I also do a lot of roll casting with light rods, but here is what I have found... Start with a Wulf triangle taper... It is not WF or even DT in profile, but far more gentle in the taper. It allows casting at any distance. A DT is generally considered a better roll castig line than a WF.
If someone thinks they need to overline for roll casting there is a basic disconnect at work. (sorry Sean
) The best way to fix the disconnect is to learn to roll... In tight places and very short roll casts the extra weight may seem to make it easier, but in reality you are trading ease of getting the line moving for reduced accuracy.
Watch Riley gently roll cast 60' time after time after time and it will remind you of the Winston Churchill line "To shoot a good game of pool shows a well-rounded youth; to shoot too good a game of pool shows a misspent youth." Then watch him cast long with a roll...
The Scientific Angler's Steelhead taper is about the same as the triangle taper as well, I think. It is designed for roll casting and fishing larger flies while still being able to over head cast extremely well. I have one on the way for my switch rod to make sure this is true, so don't quote me on it (yet).
An over lined rod is easier to spey cast. A spey cast is a roll cast that never touches water until the loop is fully curled out (if done correctly...doesn't always happen ;)). Big difference between a spey cast and a roll cast, and I think this may be where much of the confusion is. In the spey cast the heavier line weight is needed to throw 100' of line with 15 feet of back casting room. For example, I run a 500 grain line with 10' of T-14 (Tungsten core sink tip 14 grains per foot) usually. so 640 grains for a 7/8 weight rod where a regular fly line for a 8 weight rod is about 210 grains.
But to maintain the topic, a single hand spey cast is somewhat easier with a heavier line, but the weight in line you over line to spey cast you hurt yourself in overhead casting. A regular roll cast doesn't have the "D loop" to load the rod so the heavier weight isn't needed like it is for a spey cast. Furthermore, a single hand spey cast isn't needed for small stream fishing because you aren't casting far enough to utilize it.
Riley
