Spey Casting : Enhanced Double Spey

Here is a Spey cast I have not seen before. I think it is quite an innovative spin on the Double Spey, changing the Double Spey from a waterborne anchor cast to an airborne anchor cast. This cast has the potential to impart more energy to the D-Loop giving deeper loading and longer cast. It also has the potential to shake off some water from the fly before sending it on its way. This may be helpful in instances when we fish dry e.g. deer hair mouse, bomber etc. Note that this cast is kind of like doing a cack hand (or back hand) cast before commencing with the forehand cast.

Excerpt from Peter Anderson's comment in his video :

" The Enhanced Double Spey cast from Peter Anderson. It involves a back hand finishing movement on the first line placing part, this unrolls the fly line out in the air out over the river at a slightly downstream angle. The rod immediately follows round and then pulls the line back into a D loop on the downstream side. The cast has an airborne anchor. Ideal for a downstream wind that is also pushing out slightly from the anglers bank. On longer casts some line can be let slip out also if one wishes before pulling back into the D loop."

Spey Casting a long belly line

Here is a good video by Andrew Moy showing how to spey cast a long belly line. Short belly line like Skagit and Scandinavian line cast a bit differently from traditional long belly line. The stroke required for casting long belly line is longer and that usually means incorporating body motion to assist the cast. Andrew Moy shows us the way here.

Spey Casting - Roll cast vs Switch cast #2

Here is a great video I found explaining the difference between a Roll Cast and a Switch Cast. This is a better video compared to my previous video on the same subject ( Roll Cast vs Switch Cast ).

Peter Kutzer does a good job explaining the mechanics of the cast. He also added a sub category for the roll cast that he called a dynamic roll cast. Not sure if this is a good idea because to me, differentiating between static roll cast and Switch cast (which is the dynamic form of roll cast) should be good enough  and less confusing all round.

As long as the fly & leader does not leave the water during the D-loop set up phase, it is static roll cast. If the fly  & leader leave the water momentarily and splash down again to form the anchor and D-loop, then it is a Switch cast.

Skagit Spey Casting

Here is a nice video showing Skagit style Spey casting. Skagit Spey is one of the three predominant style in Spey casting. The other two being traditional mid-long belly Spey and Scandinavian Spey. Skagit and Scandinavian (Scandi) Spey casting are also sometimes referred to as shooting Spey because of the  use of short shooting head (20ft - 35ft) and thin running line to achieve distance. Because of the shorter head, the D-loop of these two styles are by design smaller than traditional Spey and therefor require less back cast room to execute.

While traditional Spey and Scandi Spey predominantly make use of touch-n-go or kiss-n-go anchoring, Skagit Spey make use of sustain anchor almost exclusively. As the name implies, touch-n-go anchor is set as the leader/fly momentarily touches the water. As for sustain anchor, sink-tip/leader/fly is allowed to sit on or sink into the water column long enough to provide a good grip for the anchor.

Competition Spey Casting

Click this link to the video >> http://vimeo.com/40955484

Watch the masters at work and be inspired. This video shows some of the very best Spey casters in the world pitting their skill in Spey-O-Rama 2012. Watch how Gerard Downey, James Chalmers and Ruairi Costello from team Carron cast to hit 177ft. Take note of their highly energized D-loop, wide casting arc and pointy V-loops penetrating the distance.

Gerard Downey preparing for the forward cast.

Note 1) both arms raised with top arm fully extended. 

Note 2) Rod tilted far back beyond 45 degree for a wide casting arc

Gerard Downey launching the forward cast.
Note 1) Top arm remain fully extended as the rod is chopped forward
Note 2) Bottom arm powers the rod by pulling towards the stomach
Note 3) Firm stop at 45 degree to allow rod to unload

Champion Spey Caster in action

Click on this link to watch this video from Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/26901357

Here is a very nice video clip showing champion distance spey caster from team Carron in action. These are some of the very best distance Spey casters in the world - James Chalmers, Gerard Downey and Ruairi Costello among them.

Here is another video clip from YouTube showing Gerard Downey making a world record 231+ ft (70.63m) cast in CLA game fair. Notice the very firm stop of the rod at about 45degree when his upper hand is fully extended and bottom hand putting on the brakes (at 0:18s).

