Alvey Handcasters?

[Eulachon]

Greetings all,
Looks like there is a wealth of information to be had here, and I look forward to picking your brains.

I do alot of "rough traveling", mostly carrying what I can fit into a backpack. I have tried using a pack rod, but find that it's still cumbersome. So I have recently been looking into the possibility of handline fishing. I see that Alvey offers "handcasters"... a spool onto which fishing line is stored. I wonder if any of you have used these before, and/or have casted handlines before and can give me a brief summary of the techinque and any success you've had. The Alvey website doesn't provide any details on how to use them. I mostly fish from shore, and so casting for distance will be important to me.
Thanks.

[chanquetas]

Have you considered a collapsible rod and reel? You can buy quite good 7 piece rods these days that would fit nicely into a backpack, teemed with a reasonable quality reel you could cast to billy-o.

Alveys are great, but I dont know about using them as hand reels.

No doubt the more experienced fishos will soon chime in....so its over to them.........

[Eulachon]

Thanks for the suggestion of a compact rod. But I already have one, and it is still at times too much. I was looking for something very minimalist, and the hand line option seemed worth consideration.

But just to be clearer, the Alvey "handcasters" are just a simple plastic (or maybe fiberglass... can't tell) spool, onto which you wind your fishing line. They are not a "reel". Apparently using a bottle or a soda can is a popular, low-tech techinque that has been employed for decades. I think a coke bottle might be a good option, since the hour-glass design would lend itself well to winding the line in the narrow area, and then when the line is "casted" into the water, it would peel off of the end of the bottle with very little friction. But the Alvey handcasters also seem to be designed for low friction casts, and I was just wondering if anyone hs tried them.

Thanks,
Eulachon

[Fishin_Dan]

I bought a small handline the other day at Kmart for 87c.... No-named ones will always be cheaper!

[chanquetas]

OK Eulachon. I think you're talking about those handline thingies with about a 6 to 8" handle, with a reel on the end? You can open the handle and stick your tackle inside? And the handle allows you to cast a reasonable distance. Thats what I'd be going for...

OR....if you REALLY want to go minimalist you want on of these.

http://www.backcountry-equipment.com/accessrs/a-misc/handline.html

[Eulachon]

Thanks guys,

Thanks for the link to "Streamline hand lines"... I have seen these before, and that is sort or what the Alvey version is like. The Alvey "handcasters" are just a simple loop of plastic that come in 5 sizes... from 4 to 10 inches, but they don't have any handles (to my knowledge). They cost between $1.00 to $3.00 so even if it doesn't work out the way I'm thinking, I'm not out that much. I was just wondering if anyone here has tried to handline fish from shore, the technique they used to "cast" the line, and how successful they might have been.

Thanks again for the replies. I'll make the "investment" in a couple of the "handcasters", and see if I can make them work. I'm planning a trip to Baja, MX next month and I'll take them along and see what trouble I can get myself into ;)

Cheers,
Eulachon
www.aglowphoto.com