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Basic Spey Casting (16 of 16)

Video Transcript:

Spey casting with a very effective means of using a two-handed rod to fly fish for both salmon and steelhead. It's popularity continues to grow. I'm still new to spey casting and I love it. But to get expert advice, let's listen to Pete, about some of the basic casts.

Pete: With a dynamic roll cast, we need to lift this rod up, come back with a smooth acceleration that'll lift. We're trying to establish an anchor point, about a rod's length away. Right here. Once that line touches we then can deliver that line out there. Think of it almost as splash and go. Let it touch, then send it on it's way. If you wait too long that line is going to collapse. And it looks something like this. Come back, lift up, touch, and then go. Lift up, come back, lift, touch, then go. And that's the foundation for spey casting.

One of the first tasks we learn when spey casting to change directions is to single spey with a change of direction. That's simply just that dynamic roll that we need to shift our body to re-position that line out across the water. Now it sounds like the easiest cast when in fact, it's probably one of the more difficult ones to accomplish. That timing has to be spot on when we create that cast.

We're going to lift that rod up, come towards the bank, then we're going to dip down, lift it up, and then we can deliver that cast out and across. Kind of at a 45 overcasting, or straight across. So again, we lift that rod up towards the bank, dip it down, come back, and then make that dynamic roll. We're just making that twist to set up for that dynamic roll. That is the foundation of this cast.

The double spey is actually a little bit easier than the single spey. The reason is you have a little bit more time. Once you flop that line up there, or upstream of you, you have a little bit more time to set up for that dynamic roll cast. This is often a great cast to try first.

With that double spey, I said it's easier, notice how my time that I have. Once I make that flop, I then can wait as that line comes down straight towards me. Then, once I'm ready, I can bring that rod around, set up for that dynamic roll and then send that line out there.

Snap T is a great substitute for that double spey. It's a little bit more dynamic and it's a lot more fun to do in my opinion. With that snap T, we're going to lift the rod tip up, downstream and then snap it underneath that line. We lift this rod tip up and then pop it underneath. That's going to get our line to reposition upstream. We can then sweep our rod around and set up for that dynamic roll. The snap T's a lot of fun and it's a great cast to learn.