javelin is a good line but not a traditional long belly or even mid, if the casters skill is high enough there should be no dumping of a lot line in the water, i can manage a 75 foot head waist deep or higher in fast water, short lines have their uses but on a large river from late spring until early summer 65 plus spey lines are a joy to use, they are also the only way to develop true technique for use with any system, if you stay with short lines it is harder to learn how to handle mid or long bellies, if i need a short line it is normally for sunk line fishing in which case I would use my tay/tummel shooting heads cut to about 50 foot, the javelin is a good line if you prefer short heads.
If anyone would like to try next cast spey lines on a free trial they can pm me.
i have the following that they can borrow.
Hi Corrib,
I would not thank you for a 75ft head. I have watched spey casters struggle with their casting the world over! Why? because they are trying to aerialise 65 or 75ft heads - as have been recommended to them by some shop.
The upshot is that they lay too much line on the water and cannot get it back out again. And especially so if they are deep wading – which people unwisely do – especially when they can’t reach where they want to – so they move closer. A nightmare scenario but all too common.
It is little wonder that short Skagit lines have become so popular – they are simply much easier to cast. (Although personally I find them clunky/brutal – and don’t like them much).
Even in talented casting hands there are very few rivers wide enough and easy enough to wade (with plenty of room behind) that allow a full head to be worked.
I once discussed this with an experienced angler who swore by 75ft heads – so we met up and had a very interesting session. It transpired that he brought the thick end of the head all the way to his reel. In other words he shaved 15ft off the head to start with! Which meant of course he was really fishing with a 60ft head! I wonder how many 75 footers do this
Let’s also look at cast length. I suggest that a 30 yard cast {90ft}. (from person to fly) is long enough to fish with anywhere in the world. At that length, or less, you can easily maintain control over the fly – the cast should be basically effortless and a joy to perform. Yet far enough to reach almost anywhere – effectively.
So let look at that in more detail.
Rod = 15ft.
Leader 13ft (including poly-tip if used).
We have already reached 28ft out of 90ft!
So that leaves another 62 ft to find.
In fishing situations, at the end of each cast, we bring in about 10ft of line that we will shoot. This fishes the fly in an attractive manner late in the cast, breaks the surface tension and helps lift the fly a little in the water column.
Ok that leaves us 52 ft of head. Perfect! And that is really very easily manageable even by weekenders.
Why, therefore would I ever want to use anything longer than a 50ft head? Well I can tell you I dont
To summarise.
10ft in hand {ready to shoot}. OPTIONAL
15ft within rod
52ft head
13ft leader.
= 80ft to 90ft (30 yards)
So what happens when we change to a 75ft head (in the hands of a pro).
10ft in hand {ready to shoot}. OPTIONAL
15ft within rod
75ft head
13ft leader.
= 103 to 113ft (38 yards)
Does anyone really fish the fly that far away?