Spey Lines

Thanks to the advise of Uncle Barry, my strongest consideration for a line is a short belly.
However I do have more questions:
Are there some spey line brands better than others? What would you spey guys suggest?
If there are many good brands is there certain brands I might want to stay away from?

Also, since I've never done the spey casting/fishing before, I would like to know if any of you fish dries and nymphs as well as streamers when fishing spey rods?

Any help will be appreciated. I will around get to buying a casting dvd also.

Thanks: Grant

Good morning Grant.

A question first, to you, what weight rod are you using ?

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"Are there some spey line brands better than others? "
YES !

"If there are many good brands is there certain brands I might want to stay away from?"
YES ! ...... however as I am supplier in the trade, it would not be fair nor reasonable to put any brand down.

"Also, since I've never done the spey casting/fishing before, I would like to know if any of you fish dries and nymphs as well as streamers when fishing spey rods? "
I do
I fish nymphs to dries and streamers on my Spey type rods and in the salt a big streamer for what you call Blues, we call Tailor and Trevars.

Nymph fishing from a Double rod is the most fun you can have because of the facts that the length of the rod allow line mending like you have never seen. The ability to pick up huge amounts of line, and strike a fish 100feet or more down stream.
AND you can fish/cast where other fly casters cannot, (which drives them mad...when you hook a fish)

The fact being able to strike a fish at distance now has allowed me to fish where 'haven't got a clue' I am there. I normally fish 'across and down' and then start feeding line down stream.

Kind regards,
UB

Hello Barry
I was going to include that information and totally forgot.
The rod is an 8 wt, 13 '.
I'm also interested in your comment abuot the leader being an anchor. Is there a common leader wt and lenght that would make a good anchor for this rod size?

Yaffle,

The hardest part of picking a line for a rod is getting the right line for the right rod. One manufacturers 8/9/10 short belly line will cast completely different than someone elses 8/9/10 short belly line.

If I was going to buy a line for a new rod, I'd do what I always do. I call or e-mail Poppy at the Red Shed Fly Shop and ask his opinion. Poppy is all spey, all the time, and has never steered me wrong. Here's his website. http://www.redshedflyshop.com/

I normally tie my own leaders for my two handed rods and they average 15 feet in length. They start at #40 test mono and taper down to 4 or 5X.

There are some nice tapered leaders for two handers for sale that are also 15 feet.

REE

Hey Yaffle, Ron is spot on about picking the right line, if you go to the Rio link on the sponsors page they have a spey line recomendation for lots of rods all based on the wieght in grains rather than 8,9,10 etc.
I use a medium belly line for Nymphing on the Tongariro with a 16-20ft leader and 2 nymphs, one of which is very heavy and I can fish most places no one else can cast to, it is great. The only reason I have not tried a short belly line is that I do not have one! If Uncle Barry says they are good for what you need I would say listen to him, he knows what he's talking about, but try to get the right grain weight for your rod.
All the best.
Mike.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the major brands. Also, with a short head you'll probably find casting a lot easier with a spey leader like Rio's VersiTip.

Randy

What type of casting is the rod best suited for? Scandi? Skagit? Both?

I think a Delta short belly would probably suit most rods longer than 12', though IMHO you could probably just as easily get a skagit shooting head and bomb out some serious casts with heavy sinktips (if that's what you're looking to do).

I'll definitely echo the suggestion to contact Poppy at the Red Shed. That guy is an outstanding resource! Also peruse www.speypages.com/speyclave, the folks there are always willing to help and give you honest feedback.

Marty

A Skagit is a shorter head than a Scandi. With a Skagit you'll have to retrieve more line- advantage when fishing stillwaters, also you'll need less backcast room behind you. Skagit are better for bigger flies, but they tend to make noisy presentations. Scandi lines - a little longer head than Skagit - are more versatile.

I like shooting heads myself. That way can use the same reel/spool.

BTW, with a Skagit line you're casting style will be a little different. You'll let your anchor settle a bit more on the water. With Scandi lines you tend to use a shorter, faster casting stroke, applying more power with your bottom hand.

I fish all types of flies with my Scandi line.

Randy

Good afternoon.
I think Yaffle was asking about a Spey type line.

And not one of the special types of lines suitable for Double rod casting.

The Scandi or Skagit are very special lines which require a whole new learning curve for someone starting in Doubles, which is one of the reasons why I suggested a Short Head Spey line.

Once the caster starts to understand and feel his beautiful Double rod, then if he or she wishes, then explore the other forms of casting...which he or she will... :D

"Are there some spey line brands better than others? What would you spey guys suggest?
If there are many good brands is there certain brands I might want to stay away from?"

I was not going to answer this, you could consider an Airflo Delta, good core, smooth, great coating on the line.

"Is there a common leader wt and lenght that would make a good anchor for this rod size?"

Generally, the leader length will be governed by the fly size, however it is ideal if the butt section of the leader is about 75% or more of the tip of the fly line.

In your case with a 13foot 8w and trout/salmon or steelhead sized flies I, myself would start with 15feet, and would outwards as you developed casting.
The above is if you are using a shallow running or surface fly, for a deep sinking fly, start to reduce your leader length, till you have a 'good' cast.

To start, always start to understand this Double World with a floating line and floating fly, its far easier.

Once you master and start to feel this Spey casting (excitment), then you can expand your ideas and casting to leader lengths like Mike Thomas has suggested and then enter the World of sink or intermediate leaders and or tips.

ps, I now use Shooting Heads, for both the salt and freshwater applications on rods larger than the 5/6w 12footers.

Kind regards,
UB