However, an appropriate cast can be narrowed down by remembering the following. This is especially useful on wide rivers that offer challenges, like rapids, to traditional short-range fishing. Action. To simplify these the single Spey is used when fishing the true left bank (left bank looking downstream) to position the cast across the river. The cast uses the current to put your line in the right position to start. Elliott Barnes shows how perform a snap t Skagit cast on river left. Site by 21 Designs. Your email address will not be published. The first portion is a line re-positioning move from the dangle straight downstream followed by a “Switch Cast” to cast the line in an across the river direction. This allowed anglers to fish water that was bordered by natural vegetation. Most spey rods on the market in the 9 and 10 weight class are just too long, in the 14 – 15 foot range. The key to mastering the left hand lead Spey cast is to firstly train your mind to Spey cast using your right hand which will in turn give the precise commands to your hands to completely take on board your entire understanding of every component of the cast. Phone: +44 (0)131 618 7058Email: jock@salmon-fishing-scotland.com. Jon Hazlett with Confluence Outfitters performs a Snap-T spey cast on the Rogue River in Oregon. This cast is best utilized with an upstream wind or no wind. Learn how to 'lift' your fly line correctly which is where the majority of Spey casters fail as the short stroke shooting head casts have distracted from this vital elements of the Spey cast and many instructors don't teach the ascending high smooth lift or even understand what I'm referring to here. As the vast majority of the population are right handed learning to use the less favoured left hand will open up a completely different dimension to your game. Bruce Kruk is on the podcast to share some tips for spey casting with a focus on long belly spey lines and long 14, 15 and 16 foot rods. River Right - Current moving to one's right. Using the Delta Spey, with its fifty five foot head, no sinking tip and a leader of around ten to twelve feet or so, my previous cast will have been made to a point about thirty one yards away near the opposite bank, at an angle of about forty five degrees to my left hand bank, and allowed to swing to a point as near as possible directly downstream. This field is for validation purposes and should be left … A powerful 7 or 8 WT rod is good for larger steelhead with heavier lines and flies. More often than not, there are more than one effective spey cast to use for a given situation. Thinking 'outside the box' when fishing conditions are tough on the salmon river will often provide the tactical adjustments that'll eventually grind out the only fish of the day however to get there you must have these skills and the tactical agility to deploy a new approach when you see the normal fishing approach failing. Designed to spey cast for steelhead, SA's Deliverance Spey Line Kit is a short head with four interchangeable tips that will cover nearly any fishing situation you might encounter. Captains for Clean Water: A Mission That Holds Water, Deneki Custom Fly Series: Andros South Shrimp, Deneki Chronicles: Spey Casting Tips – Anchor Placement. The “Perry Poke” is an upstream shoulder cast. In this video he is casting an R.L. Get your fly moving in an unexpected manner and keep it completely unpredictable and watch the difference. So what you have to do is relocate the line - if you can't cast to the right-hand side of the line, move the line; put it even further to the right than you want to cast, and then you can cast to the left of it's new position. Wind Direction: Dictates which side the appropriate cast must place the anchor. A river where this type of casting became popular was the Scottish River Spey, and this type of casting today is known as Spey casting. Eventually some smart anglers figured out how to cast long distances with a roll cast, so that the back cast didn't have to be aeriolized. He performs the cast right-handed on river left. Spey casting is a type of casting used in fly fishing. One of the lovely River Tay salmon beats I frequent has the most amazing right hand bank on one of its main holding pools. Most Spey rods will be either medium-fast action or fast action rods. Examples: Double Spey and Stap T casts. Spey Casting and Fishing Lesson by ... Level up with this customized spey casting class that shows you not only how to cast sink tips and weighted flies ... we will use jet boats for this class to access the best water and allow you to work on your casting from both “river right” and “river left… It may be your lawn, a park or a nearby school. If you're a salmon fly fisher there's a massive tactical fishing advantage in learning to Spey cast. The river would be flowing from the right to the left with the bank behind you. Master Your Left Hand Spey Cast. • 10 am - River Left (Switch Cast, Single Spey & Circle Cast) • 12:30 pm - Stream Side Lunch • 1:30 pm - River Right (Double Spey & Off Shoulder Circle Cast) • 4:00 pm - Shooting Line and Mending • 6:00 pm - Dinner • 7:00 pm - Reading the Water Day 3: • 8:00 am - Breakfast • 9:00 am - River Left (Review of Single Spey & Circle Cast) If you're a salmon fly fisher there's a massive tactical fishing advantage in learning to Spey cast. In this video he is casting an R.L. Examples: Single Spey and Spiral/Snake Roll casts. The “D Loop” will be placed on the upstream side. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. This cast can be set up with a minimal “D-loop” behind the caster if necessary. For a right handed caster this would be from river left. As the vast majority of the population are right handed learning to use the less favoured left hand will open up a completely different dimension to your game. The Echo King rod comes in 9 and 10 weight models and the 13 foot length offers the ideal amount of leverage. Therefore, the Spey cast was developed so one could successfully cast on a large river such as the Spey. Jon performs the cast right-handed from river-left. This generation has been redesigned to sit lower in the water, helping to better load the rod when making the cast. If you continue to use this site we assume that you are okay with it. All of the fly fishing took place from the left bank where there was nice easy tapered gravel wading which was crazy as the right bank was aligned with the running and holding zone for salmon due to a sharp right hand downstream meander. Having the ability to deploy your salmon fly effectively from either side of the river regardless of the wind conditions is basic tactical preparedness that every salmon fly fisher should have in their fishing bag. Always think about these two … For those getting started with spey casting and really for just about everyone for that matter, it is a very good idea to practice spey casting on the grass or turf. Our starting position is on the dangle and it is our intention to cast (up to) 90 degrees across the river (you can do more but there are better ways