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cackhanded or switch hands?

  • cackhanded

    Votes: 134 50.2%
  • switch hands

    Votes: 58 21.7%
  • switch for some casts, cackhanded for some

    Votes: 42 15.7%
  • all of the above, i am a truly ambidextrious spey god.

    Votes: 33 12.4%

cackhanded vs. wronghanded

10K views 41 replies 29 participants last post by  dutch cornelis 
#1 ·
for off-shoulder casts (wrong wind, wrong side) how many of you are casting cackhanded, vs. switching hands?
 
#2 ·
Glad you had the 'Spey God' choice.

'Practice' is something I don't do very often (I just fish and let that be the practice bit), but I do force my self to cast either hand up as appropriate.

If you want to put in some getting used to (comfort level) casting either hand up, just pull out one of your single handers and do some grass casting to build up a comfort level. It works.

fae
 
#3 ·
i've tried that Fred. about 8 or 10 years ago, i forced my self to learn to cast lefty. mostly so i could teach lefties better. can do it fairly well now, but still better back handed. where it is hardest for me lefty with the single hander is with a streamer and lots of weight, or on small dries, accuracy suffers. just never felt natural. if i go all day throwing big dries from the boat, i'll mix it up,50/50 roughly, and i'm fairly comfortable. i figure at the same rate, in another 15-20years maybe i'll be able to cast the spey rod lefthanded ok too!!
 
#4 ·
Since I have gone almost exclusively to skagit - used to love the long line but shoulder and elbows problems have caused me to stick with one system - I am for sure cackhanded - it takes a bit less time on the river to stay with one hand up and I am truly left hand stupid!! I think if I had stayed with long lines, I might have tried to learn left hand up but my cackhanded casts are just as strong if not stronger than my other casts
 
#6 ·
A little of both...

I don't like/haven't figured out the cack-handed Circle Spey, so I switch hands for that. I can cack-hand the Double Spey pretty good, but it just doesn't feel right to me, so I've been switching hands for that.
 
#10 ·
I don't like/haven't figured out the cack-handed Circle Spey, so I switch hands for that. I can cack-hand the Double Spey pretty good, but it just doesn't feel right to me, so I've been switching hands for that.
If I'm reading the above correctly, I too fall into that z;iufxf!!:mad: I can cast either hand up, but there are casts that I just can't pull off (as in almost at all) depending upon which hand is higher on the rod. As an example, river right and right hand up I can really chuck a snake roll. Don't ask me to do a Circle or snap t ... river right or no, I have to have the left hand up or it's 'game over.'

River left, just the opposite. But maybe that's why I should just put a bit of yarn on the end of my leader and 'practice.':eek:

fae
 
#7 ·
When I switch hand, I end up casting backwards. (kidding)....
But Casting over my opposite shoulder is probably my best technique, although doesn't apply to many situations. I think that truly a combination of these techniques and hybridizations of such occur after years of fishing, not necessarily casting, resulting in deliberate and improved situational line control.

Kurt
 
#8 ·
I was lucky and was taught to cast both right handed and left handed, it has especially helped me when one method would develop a problem in technique that I could not figure out, then switching hands for little bit, till I was mentally ready to cast with the proper hand for the current conditions.

Mike

I would like to learn to cast cackhanded though, just one more trick in the bag!!
 
#9 ·
Cack handed because:
1] I have previously injured my left shoulder, day to day it's fine but it sometimes 'cracks' or 'clicks' when extended & it is less likely to protest if it remains the bottom hand which ever shoulder I am casting from.
2] I'm so very strongly right handed that, notwithstanding the above, I'd really have to work very hard & concentrate to achieve 50% of what I can manage easily with my right hand up top.

So I stick with the easier [for me] option & enjoy my fishing more.

Regards, Tyke.
 
#11 ·
I've tried to switch hands and if I don't think about it it'll be a fine cast but most times my head gets in the way.
 
#13 ·
Forgive my stupidity

Forgive my stupidity. What is crackhanded? :confused: I was taught to switch hands depending on which side of the river I’m on and that is the way I've all ways done it.
 
#14 ·
speyoholic - cackhanded is just casting off your opposite shoulder rather than switching hands - quite easy to do especially with the shorter head line systems - not quite as easy with long belly lines but doable - for those of us who are very left hand stupid it works great and in fact it is likely my strongest cast
 
#20 ·
Sad to admit, due to too many years fishing single handed shooting lines I had to learn cackhanded in order to stop over powering the rod with the upper hand. The key is what ever works best for the individual and most importantly allows the rod to do what it was designed to do.

"it's all about the hunt"
 
#24 ·
It depends on the cast

Whether to go cack handed or wrong handed depends on the cast for me. For the double spey I prefer cackhanded to wrong handed. For the Snake Roll which is my favorite of all casts when my back cast is limited I have found that I can cast all of my long belly very easy right or left handed. It is also my favorite cast when I am using quite a bit of weight because the size of my e or funny 9 is all I have to control to line up well.
Since 98% of my practice is fishing I am inept trying the Snap T or single spey with the river going the wrong way and for a right hander with the river going left to right the double spey or snake roll covers all wind conditions for me.
I find some bank, trees or river angle positions so tough that I have to snake roll a couple times and then perry poke to make the cast as the window can be really small.
 
#26 ·
oh thank goodness people cast crackhanded. My rod is scheduled to arrive tomorrow so I haven't done any spey casting but most of my river fishing was going to be river right and so i would have to fish off the left side. I've tried going through the motions with my left hand on top and it didn't feel like it'd be very powerful but seeing how lots of people just go crackhand it seems like i won't have to try to force myself to do left hand on top
 
#28 ·
mikebarrand - if using hsort belly lines such as skagit or scandi I would not think that range of motion should factor in as the casting motion is relatively short and right in front _"staying inside the box". If you are having issues with these lines I would concentrate on minimizing hand/arm movements

I would see a potential issue with mid and long lines where rod drift and longer strokes may be advantageous
 
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