[laguna lefty]

this new forum is a great idea. until a year and a half ago i had never even seen a double handed rod much less used one. but after i lost most of my right hand i found them to provide a way for me to keep fishing. i fish warm saltwater almost exclusively and rapidly found that the spey lines turned to sphagetti in the warm weather but i also found that i could use regular warm water weight forwards with the big rods if i overlined them. i guess i could have saved myself a lot of experimentation if i had found this site earlier but maybe it was better to work things out for myself. at any rate i learned about grain weight by myself and found that i really could cast 90 plus feet with a two hander.
if i have any problems it is that i sometimes can't keep a tight line on fish. redfish will often run right at me after i've hooked up and it is hard to catch up with them with a right hand that lacks trhe dexterity to play a fish. in this respect the long rod is sometimes a disadvantage. does anyone else have this problem?
my other problem is getting enough backing on a reel. i've tried to use my old reels but they lack the capacity to handle both backing and the big weight forwards i now use. i can, of course, cut the running line short but i find that the larger diameter running line helps me handle the line when casting or retrieving. if i cut too much i end up casting backing and that is almost impossible for me to handle. i guess the obvious solution is to buy bigger reels but i could use some advice on brands. i like bauer and loop but maybe there are better choices? ]
anyhow, i'm going to keep working at improving my skills and maybe i can learn to cast spey style. i really look forward to using this forum more and talking things over with the two handed masters.

 

[Gunner]

This response if from one newbie to another, so take it with a grain of salt.
I use gel-spun backing -- it's thinner and stronger than dacron so you get more on a spool.

 

[Maxg]

Well you could move to heads, with very thin running line, and Gel Spun Braid backing. The heads are longer than the normal WF lines and with normal leader lengths, the running line doesn't need to a mile long. Like 36 feet of head, 10 feet of leader, is 46 feet. To cast 100 feet you only need 54 feet of running line to handle. Which is about standard 9 foot rod requirements. So the reel need only be what you use on your 9 footer. You essentially remove 90 feet of thick Fly line and fit on 100 feet of thin head/running line. And there is the backing space saving of removing dacron and replacing it with GSP. To use the reel for 9 foot rods you just replace the head, or replace the head/running line with your WF line.
If you get used to casting 45 foot heads, try AirFlo, you can go down in line class, like a 30' 12# head is about 400 gns and a 45' 10# head is about the same. This gets the diameter down, and its a bit easier to cast.
The net gain of longer heads is less running line out for similar distances with shorter heads.
But using a DH overhead rod the cast length is dependent on rod length, all other things being equal. Basically the longer the longer.
I've used one of Bruces T40 tungsten lines, which is 54' and 625gns, for testing on a Loop 8/9 Blackline double hander and it cast very well. I didn't get it 150 feet but it went 120 feet easy as pie. I'm still waiting for Bruce to produce a practical rock fishing T40. Sinks like a brick though.
Cheers Max