of achieving this) We will say that, for this example; we are right-handed, we are on the true right bank (looking across the river it is flowing left to right) and there is a down-stream wind (remember we want to keep the fly downwind) It’s a powerful cast that works when you are casting from river right, if you’re a right-hand caster. I learned the single spey (the most difficult cast) with my right hand on the top grip and then with my left hand on top. We bring it to the bank of the Clearwater River and the Upper Columbia with a focus on steelhead fishing. The double Spey works in the opposite direction to position a cast across river from the true right bank. Start with stripping out a portion of the line from your reel. Walk to the river and we start talking about 'River Right" and "River Left" and begin with a Switch/Roll Cast, and build from there. The “Double Spey” is broken down into two phases which makes it a two-dimensional cast. The problem for many was that there was a high bank leading into fairly deep water so no one ever attempted to put a fly through it from the right hand side. Most everyone has grass nearby. It is used as an alternate to a “River Left”, “Single Spey” cast. The river is known by anglers for the quality of its salmon and trout fishing, including a particular form of fly fishing where the angler uses a double-handed fly rod to throw a 'Spey cast' whereby the fly and the line do not travel behind the fisher (thereby keeping these away from the bushes and trees lining the banks behind him or her). There's a far greater sense of satisfaction when you hook & land a fish that's required a tactical rethink than any fish that appears from the robotics of a normal salmon pool approach. Sustained Anchor Cast - Cast accomplished by presetting the anchor and then forming the D-loop on the second move. Once your brain and right hand are in full control of proceedings then all you're looking for from your left hand is simple mirror duplication. On the occasions I'd put a fly through it I always got hold of salmon and recall a few days where I caught 2 or more from one swing through this perfect pool as salmon just weren't seeing a half decent controlled fly presentation from that non favoured side of the river. This is why sub surface thoughts of fly control & stream swim behaviour are so essential in salmon fishing as a one dimensional right hand Spey cast 'launch & hope' specialist will have little chance of catching a fish with the 'repetitive' boredom they're creating in the minds of resident salmon. They are also inherently much safer because the fly never goes behind the caster. http://linespeedjedi.com/cack-handed-double-spey. Typically, a third or half of your head length is sufficient. The two traditional Spey casts are the single Spey and Double Spey. So simply put, if you are standing in a river facing the center of the river and the water is flowing from your right to your left. River Left Skagit Double Spey - Cack Handed. Smoothness of lift and swing are the real weapons in mastering the Spey cast so obviously your less powerful left hand is going to naturally be easier to train than your hard hitting dominant right! River Left - Current moving to one's left. Spey casting originated in the heart of Scotland in the mid-1800s. The improved design will get you casting more efficiently and keep you more connected to your fly through the entire step, cast… Spey anglers describing this scenario would say you are fishing “ River Left.” At this moment, you are beginning to fish. I learned to cast with a RIO Accelerator, a long-belly line. Next, place a short cast toward the middle of the river at a 45 or 90° angle. We find out why longer spey rods in the 14 or 15 foot length are actually great tools for the beginner to cast a lot of line. River Position: Dictates how the cast will be performed (Dominant shoulder, “cack handed,” right handed, or left handed). This cast is quite east to master and is great for when learning to spey cast. Jon Hazlett with Confluence Outfitters performs a single spey cast on the upper Rogue River in Oregon. Published on Nov 4, 2009. Category. How to perform the Double Spey Cast The Spey casts are all derivatives of the roll cast and have several important advantages over the overhead cast: They are more efficient for wide angle direction changes. One of the easiest and most useful casts for the single-hand angler is the Double Spey. These rods can cast the junk but simply aren’t stout enough to handle Kings. Its unique density also slows the swing down while fishing. Casting on the grass is convenient. It's an exercise in lateral thinking and its a spey cast. You can also use it with a "Single Spey" cast. The River Truim enters on the right bank a couple of miles above Newtonmore and the Highland Calder enters from Glen Banchor on the left bank at Spey Bridge at Newtonmore. Success Story – I gave Paul a Spey Casting Lesson (he already was a good single hand caster) This winter Paul caught this nice Winter Steelhead on the Hoh River – way to go Paul! It is possible to Spey cast using single-handed trout rods. Spey casting was developed to cope with situations where room to make a back cast is restricted by bankside vegetation. What you need to do is come in from different angles that the salmon aren't expecting and try to 'pick a fight' with salmon by getting right inside their heads. You are on the left side of … Why? By Jock Monteith 26th September 2020 . When salmon fishing conditions are tough and fish are lying in the pools (whether you're aware of their presence or not) don't ever think you're going to nauseate a salmon into taking your fly as that highly unlikely going to ever happen. Spey casts also allow the angler to make large changes in the position of the flyline on the water. River Left is the "Left" side of the river that you are standing in when looking in a downstream direction. Also known as "Touch and go" cast. The name comes from the River Spey in Scotland, which is where the cast originated, presumably at Gordon Castle Estate and Wester Elchies beat. The “Snap T” cast was developed by Pacific Northwest anglers, George Cook, John Farrar and Dec Hogan. If you’re fishing for smaller steelhead you might want to use a 6WT Spey rod. At Kingussie the Spey is joined on its left bank by the Allt Mor which runs through the town and 1.5 miles downstream it is joined by the River Tromie which enters on the right bank. The biggest barrier for many salmon fishers is indeed daring to use their left hand to perform the Spey cast however I can assure anyone with that level of self doubt that their initial thoughts on this are completely illusionary and 100% misinformation. Spey casting offers the advantage of allowing the caster to throw their line long distances in a straight line. Saved by Linespeedjedi.com Most spey rods will be between 6-11WT. They can be executed in places with little or no room for a back cast. Elliott Barnes shows how to do a Double Spey on river right. 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