Note: These pages are only intended to give a start to the caster. These are the basics which we will intially work on . They will help to jog the memory after a casting lesson when the caster is practicing. Speycasting is a vast field which is constantly evolving. However the Basic Principles will not change and once these are mastered and understood Speycasting becomes much easier. Get the Basics right, practice them till it becomes second nature. Practice with thought. Think/visualise your way through an exercise and then go through it with the rod. Did it come out correctly ? if no, then why ? and also if yes then why ?
Remember that as crucial as it is to know how to do something, understanding why is even more important. The WHY helps with the HOW.
SAFTEY when SpeyCasting !!!!!
Glasses & a Hat should be worn aswell as a life jacket. A wading stick when necessary. If you are not sure if the wading stick is required for a given situation then it is.
Always use a piece of wool when practicing.
Ensure the casts being used create a D-loop or back cast on the down wind side of the caster. – Down Stream wind requires the D-loop/backcast to be formed on the downstream side of the angler and vice-versa.
Look out for overhead powerlines !!!!
Observe the water for current speed/Depth and possible subsurface obstructions.
When wading pick out your wading line prior to entering the water, a safe entry/exit to the water should be located before hand. Avoid situations that require you to back up.
Observe water levels for any possilbe rise.
Note; Life Jackets and bouancy aids are just that, and should not be seen a license to wade up to your arm pits – remember wade less and cast further.
Grip & Stance
Both should be comfortable.
The way we grip the rod should be comfortable & light. With a double handed rod the upper and lower hands are generally spaced apart at the same width of your shoulders. To get this place one hand on the upper cork and one hand on the lower and drop your arms down in front of you in a relaxed position this should give you the correct position for the grip. The rod should also be neutrally balanced where the upper hand is holding the rod with a casting length of line outside the tip ring. It’s the weight of the reel that will allow us to get the balance right.
Generally there are two main stances that are used an open stance (right hand up – left leg forward) or closed stance (right hand up – right leg forward).
Both these stances will allow us to incorporate rotation & body movement into the cast letting us rotate the body to help with a change of direction cast and to transfer our body weight back and forth during the various stages of a given cast.
Note: when learning to SpeyCast a closed stance can be preferrable as this will stop the caster from over rotating the body, putting the D-Loop too far behind the caster and breaking the 180 degree principle.(backcast must always be directly opposite the intended forward cast)
When in a fishing situation and wading down a rocky pool, we may not be able to use our normal stance. In this situation the angler's stance should above all else provide good balance and act a as a brace against and strong current.
How the Fly rod works.
The Rod is both a Lever and a Spring.
It is a lever in so far as the rod has a hande through which we can apply an effort/leverage.
This in turn will cause the rod to bend/flex in other words we are compressing the Spring i.e loading the rod.
When we make the forward stop the rod unloads. The spring decompresses and transfers the energy into the line enabling us to cast the line.
Getting the flex/spring of the rod to work correctly is vital to a good forward cast. The rod is a lever and must be used/operated correctly. The effective pivot point is not where the bottom hand holds the rod (butt) but where the top hand is holding the rod.
You will often see a caster holding the butt of the rod in a static manner and pushing pack and forth with the top hand, this will only give us wide open loops with little line speed and energy and a very sore shoulder at the end of the day. Also if this is attempted into a wind the cast will go nowhere and collapse in pile of spagetti in front of the caster.
You will often see a caster holding the butt of the rod in a static manner and pushing pack and forth with the top hand, this will only give us wide open loops with little line speed and energy and a very sore shoulder at the end of the day. Also if this is attempted into a wind the cast will go nowhere and collapse in pile of spagetti in front of the caster.
This all comes down to the application of power/speed between the two hands
Principles of the SpeyCast
Here are some of the basic principles of speycasting, understanding and following these principles will make for a good foundation upon which to learn.
Here are some of the basic principles of speycasting, understanding and following these principles will make for a good foundation upon which to learn.
- A Stance that places your body square to the target.
- Line Tension in order to make Speycasting as effiecient as possible we want the line to be under tension at all times. In other words no slack line at any point. This is particularly true at the start of the cast. The line should be on the dangle and straight with the rod pointing down the line with the tip close to the waters surface ( strip back a foot of line prior to each cast before the initial lift to insure maximum tension) This insures that as soon as the rod starts to move/lift it will bend/flex/load this means that the rod is starting to work instantly and the end of the fly line starts moving.
e.g if the intial lift when forming a cast starts at the waters surface straight up to 10 o’clock and there is slack in the line, then the rod may not start to bend/flex/load untiil the rod passes 9 o’clock, hence the line will not have started moving till the same point and you will not have cleared enough line of the water’s surface and your anchor point will finish in the wrong place breaking at least one of the basic principles.
The point of this is that every stage of a spey cast depends on the previous stage, so any mistake incurred will have a knock on effect, making it impossible to cast efficiently and correctly. So, get the basics right !!!
- 180 degree principle – The D-Loop/back cast must be directly opposite the intended direction of the forward cast i.e 180 degrees.
- D-Loop the D-loop is created by placing the working line behind the caster/rod. This forms a “D” shape incorporating the rod at the Key position the line and the Anchor. This is what allows us to load the rod when executing the forward cast.
- Anchor this is the point where the end of the flyline and leader are in contact with the water creating tension and allowing the rod to be loaded. The Anchor should always be pointiing at the target – direction in which we wish are forward cast to go. If the Anchor is pointing at the target then we know are D-Loop is also lined up correctly. i.e The 180 Degree principle back cast directly opposite the intended forward cast.
We also want the anchor to be straight with a minimum of line stick.
