[ZachMatthews]

Hey guys-

I love my spey rod, and I think about it all the time. Unfortunately I don't have any water near my house to practice cast on. I took it out this weekend and it took me about two hours to diagnose why I suddenly couldn't develop any line speed with my switch cast (turned out my backcast D wasn't vertical enough, too much time spent sidearming one handers). I know with practice I could develop muscle memory to avoid having to relearn this technique every time I fish.

I pretty much practice every day and I am a hardcore caster, just because its fun. I have been working on breaking 130' with my onehanded shooting heads lately and every time I finish I tell myself to figure out a way to practice with a spey cast.

Is it feasible to make some kind of grass leader for spey practicing? Does this work well enough to be helpful? What would such a leader look like?

Now, second problem, spey lines are expensive. Does anyone know of a way to get a cheap practice line in, say, Windcutter 5/6 or Hardy Mach I 8/9 (I believe that's Juros recommendation for my CND Expert 6/7)? Does anyone sell worn out lines on eBay or know of shops with old demos to sell? I am looking for a line to destroy in the best way I know how- hours of practice.

Thanks,
Zach

 

[Carl]

Practice makes...

Do a search under 'grass leaders' and you'll find lots.

If you've got any stillwater nearby, you can use that too.

It's cool to read that you can boom the one-hander out there. I've been tweaking the heads and line weights to be able to do the same things with the two hander without the wear on one arm. Good luck on grass casting--I've learned a lot by practicing that way. It's great if you can get some rod time every day or nearly that.
I don't have any suggestions on practice lines, except to say that I only have one of each of mine, and the practice line is the fishing line. The green tint of grass stain changes the line colors a little, but I haven't destroyed them. I do wipe them off after practice, and also treat them before going fishing. The quality of your practice surface will affect the wear, obviously.
Good luck.
Carl