Hey guys, I'm a newbie here, decided to learn spey , I bought a Sage X switch rod 8114 because the river near me is not that big, I thought 11ft will do the job, and I paired it with intouch Switch chucker Spey #8 line with 25 ft head, 520gr. During my practice I found out that the line is too heavy with the sinking leader and streamer, and difficult to cast. Is my setup incorrect? Please give me your advice,any help is appreciated.
You don't say what kind of casting you are doing. If you are using the setup you describe and trying to do an overhead cast, you definitely have way too much weight. These lines and sink tips are designed to be used with sustained anchor casts which makes the sink tip not be as much of a factor. So...for now find a floating line, a used skagit line for your rod would be perfect. Learn your basic Double Spey and Snap T casts with the floater and then move into the InTouch setup. Getting some lessons is the best way to learn.
I was trying to learn a snap T and double spey , as you said ,I did try normal clear line(maybe float line) yesterday, it works, Maybe sinking leader is much difficult for beginner.
I believe you would be much happier with a shorter Skagit, or perhaps a Rage Scandi type line. I would go with a short-head Skagit line around 550 grains if you want to toss tips and a slightly lighter Rage for dry line work. One can toss longer heads with shorter rods but it is much more difficult.
Lots of unknowns here. I'm not familiar with this line. It was mentioned it's about 55', sounds midbelly'ish. Was it designed to carry tips or are you talking about a poly leader. Weighted fly like an intruder or something on the small side? What type of casting have you been attempting? Either way if you don't perform the lift correctly to get the line out of the water at the beginning of the cast the rest of it will never come together for you.
Sorry, I didn't describe correctly, it's a switch chucker, 25 Ft 520gr, that specifically designed for switch rod. My streamer or tube fly are no weighted.
Thank you folks for replying to my post, I would do little bit update. I tried change floating leader ,that much lighter and tried to cast double Spey and snap T , getting better now. I also changed to "Rio single handed Spey cast line", that is much better than Switch Chucker, easy to handling. All casting practices were doing in backyard on grass , does grass damage fly line?
Dillon, you seem to be well underway now. You know what weight line is compatible with your rod, which will guide your future selections. There are about five spey casts, plus some variations and hybrid versions. Plan to learn at least most of them in the future, so that you can deal with contrary winds, or cover a specific lie. Learn to cast with either hand up; it may sound daunting, but it comes easily enough. You'll probably find that one cast is most compatible with your bodily response (I use the double spey most of the time), but try the other spey casts perhaps once every day, to keep from getting in a rut.
If you're practicing on grass, your problem is probably no anchor. Spey casting utilizes the surface tension of the water to proved an anchor point against which you load the rod.
Search on speypages or on RIO's site for a grass anchor that you can make yourself. It's a monofilament leader with a blood knot every couple inches, with tag ends left a couple inches long. The tag ends create "grip" in the grass along the leader, somewhat like surface tension on water.
Your 525 should be about right, and shouldn't have any trouble throwing a tip.
My first switch/spey rod was a Redington 11'3" for 8wt. I paired it with a #8 Switch Chucker (520gr) and found it very easy to cast - in the river. I wouldn't spend much time trying to learn to cast on a lawn. Even a lake or pond is better to learn casts like the switch cast.
Thank you for your advice, We are following "stay home rule "in our town because the stupid virus, kids are home , I'll feel guilty if I out fishing , left kids playing video game at home.LOL so I would try to practice in backyard for now.
One of the hardest lessons to learn, especially if you're coming from a single hand casting background, is how slow you need to make your sweep and power stroke. Go as slow as you can bring yourself to go, then go half that speed.
My background is bass fishing,salmon trolling and steelhead centerpin fishing, now I tried two months of spey casting.Thank you for you tips,I will try that for sure.