Andrew Toft, another world champion Spey caster from UK also talks about the importance of a firm stop with emphasis on the the lower hand to stop/block so that the rod can unload efficiently. You can read more about Andrew Toft's fulcrum fly casting style / technique here: http://www.andrewtoft-flysport.com/tutorials.html

Long belly distance Spey casting generally requires bigger casting arc and longer stroke length to aerialize the line This is in contrast to the Scandinavian style casting where the strokes are more compact since the head (or belly) is much shorter. Regardless, both style seems to have settled onto an efficient technique whereby power is applied through the bottom hand, with the top hand being the moving fulcrum / pivot.

Blue Charm - Salmon fishing in Scotland

This is where it all started. Scotland, the birthplace of Spey casting, named after the river Spey. Blue Charm the movie trailer brings you spectacular scenery, beautiful Spey casting, Salmon fishing, running water....its all here....must watch.

Why Switch Rod

Here is nice video I found on YouTube explaining the whats and the whys of Switch rod. There are a lot of confusion out there as to what is a Switch rod and to make matters worst, people are are often mixing it up with the switch cast (a technique in Spey casting).

Lets get it out of the way. - the Switch rod has nothing to do with the switch cast. You can "switch cast" with any fly rod whether it is single hand or double hand rod. Switch cast is just a Spey casting technique. A switch cast is essentially a roll cast done with a dynamic D-loop. You can refer to my earlier post ( http://www.yuenmah.blogspot.com/search/label/Switch%20cast ) to understand the difference between the roll cast and the switch cast. The switch cast is also sometimes referred to as the jump roll.

Now back to the Switch rod; the Switch rod is essentially a double hand rod that is between 10 ft to 11+ ft long. You may think of it as a baby Spey rod. The concept of Switch rod is relatively new in the Spey casting scene and evolved out of the need to fish both single handed and double handed  at the same time. The video will explain in better detail. Enjoy!

Spey Casting Basics: Climbing Curve

Here are three good instructional videos I found in YouTube showing a casting stroke that is very fundamental to all Spey cast. These three videos should be viewed in succession in order to appreciate the principles behind the stroke.

When I started helping friends with their Spey casting, I noticed that most of them encountered problem performing this transitional stroke to the forward cast. I call this transition stroke the upward spiral (rod tip path) whereas it is referred to as climbing curve in this video. People  sometimes also talk about circle-up / rounding up to form the D-loop.

Whatever name you call it, it is undeniably the most important move to master in Spey casting. Many who pick up Spey casting find this move difficult to master initially. Some of the most common problem encountered by new Speyers are:

1) Unable to round-up or spiral-up smoothly
2) Dipping the rod tip too low behind while performing the round-up
3) Paused too long behind before powering forward

FP does a great job here with these three instructional videos emphasizing on the top hand being the pivot, powering with the underhand and how to correctly angle your rod to prevent rod tip dipping behind. Learn this move well and you will be well on your way to better Spey casting.

Speed Poke - A speedier way to Poke

View this at Youtube for better quality

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmF6A5CKeDk

Here is a cast that I rely extensively on when I was fishing in Maldives. The one week plus that I spent in Maldives this year flats fishing Spey style really brushed up all my strokes, especially my cack hand cast. I am really glad I put in enough hours practicing before the trip.

On the surface, this cast looks just like any normal Perry Poke but there are important differences. I call this cast the Speed Poke because all the crucial moves are speed-ed up with the objective of minimizing the sink time of the heavy fly. When Spey casting a heavy fly like the Clouser, the deeper the fly sink during the anchor set-up phase, the harder it is to yank the fly out from the water during forward cast. This will result in a what I would call a stuck anchor situation where the fly would not have enough energy to turn over properly.

When doing the Speed Poke, from the moment the fly lands in the water after the anchor placement move, everything has to move fast to minimize sink time. How I achieve this is by:
      1) starting the forward poke a split second before the fly touch down
      2) starting the rip just as the leading edge of the fly line touches water, before the main bulk of the fly line piles

In contrast, a normal Perry Poke would only start the forward poke motion after the fly touch down and the rip back would only commence after all the fly line has completely piled on the water ahead. These two adjustment to the poke makes this cast effective in handling heavy fast sinking fly.

The speed poke also makes the casting of intermediate sink Skagit head such as Skagit Extreme Intermediate and Ambush Clear Head, a lot more effective. Unlike floating heads that can sit on the water indefinitely, intermediate Skagit heads sinks during the forward pile. This results it more stick and makes it harder to rip and energize the D-loop. The Speed Poke solve this problem by only letting the line touch water momentarily but not long enough to become sticky. The video below emphasis this point more clearly.

Here is another video of the speed poke performed in saltwater flats fishing