The Lift in Spey casting
Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2023 2:49 pm
Hi All
I have been using a DH rod for Salmon fishing for many years, and I like to think that I’m pretty decent at doing different types of Spey and Switch casts.
But one thing I’ve always been doing, is a pretty fast lift of the line off the water, before the sweep into the D-loop. I do this to get the cast going quickly, and also to avoid having the fly snag on the bottom of the river (I always use sinking shooting heads in my local river). And this has always been functioning for me, and I have never seen the need to change my cast.
But during the last couple of years, I’ve been watching a lot of casting videos on YouTube, about doing the Spey/Switch cast. And in these videos, the Instructor always stresses that you should do a very slow lift of the line, before sweeping into the D-loop. And when I say slow, I mean really slow!
I’ve seen respected people like Simon Gawesworth and Tellis Katsogiannos say this, plus many other great DH casters, whose names I can’t remember.
I should perhaps point out, that I didn’t learn to Spey cast from an Instructor, but instead I’m self taught. But like I said, I have been using a DH rod for many years.
So my question is, how important is it to do a slow lift of the line before the sweep? And should I perhaps start practicing and teaching myself to do it this way? Or should I just carry on doing what I’ve been doing so far, seeing that it apparently works for me?
Cheers
Bendix
I have been using a DH rod for Salmon fishing for many years, and I like to think that I’m pretty decent at doing different types of Spey and Switch casts.
But one thing I’ve always been doing, is a pretty fast lift of the line off the water, before the sweep into the D-loop. I do this to get the cast going quickly, and also to avoid having the fly snag on the bottom of the river (I always use sinking shooting heads in my local river). And this has always been functioning for me, and I have never seen the need to change my cast.
But during the last couple of years, I’ve been watching a lot of casting videos on YouTube, about doing the Spey/Switch cast. And in these videos, the Instructor always stresses that you should do a very slow lift of the line, before sweeping into the D-loop. And when I say slow, I mean really slow!
I’ve seen respected people like Simon Gawesworth and Tellis Katsogiannos say this, plus many other great DH casters, whose names I can’t remember.
I should perhaps point out, that I didn’t learn to Spey cast from an Instructor, but instead I’m self taught. But like I said, I have been using a DH rod for many years.
So my question is, how important is it to do a slow lift of the line before the sweep? And should I perhaps start practicing and teaching myself to do it this way? Or should I just carry on doing what I’ve been doing so far, seeing that it apparently works for me?
Cheers
Bendix