Hey guys, I'm a newbie here, decided to learn spey , I bought a Sage X switch rod 8114 because the river near me is not that big, I thought 11ft will do the job, and I paired it with intouch Switch chucker Spey #8 line with 25 ft head, 520gr. During my practice I found out that the line is too heavy with the sinking leader and streamer, and difficult to cast. Is my setup incorrect? Please give me your advice,any help is appreciated.
Yeah - you bet. You mentioned streamer fly in your initial post.
Its so important to be as detailed, and accurate as possible. Especially over the internet.
Be safe.
Cheers.
Let's see: there's the double spey (slow and graceful, like performing ti chi while standing in water), single spey (powerful but difficult to learn), snap-t, circle spey, snake roll (flashy but practical), and the wombat, which I couldn't even describe.
The Chucker is a great line and capable of many chores... 1. I would recommend getting a lesson from a qualified teacher.. 2. Casting on grass with Spey rod has its limits as you have no anchor so most important to take your time on sweep and let your d-loop load the rod.
You can make a practice leader by tying a series of blood knots leaving tags on to grip the grass. Also you YouTube some Spey casting videos, but getting in the water with instructor will really speed up your learning curve.
You are getting some very good tips here, I especially concur with the notion of slowing WAY down, and just generally using less force than you are probably inclined to use. I’ll add my 2 pennies: I totally get that your current learning situation is uniquely challenging, but while I understand your desire to “do something” right now, I would be very hesitant to do excessive lawn casting before having some casting fundamentals established. I could see potential to develop some muscle memory develop some casting idiosyncrasies, which would later need to be unlearned. The other tidbit I’d suggest is to practice and develop your skills on a floating line with an unweighted fly. It’s not that casting with sink tips or weighted flies is any harder, it’s just that in the beginning they can often encourage using excess force in your casting movements. Having a sinking fly or tip can also rush your timing, and that is the last thing you want in the beginning. Once you have a bit of a feel for the basics, it should be no big deal at all to cast with sink tips and bigger/heavier flys.
Best of luck,
JB
Get a Nextcast line. Have Simon give you a recommendation and go with it (for my short rods I like the coastal) or have Steve Godshall build you a line for your rod. I love the intermediate that he built for swinging slow and deep. You will be happy with either one and both will out perform your Switch chucker.
Hello.. I hope you´re getting on just fine with your switch setup. Switch rods could be a more difficult start in the doublehanded world, they´re generally a tad fast, and so they call for very precise timing in the cast. An ordinary 12-13footer is a more gentle start. I´ve used #9 Switch Chucker on my #9 Sage Method 11´9" switch rod. Remember that this line has a VERY strong delivery, lots of ( kinetic ) energy comes out to the tip of the line. It can behave just like when you cast your singlehander with no leader, if you´ve tested that you know that the line tip behaves funny. For the same reason. You can dampen this effect by using a leader with some mass, an ( Airflo ) Polyleader or a ( RIO ) Versileader. A heavier fly might also help. It IS a bit of a specialty line.
You´d be advised to use a compact casting stroke when using s switch rod, some people say that you should keep your hands in a ( imaginary ) small box in front of you. Excellent piece of advice! The short head of the Switch Chucker enhances this routine even more, or you will lose your anchor. Most instructional videos you´ll watch will refer to the ordinary, longer doublehander, using a different, "wider" technique which is of little use with your rod.
Once you understand your line, it´s a good idea and a fine line, given it´s restrictions. I was using my line for a couple of days now on a small river and with a 17´leader and a single hook #8, it was... challenging.. I could have eased the difficulties by using a floating or intermediate shorter leader, offering the same anchor and some mass to balance the line tip , but then you cannot leave these at home.
Just for fun, I copied and enhanced this idea, making an 21´head line for dropshotting large ( 2" ) weighted nymphs for early season fishing. Line was designed to match my #8 Method switch. Using about 50 grains of lead on the end and a 24 grain nymph and this compact casting technique, it covered the river just fine. Adapt your casting, use the correct leader up front and you´ll appreciate what you´ve got... Yours borano20
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