a "big gun"

 

[jaybo41]

WOW Ard, that's one heck of a stout setup you have there! Sounds like you could cast a Sasquatch with that thing! If you aren't in shape before casting it, you just might be afterwards :weight_li

 

[mcnerney]

Holy Molly that is a big outfit....You and Dan should have a casting competition! Just let me know so I can keep my head low here in Wyoming when you back cast!

 

[Ard]

Hi Larry,

The really cool thing is, there is no back cast. Zero, nada, none........... You can shoot a fly 80' out onto a river with a high bank and brush right behind you. It is more relaxing than hauling line overhead all day. With the amount of time it takes between casts and the fact that you don't do overhead casting, the weight (a tad over 2 pounds for rod, reel, line, and backing) is not really an issue. You just kiinda cradle the rod in the crook of your right arm while you fish out the cast and when you have to reposition the fly, you use both hands. Pretty cool stuff,

Ard

---------- Post added at 07:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:48 PM ----------

Hey Jay,

As Arnold would say; It'll give you a good pump :weight_li

 

[caseywise]

wow ard, thats a massive rig!!
i'm gettin a spey fever

casey

 

[fredaevans]

That Winston would be a cannon; we're talking about serious fish with that Puppy.

Be a bit careful on over lining the Hardy. Euro 2-handers don't follow the same numbering system as (most of) 'ours.' To over simplify, what we'd call a 9wt they're likely to label as a 10 or 11.

Fred

 

[Ard]

Hi fred,

Currently I'm using an Ian Gordon Long Belly (75') head that weighs 770 grains. The line will load up the rod for long casts if I use the Perry Poke set up but that can become a bit tiresome with 60 - 70 feet of belly out the tip top. What I'm going to do is to mount the Orvis reel with the 875 grain 65' head to the Hardy rod and give it a go once this storm lets up.

We have another big storm crossing Prince William Sound and hitting parts of South central Alaska right now. Out here in the Valley we have winds & rain, wind is around 25 - 35 and gusting. Over in Anchorage the winds are between 65 and 91 mph according to the National Weather Service. Areas like Cordova have had over 7" of rain in the past 24 hours so we are getting off easy here. The rain is however a worry as far as water levels go for the next week.

Back to the rod / line situation; I imagine that I'll be able to figure out where to land on the grains / head length chart by trying the 875. If it feels good I'll be buying another RIO Mid Spey and using it. I e-mailed the people at Carron Lines and they say to use the Carron size 10/11 in 65' head length on a 1981 Hardy like this. The rub is that I can get the RIO at a better price than the Carron Jet Stream line. I would like to keep the entire outfit all British but will have to find a way to justify the cost of the Jet Stream line...........

i'll post results after using the RIO on the Hardy rod,

Ard

 

[fredaevans]

Just a personal observation, but a 75' head on a sub-14 foot rod sounds pretty long (with all those grains going). But, the key thing is you didn't mention (I've missed ) what the 'rod line weight' designation may be for the Hardy.

DO THE CARRON!!**Kidding aside, for 'long headed lines' I've yet to cast one that was better. They're the only 'long headed line' I use anymore. The 'short stuff' is a mix of RIO and Steve Gotshall's custom cuts. The first are 'off the shelf,' the second is an individual line cut/crafted for a specific rod/casting style.

You and I may have exactly the same rod, but doubtful the line we'd get from Steve would be the same (grains/length/etc).

** Hint :secret: The Carron Casting team didn't win all those awards by Ax-E-dent.

Edit: Send some of that cooler/wet weather my way down here in Southern Oregon. Mid week we were in the high 90's, one day hit 100.

 

[Ard]

I understand what you mean about the rod length, it is 13'9" and I went with the long belly because I love rolling casts. It is however a bit too long perhaps.

Rain is being driven to all sides of the house as the winds change. I see brighter skies to the east and can only hope this blows out of hear.

 

[fredaevans]

Noon as I type (well, 1202) and blue skies, already 80 degrees on my front porch. Odd part (Fall has fell?), at 0430, it was 47 degrees. Had to close up the house and turn on the furnace for a few minutes.

 

[mbphotos54]

the first photo should be in a magazine..

 

[Liphookedau]

Ard,Even though I've never tried Spey Casting with a Switch or Spey Rod,I've watched a few Methods Of Spey Casting on You-Tube,seen it Done,tried it with my10ft Rod with A switch Line.
I hadn't heard or saw The Perry Poke until a couple of weeks ago I watched a guy on our Local Lake,I was told he was doing The Perry Poke.
I agree with Fred you have a Nice Cannon,which is capable of Mighty Distances,by the way what size Projectiles can it throw with The 770 Grain Line,as I imagine,as you mentioned it does it quite easily ??
Brian.

