Teaching Spey

[Morsie]

Thinking the rodtip is at water level before lifting, but it's 5 feet above.

Yeah its a really weird one. With a single hand rod its not too bad - "there's your fishing position so that's where you start the cast from". But I had a student a few years ago who started with his rod tip exactly like you said, every time. I explained and demonstrated in as many ways as I could, but it just wouldn't get through. His wife had bought him two 1 hour lessons and on the second lesson I waited to see what he'd do and yep, straight away 5 feet up with the rod tip. So I said "Every time I have to tell you to start with the rod tip touching the water its going to cost you $2......" At the end of the hour I took $30 off him, but he stopped. Learning is sometimes connected directly to your wallet.

[jarmo]

Greetings all.

So I said "Every time I have to tell you to start with the rod tip touching the water its going to cost you $2......" At the end of the hour I took $30 off him, but he stopped. Learning is sometimes connected directly to your wallet.

Economics in practice.

I think that the most difficult movement for people to master is the anchor on the Single Spey 45 degrees.

The single spey is the hardest cast of all speycasts, especially the 45 degree version.

The single spey is simply a thing of beauty, my personal favourite of anything that happens in fly fishing.

Interestingly enough, my 45 degree single spey is better (automatic, fluent, minimum effort) on my non-dominant side, while all other speys - including the switch cast - are better on the dominant side. The reason is clear: over the years, I have spent so many hours fishing the right bank of river Teno, preferring the single spey whenever possible. I find it intriguing that this on-the-field practice has made the non-dominant side superior in this single task.

[Morsie]

The single spey is simply a thing of beauty, my personal favourite of anything that happens in fly fishing.

Amen to that, agree completely and it's not a cast that has caused me too much grief. I spent a lot of time learning the Switch cast, then especially trying to create D's and V's, and it simply became a matter of rotating the body for that angle change a few degrees at a time. I use it when ever circumstances allow, because its just so nice and so efficient. I really like Travis Johnson's method for the single Spey - almost locked arms and seemingly 90% body. I know it's not that, but it certainly helps me if I operate with that in mind.

[Mangrove Cuckoo]

Being completely self taught, and having no real reason for spey casting other than for fun and some silly tests, I can easily remember two moves that I found difficult.

One was the sweep on the single spey. The few books and fewer video disks at that time could not agree on whether to dip or not.

The other "move" that was difficult was getting to the other side of the beach inlet! That was the only place I could find water moving and cast knee deep.

I do not teach spey and have never been asked.

[Lasse Karlsson]

The Sweep is indeed a problemchild of the single spey. That litterature can't agree is nothing new, and that wether or not you should dip depends on several things too, doesn't help Generally though, a late dip is something to avoid..

I mostly practice spey's on still water

Cheers
Lasse

[Graeme H]

Hi Gary,

I’m surprised you’re not using the Spey casts more often. Now that I know them, I use them many times in any given session. They are the most efficient way to change direction, and since we (salt water fishermen) need to cast to moving targets (or we move relative to the targets), they are a natural fit for us.

Yes, we fish in still water often, but that doesn’t matter. That change of direction makes them so very useful.

Cheers, Graeme

[Mangrove Cuckoo]

Graeme,

Yeah, I need to clarify my above remark... I was referring to traditional 2 hand Spey.

A buddy gifted me 2 traditional rods after trying them for overhead surf casting and finding them not to his liking. I enjoyed learning 2 hand techniques and playing with them, but otherwise there is not much use for them here.

On the other hand, I agree with you. I find some of the techniques very useful in my everyday single hand casting.

And now that I think about it... around a year ago or so, a guy contacted me for "casting" lessons. We spoke a few times to get an idea of what he wanted, where to meet, etc. Along the way his expectations were clarified: he wanted help on using trout spey from his stand up paddle board.

I referred him to a local fly shop. Their "instructor" is an expert in everything.

[Will]

If there’s a single thing I’d focus on for all Spey casts, whether SH or DH, I’m going for a clean lift.

In order to move the line around to reposition an anchor you have to get most of it out of the water under tension . Not enough line off the water? Excess line sag as it leaves the water? Both result in a loss of control resulting in the anchor not going where you want.

Most Spey’s go wrong in the first few feet of rod tip movement. If the line doesn’t come out cleanly the caster is just chasing an error, and it rarely ends well.

This applies to sustained anchor and “touch and go” casts.

IMHO we manage the lift via rod-tip height, speed of lift, and tip path. These vary with current speed, head length, and end tackle. So rather than giving specifics on tip height, speed (how?), etc. I think it’s better to find external cues such as the amount of line left on the water, and the shape of the line between tip and leader as it leaves the water.

Just my thoughts, and experiences!

Any good?

[Paul Arden]

Excellent post, Will

[Graeme H]

Yes, that’s a great post Will.