Teaching Spey

[Morsie]

If you were asked to single out one move, which part of the many Spey moves do you find those who are new to this branch of fly fishing struggle with the most, and how do you teach them that particular move?

[Graeme H]

This is a great question Morsie. I'm looking forward to seeing the answers that come.

So far, the majority of my students are seeking single hand Spey lessons, but I get a few interested in the double hander too. Regardless, and although it's possibly not the most difficult part of the casts, the one I find most important to teach is the formation of the D and subsequent delivery cast. It's basically the dynamic roll cast, and since it's common to all the casts, it's the part of the cast I make my students focus on before moving to the other true Spey casts (which are just variations on forming the anchor position.)

I start them from two fundamental initial conditions, depending on their prior skill level. Both converge on the same end result: a repeatable dynamic roll cast.

One starting point (for a less advanced student) is a static roll cast, progressing into a dynamic roll from a Perry Poke with the anchor already in place. This lets them get the hang of throwing line behind (180° from the front target) without having to worry about the initial pick-up first. (Then it's the oval cast routine mentioned below.)

The starting point for an advanced student begins with a good oval cast (knowing they can already make good roll casts). I begin with a PUALD that forms an oval cast instead of the traditional overhead presentation, and after several "good" oval casts, I get them to reduce the power on the back-cast portion until the leader touches water. They keep doing that until they can land the leader in the "correct" location consistently.

By the time the student has the jump roll cast in their arsenal as a "non-thinking" skill, they have usually developed enough control of the rod tip to grasp the other anchor placement skills (snaps, double-Spey, single Spey, snake rolls) with little effort. That is, the work required to get the jump roll to the required level has forced them to develop the required skills to quickly pick up the remaining aspects of the various casts.

But as you'd expect, I don't get to teach Spey casting very often in Perth. I'm very much hoping others chime in and provide some other advice on teaching these casts. This is the hardest set of casts for me to develop lesson plans on.

Cheers,
Graeme

PS - Finding a student with a very good roll cast before they seek Spey casting instruction has so far been very rare indeed. Only one to date ...

[Morsie]

Thanks Graeme, for your great summation. Yeah the basic roll cast as its been taught for years is pretty bloody bad and a poor foundation to Spey casts, like building a sky scraper on bare sand. Tony Loader described Spey to me as learning a "cascade of moves". Get one wrong and it's all going to be a downward spiraling cascade of catastrophies. What I find difficult is the disconnect between words and actions in what are seemingly very simple moves. My guess is that people spend so long trying to get a basic overhead cast right, (but it isn't, it's usually just functional) and that Spey just magnifies those things that are half way correct. The lift for example.........

[Graeme H]

Ah yes, the lift(s) …

I use and teach three of them in any dynamic roll cast:

• Lifting the tip as the line first leaves the water,
• Lifting the tip as the D “inflates”, and
• Lifting the tip as the loop extends.

Anyway, I hope some other instructors speak up.

Cheers,
Graeme

[VGB]

No idea on the teaching side but as a student who could already Spey, I had to take the speed out of the movement which didn’t take long. What I had to consciously had to consider control was to pull with the lower hand as opposed to pushing to a straight arm with the top hand, and to work out which hand was going in which direction before every cast, the tip path stuff was straightforward after that. Haven’t fished the DH but it was bloody good fun to cast.

Regards

Vince

[Morsie]

For me the hardest move to get students doing well is the circle up. "Cutting the corner", or wanting to default to a standard overhead backcast half way through the circle up is a very difficult habit for many to overcome. Most effective teaching method so far is to film them and show them what they're doing. Slowing down is also a big part of this. Teaching locked arms and body rotation helps too, and also keeping the reel in one plane. So many moves...........

[Graeme H]

I guess the sparse responses indicate not many board members are teaching the Spey casts. That's a shame because I'd really like to compare my lesson plans with others. I don't have a lot of confidence in my own lesson plans because I'm pretty much self-taught. What worked for me over the period of 18 months are probably not the most efficient lessons for my students over a few hours. Seeing what works for other instructors might prompt me to concentrate on other aspects of the casts.

Who here teaches Spey casts?

[jarmo]

Greetings.

If you were asked to single out one move, which part of the many Spey moves do you find those who are new to this branch of fly fishing struggle with the most, and how do you teach them that particular move?

I teach DH spey casting (THMCI via the old route). A typical student is not "new to this branch," but some are.

You asked us to single out one move. I would take the sweep.

I used to teach it via the switch cast, but I now greatly prefer Perry poke. I teach on stillwater.

Have fun!

[Paul Arden]

I think that the most difficult movement for people to master is the anchor on the Single Spey 45 degrees. I think the best tip is to watch the flyline end and steer it into position with your eyes.

I didn’t post because it’s double handed but I’ve been teaching single handed Spey casts for a long time

For double handed I think the most difficult thing is what to do with the other hand.

Cheers, Paul

[Lasse Karlsson]

Hello there

I can't put my finger on one single thing.

My short list is:
Thinking the rodtip is at water level before lifting, but it's 5 feet above.
Thinking a sweep was done, but it was not.
Thinking the D loop is ready for a forward cast, but it is not.
Thinking they are widening the casting angle, but they are shortening it.
Getting ok singlehanded casters to understand they shouldn't make the whole cast using their singlehanded preference.

The single spey is the hardest cast of all speycasts, especially the 45 degree version. Usually it's the last spey cast I teach, as it's people who would like to go fishing, I teach mostly.

Cheers
Lasse