 

[fredaevans]

I agree with Fred you have a Nice Cannon,which is capable of Mighty Distances,by the way what size Projectiles can it throw with The 770 Grain Line,as I imagine,as you mentioned it does it quite easily ??
Brian.

Brian, at 770 grains you could tie feathers on a Horse Shoe that would fit a Clydesdale. Just don't let that thing clip you on the back of the head.

:stretcher

---------- Post added at 06:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:16 AM ----------

Noon as I type (well, 1202) and blue skies, already 80 degrees on my front porch. Odd part (Fall has fell?), at 0430, it was 47 degrees. Had to close up the house and turn on the furnace for a few minutes.

Part that's odd is it's 21 degrees warmer this morning. Go figure??

 

[wt bash]

While I've never cast a true "long belly" so this should be taken as pure speculation but I got alot of guff from folks when I said I want to fish a 10wt DT off a 10wt rod employing spey casts alot said it won't load. Then I figured out why I like heavier rods over the light stuff, a heavy rod has the mass to almost load itself and I'd bet if you were to exaggerate your back stroke when forming the D-loop that rod will fire the 775 like it was shot from a gun. The only downside is you will need alot more room to form the D-loop.

 

[mcnerney]

Hi Larry,

The really cool thing is, there is no back cast. Zero, nada, none........... You can shoot a fly 80' out onto a river with a high bank and brush right behind you. It is more relaxing than hauling line overhead all day. With the amount of time it takes between casts and the fact that you don't do overhead casting, the weight (a tad over 2 pounds for rod, reel, line, and backing) is not really an issue. You just kiinda cradle the rod in the crook of your right arm while you fish out the cast and when you have to reposition the fly, you use both hands. Pretty cool stuff,

Ard

Ard: It certainly looks like a lot of fun on the videos that I have watched, one of these days I have got to give it a try. I definitely like the idea that you don't have to have any space for a backcast, lots of places down here that I could put that to use.

Larry

 

[Ard]

When it comes to 'space behind the caster' there are many different styles of casting. I don't believe I have a style, whatever it is that I know about this came from using the rods to fish. I've seen people who use a significant amount of space to the rear when casting, I have tried this and more often than not I end up with my fly striking the shoreline rocks and breaking a hook. It is because of this I seldom allow the line or fly to venture behind me more than a couple of feet.

I believe that these rods and lines would be beneficial for fishing streamers no matter where you are provided you have a big river. They do make the simple task of netting a fish rather difficult though. Due to the length of the rod you either need to bring (drag) a fish to shore (big ones) or you must find a safe rest for the rod and then handle the line / leader to contain the fish. This can cause some pretty hectic and disorganized moments until you get a system down for the actual landing / netting of a fish.

I will also say that my few experiences trying to use these from a boat have been less than fun. They are best utilized when wading and you can stay close to shore rather than wade to the middle of the river because of rod length and casting ability of the rod. It takes a lot more line & fly management / control when fishing longer casts but you catch on quick as to what you must do to keep the fly in the action.

 

[swirlchaser]

I have a Grey's 15 footer that I bought last year for spring Stripers in the rivers. I haven't even gotten in wet yet, I think I'm affraid of it.

 

[Ard]

Hi Marco,

This is pretty common I think, I had my first rod nearly a year before I gave it a whirl. Part of the fear is that of something new and another aspect is that since it's new we figure we will struggle. Nothing much worse than struggling with a fly rod except doing so with an audience.

For overhead casting like you would do for striper's they take some getting used to. If you will be stripping the fly back then a shooting head in the 25 - 28 foot range will do nicely for you. Since you use a stripping basket you can keep a pile of running line in the basket and mastering 28' of line in an overhead cast will be simple. I just wait for the tug on the back cast and then launch it. Because the rod is 15' you don't have to worry about the back cast dropping into the water even if you wait for that tug.

 

[swirlchaser]

Hi Marco,

This is pretty common I think, I had my first rod nearly a year before I gave it a whirl. Part of the fear is that of something new and another aspect is that since it's new we figure we will struggle. Nothing much worse than struggling with a fly rod except doing so with an audience.

For overhead casting like you would do for striper's they take some getting used to. If you will be stripping the fly back then a shooting head in the 25 - 28 foot range will do nicely for you. Since you use a stripping basket you can keep a pile of running line in the basket and mastering 28' of line in an overhead cast will be simple. I just wait for the tug on the back cast and then launch it. Because the rod is 15' you don't have to worry about the back cast dropping into the water even if you wait for that tug.

I overhead cast my switch rods all the time but my plan was to actually learn to spey cast. The rivers don't have the same conditions that the surf has. In the rivers I find myself casting slightly upstream (with obsticles behind me) and dead drifting the fly. Lots of stripping with very little time in the "hot zone". I figured a Spey cast would make this situation a lot easier but I haven't even attempted a spey cast yet. I'll have to ruN down to the lake and get some practice.