Dry spey casts

[Peddler]

Okay... be gentle! I'm new to this two-handed stuff but I'm sure (or hope) that you've heard much dumber questions.
I'm wondering which spey casts can be practiced standing on the shore casting into the water. I don't want to ruin the heads by beating them up on the grass by using grass leaders if I can help it. Thanks to having too many lawyers around, all of the waters nearby they do not allow wading.
The rig (13-1/2', 8 weight) and Skaggit head are new but illness and this damned heat over the past few weeks never allowed me to cast it until just this week.

muchas gracias!

[White Hunter]

Hi Peddler

If you can stand on the edge of the water then you can practice them all.
For standard Spey cast set ups it is desirable to position the anchor directly off your casting shoulder "upperhand most side" prior to the delivery. There are advantages and disadvantages to both when putting the anchor in front and behind this position but for practicing form it's a good place to aim for..

I would be positioning the line parrallell with the waters edge and making as if the line was on the dangle in moving water, from there the practice would be making a Spey cast of your choice, sending it out into the water at various angles, but returning it to the start position each time, typically by swapping hands and using another Spey cast to put it back.

I Hope you get much enjoyment out of this brilliant way of presenting a fly..

Cheers
Lee

[jomeder]

Hi Peddler,

I've done a lot of spey practice on the grass and my tips (using a Windcutter with tips) seem to be in pretty good shape. I do tend to use one of the faster sinking ones rather than the floaters mind you. I use braided loops on the tip to leader connection and those are a bit battered. I did use a grass leader originally but couldn't be bothered after a while and just use straight mono. Although it's hard to practise timing because you don't get good anchors you can practise all the movements and that's a big help.

All of my double handed fishing has been done off the bank as the rivers are generally too fast or steep to be able to wade. If you're using a Skagit setup you should be able to practise most casts off the bank I would think. I find the problem with casting off the bank using my Windcutter is that the D loop is so big it gets caught up in bankside vegetation or hits the bank, as I'm often a foot or two higher than the water. You need a pretty ideal bank or it gets frustrating. I have done a bit of casting with a Skagit head and that's much easier, as the D loop isn't so big and you can make decent casts while setting the anchor a bit further out.

I think Skagit heads are ideal for casting off the bank so I'd just go and get stuck into it if I were you :-). I'm looking to get a Skagit setup myself entirely for making it easier to cast off the bank.

Regards,

Jo

[Peddler]

Thanks for the replies!
My days of procrastinating on practicing with this rod are now over!