Spey Tips that Actually Helped

[jkdurden]

Already 'liked' lots of good advice. My contribution = Slow the F*&# down! Cast with minimal effort - don't use strength to compensate for shitty technique. Get that D loop formed opposite the direction you want the cast to go.

One need only look at Mike McCune’s demonstrations on Vimeo to see if you’re putting in too much effort. Effortless power is the goal…and Mike is one of the best that I’ve ever seen.

 

[MoreQuestionsThanAnswers]

This for sure. Because when thing start to go south, and the caster gets frustrated, the first instinct is to start hitting it faster and harder, which only makes things worse. Sometimes it’s good to just stop for 5 minutes and calm down, then try again, in slow motion.

Come to think of it, the same could also be said for SH casting when trying to get a really long cast. Punching it hard with an audible grunt can often collapse the rod tip and throw a tailing loop.

At least that’s been my experience!

Andy

Golf swings also.

 

[prmike307]

One need only look at Mike McCune’s demonstrations on Vimeo to see if you’re putting in too much effort. Effortless power is the goal…and Mike is one of the best that I’ve ever seen.

Yes he is effortless!

 

[flybill]

"Aim higher and stop quicker." - Meiz's response to my frustration with my Highlander CX after I'd been fishing a Highlander S for a few years.

Turns out, he was right. Who knew?!

Aaron Reimer used to say the same.. "Look at the eagles, not the sea gulls!" If you look up, you'll stop higher and let the rod do the work.

Lift, pull, watch your anchor (~ 1 rod length from you, at your target), bring the rod up to the firing position, let the D-Loop form, pull with your bottom hand, stop high and then let the rod drop as the loop straightens out and fish.. repeat as necessary.. step 3 steps down and repeat!!

Bill

 

[the_grube]

Simon G's instruction video for the switch cast has really helped my single-spey this year. I was pulling my anchor way to hard and setting it behind me. https://www.google.com/search?q=sim...#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:6a991c93,vid:A49hs2nq61s

 

[Styskal]

Speycasting should always be evolving. There are new things to learn despite the lull in creativity that we see now. My mentors were guys like Mike Kinney, AL Buhr, Marlow, Aaron Reimer, and even Heinrich Mortenson focusing on short heads. They are all valuable tools to add to one's repritore of casts to use. Even Ed Ward opened my eyes to his Skagit style of casting which was graceful and enjoyable to watch when Ed did it. Not so enjoyable when the countless Skagit experts hacked it to pieces and it became a marketing scheme with zero talent involved. Obviously my opinion on this and no shits given if you disagree your free to.

The evolution of a speycaster use to be to learn all the different styles, from short heads to long lines and be able to use those tools to fish every situation one could find on any river in the world. To be able to do them all equally was considered casting at a very high level. Not a master because no one masters speycasting it should always be evolving and impossible to truly master in a life time. Keep it real, keep it new, keep a smile on your face, celebrate that fish you hook on the perfect cast. Be humble!

 

[Bob Rankin]

Speycasting should always be evolving. There are new things to learn despite the lull in creativity that we see now. My mentors were guys like Mike Kinney, AL Buhr, Marlow, Aaron Reimer, and even Heinrich Mortenson focusing on short heads. They are all valuable tools to add to one's repritore of casts to use. Even Ed Ward opened my eyes to his Skagit style of casting which was graceful and enjoyable to watch when Ed did it. Not so enjoyable when the countless Skagit experts hacked it to pieces and it became a marketing scheme with zero talent involved. Obviously my opinion on this and no shits given if you disagree your free to.

The evolution of a speycaster use to be to learn all the different styles, from short heads to long lines and be able to use those tools to fish every situation one could find on any river in the world. To be able to do them all equally was considered casting at a very high level. Not a master because no one masters speycasting it should always be evolving and impossible to truly master in a life time. Keep it real, keep it new, keep a smile on your face, celebrate that fish you hook on the perfect cast. Be humble!

Nicely put.

 

[Herkileez]

Imo, the most common mistake people make is trying to cast the line, instead of letting the rod do it. Slow down and let the rod do the work.
It also helps to visualize the path your hand would take when throwing a dart: a flat plane, not an arc, just before releasing the dart. Now repeat the same plane with the rod tip when letting the rod cast the line...and again: Don't you cast the line...let the rod do it.

 

[O' Clarkii Lewisi]

Another tip from my past was Derek Brown and waltz timing. Lift , two, three... Side cast, two, three... Forward cast, two, three.... Drop, as in follow the line to the water with the rod tip. I was casting the other day, and I remembered this, and my casting got more graceful, and more efficient.

 

[Bricaud]

Anchor Centric Spey Casting: Theory, Methodology & Practice

5% from the sale of this book goes to the Wild Steelhead Coalition. What is the essence of the spey cast?It’s a question author Zack Williams spent a decade pondering. After answering for himself, he spent the next decade learning how to most effectively teach what he had learned as a guide on...

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